Giorgio Armani Lip Maestro in #400 (The Red)

Giorgio Armani's Lip Maestro in #400 (The Red) was part of a Sephora gift set available to VIB insiders that I picked up back in June (you can see reviews of Fluid Sheer #2 here and Black Ecstasy mascara here).  It's a classic vampy red and boy is this baby packing serious color!

I do not wear red lips often and this one intimidated the crap out of me.  In fact, I blotted it down several times before I left the house.  Don't get me wrong - it's gorgeous and is a fantastic liquid lipstick formula.  It's just too much for me!

I didn't experience any bleeding but I do think a lip liner is in order with such an intense color (I didn't use one).  After blotting down a few times I was more comfortable with the look, perhaps because intense color+matte makes me feel less like my lips are screaming "look at me, look at me!".  

This is an all day kind of color as it does stain the lips.  I found the formula moderately comfortable, although my lips need some type of balm after wearing anything for 4+ hours.

Thumbs up on the formula but I need a less intense color, like maybe #500 (Blush).  Or I need to get more comfortable outside of my comfort zone, more likely.