My Backseam

“Her kisses left something to be desired… the rest of her.” ~ Author Unknown

Lips … just typing the word, makes mine smile.

I love lips.

Many view lips as a symbol for sensuality and sexuality – likely because they are exceedingly sensitive — erogeneous — tactile. Some even consider a woman’s mouth and lips as a secondary vulva both in appearance and well, um, use. But we will not go there…

Women have colored and accented their lips for centuries, calling attention to this erogenous zone. Cleopatra is said to have tinted her lips red with crushed beetles. To my mind, had I lived in Cleopatra’s day, I would have done the same because I LOVE RED LIPS.

Red lips never go out of style
Red lips invite glances
Red lips speak of passion
Red lips leave the most delicious trace behind as you map your lover’s body with kisses

When wearing a red lip, you want it to POP… so careful selection of the proper shade for your skin tone is a must and, the paler your skin, or the larger the contrast between your skin and the lip color, the larger the impact.

A long-time Red lip wearer, I have tried countless lipsticks. My absolute favorites are made by Guerlain. They have such a luscious feel, wonderful colour range, classic look, are long wearing, have a delightful little scent (Yes, I do attend to the scent of my things) and, the tubes are utterly glamorous.

Consider the Guerlain Rouge G — this lipstick contains a ruby-powder that interacts with the light and creates an amazing lip. It is tucked in a gleaming silver compact that is functional and beautiful, complete with mirror. Fix your lips after drinks and the men will all be casting glances your way.

The KissKiss lipsticks from Guerlain are smooth, creamy and very long-lasting. And the beautifully polished gold tube is beyond luxurious.

Should you wish to save your pennies for more fine nylons, there are some great lip colours to be found at your department and drugstores. Revlon has some beautiful reds as does Loreal and at the make-up counter, MAC is a great value.

So, you have your lipstick… now what?

Kissable Red Lips

Keep them soft — Exfoliate

I like to use fresh citrus and sugar to keep my lips smooth. Cut a lime (or a lemon if you prefer) in half, rub the cut surface into granulated sugar then GENTLY apply to your lips in a circular motion for up to three minutes. Yes, the acid may burn a bit, but just think of your smooth, kissable lips — obviously, do not do this if you have an allergy to citrus fruits. A side benefit is this tastes great … rinse thoroughly and apply your favorite moisturizing lip balm. Once a week should be enough for most lips. If you do not care for the citrus, massage your lips with moistened sugar… still, quite nice.

— Moisturize

The best way to keep your lips moist is to start from the inside … drink adequate water. A silky lip balm may suit your life — all personal choice. Honey is a wonderful natural moisturizer… just dab on a light layer (when you are not wearing your lip colour).

How To Achieve The Not A Damsel Red Lip

Have on hand:

• Lip colour(s) — (I have been known to use 2 or three different shades in a single application — customizing my colour)
• A pencil lip liner
• A lip primer
• Facial Tissue
• Magnifying Mirror
• Good Lighting
• Patience — anything worth doing, is worth taking the time to do right.
• Not required, but I also like to include an appreciative on-looker — My Lover
  — some prefer to keep it all a mystery and only present their finished lips. I find the entire Lip-Fixing Process very sensual and enjoy sharing it with my lover.

1. Take your clean, dry lips (after your foundation and blush have been applied if you are doing full make-up.
2. Line the lip with your pencil lip liner. Now is the time for a steady hand. Gently line around your entire lip (I avoid the corners of my mouth). You should even your natural lip line (none of us is perfect) being careful to not stray too far outside your lip line as reds tend to bleed into the surrounding skin.
3. Apply lip primer
   A foundation or base for your lip colour. Apply a thin even coat. I like to allow mine to thoroughly dry before applying the lipstick… so work on your brows for a couple of minutes.
4. Apply lip colour — To Brush, or not to Brush — I will answer that question
5. A lip brush is nice for: precise application of your lip colour, making you look like a make-up artist when doing your lips, to access the final bit of your favorite lip colour from the bottom of the tube.
6. Personally, I rather enjoy using my lipstick straight out of the tube (remember, I like an onlooker). Twisting the tube to make that little penis of lip colour rise is delicious. And the sight and sensation of sliding that lipstick over my lips, priceless. Imagine it for a moment — your lips pursed (you know how you hold them) that little penis of lip colour, pert and poised, creamy and moist… a wonderful sight for your admiring on-looker.
7. So, carefully apply the lipstick, I do my top lip first, then the bottom. Stay inside the lines, this is one time to follow rules. You may lightly slide your lips together to even and blend the colour. I also recommend being brave and using more than one shade at a time, layering colours, or putting a glimmering frosted lipstick in the center of your pucker or perhaps a deep blood red can change the entire look.
8. Finally, open your mouth into a seductive “O” and check corners of your lips for accumulated colour, blotting with your facial tissue if necessary. (Also, check your teeth)

And, you are done.

If you prefer a glossy lip, you may apply lip gloss. I generally do not use them, particularly if I am anticipating kissing, for I find them sticky, not silky and creamy like a nice lipstick.

Yes, there are men who enjoy kissing a fully painted creamy lip and are those who do not. I prefer to share my kisses with those who do.

Here’s to your Luscious Red Lips.

Actually, she would have been a welcome relief on my recent flight from Heathrow to Boston, especially had she sat down next to me.

Photo by Johnny Jaan

(Johnny Jaan)

Great news today for stockings lovers everywhere, from Debenhams in the UK.

We have quite a few wonderful people blogging here at My Backseam and, from time to time, we’ll be featuring some of their posts here on our front page. We loved this post from Karyn’s blog, Confessions of a Foot-Loving Blonde, and wanted to be sure everyone got the chance to read it.

Toe Rings – by Karyn

I think everyone who knows me, knows that I am a big fan of toe rings. I’m a fan of most kinds of foot jewelry and ankle chains as well. I’m writing about the toe ring in particular today, because I read something online that I couldn’t believe.

I was looking through a few of my favorite foot fetish blogs, and I came across a guy who said that, ” Any woman who wears a toe ring is a slut.”

That statement really got me thinking. There are still a lot of people out there that believe if you have a fetish, especially one for feet, that you must be some kind of pervert or slut. That was the main reason why I kept quiet about mine for so long. My neighbors, the people at my local coffee shop, would probably see me in a very different light, if they knew about my fetish.

Before I went ‘public’ with my love for feet, wearing a toe ring (or two) was my way of communicating to other foot lovers out there. It was like a secret code or language. My theory at the time was this~ If I adorn my feet with rings, ankle chains, and a lovely pedicure, maybe I will attract a fellow foot admirer. Unfortunately, that never happened. Nevertheless, it was such a thrill to notice a man or woman looking at my feet. I don’t consider myself an exhibitionist at all, but having my feet on display in public felt very sexy. Of course, this doesn’t mean that every woman with a toe ring on has a foot fetish. Chances are though, if she takes care of her feet, she probably wouldn’t mind a foot massage!

Since becoming more vocal about my fetish, I’ve received a lot of emails from people, men and women. Sometimes they write to tell me that my feet turn them on. But most of the time, I get letters from people that just feel the same way I do. There are so many of us out there! We’re your co-workers and neighbors, just regular members of society. I will continue to wear my toe rings proudly! I certainly wouldn’t consider myself a slut, pervert or sexual deviant (except maybe in the bedroom :p).

You get what I’m trying to say.

Earlier today, the database for mybackseam.com became corrupted and lost all the site data that had been created since June, 11th. We run hourly backups on our database, so weren’t concerned, initially. We intended to just replace the corrupted database with the most recent backup, then go back to normal operation.

However, after installing the clean backup copy of the database, we found that the database backup had ignored everything that occurred after June 18th at 19:46 PST. Reviewing every hourly backup for the last few days, we found that they were all identical, and none had backed up any new data since June 18th. None of the site activity over the weekend had been backed up.

Of course, it’s good news that we did have a fairly recent back up. We have also learned from this incident that the method we were using for database backup was flawed, and we are changing our procedures to make sure that, as intended, the database is backed up in full every time. We are also now implementing a redundant backup method, so that the database will be backed up by two different methods to give us another way to restore data should the first backup ever not be enough. In the future, your posts, photos and messages on My Backseam will be backed up twice every day, which will make them safer than before. Read the rest of this entry →