Gluten-Free Chic: Red Apple Lipstick

In today’s culture, you’re probably aware of the popularity of the gluten-free diet. It seems like every other celebrity is going gluten-free these days, and it’s become something of a fad diet that people use in hopes of losing weight or even just keeping up with the current trends. However, for me, being gluten-free has nothing to do with trying to lose weight or wanting to test out a favourite celebrity’s diet plan – it’s a serious health matter.

I have Celiac disease, which means that if I don’t stick to a gluten-free diet, I become a very sick little individual. Celiac disease affects people differently (although tummy troubles are the most common symptom), and my Celiac happens to affect my mental state. A Celiac sufferer’s body can create antibodies to try and fight gluten contamination as though it’s a germ – but unfortunately, brain cells apparently look a lot like wheat protein, meaning that if I accidentally consume gluten, I basically destroy my own brain from the inside. It isn’t a pretty picture, but I think it gets the point of how important it is for me to be absolutely gluten-free across. I don’t just have to watch what types of food I consume, but I also have to check the ingredients on my shampoos, body washes, soaps, lotions, and yes, my makeup, especially lip products.

Which is why I was really excited to discover a company called Red Apple Lipstick. Their all-natural makeup products are certified gluten-free, paraben-free, soy-free, dairy-free, and allergen-free – plus they’re also vegan and cruelty-free, as if all the previous freedom didn’t already add up to exorbitant amounts of goodness. Previous to finding and communicating with Red Apple Lipstick, I actually had no idea that there were dedicated allergen-free makeup companies like this out there! So naturally, I was absolutely ecstatic to be able to sample their products.

Everything came to me packaged beautifully in little boxes and tissue paper, and the lip products were also contained inside of a little canvas drawstring bag with the Red Apple logo printed on the front in green. Just the packaging alone instantly made me smile – probably due to a combination of bright green (one of my absolute favourite colours) and a little business card reassuring me that everything was in fact safe for me to use and it wasn’t some kind of magical hallucination of allergen-freedom.

I knew that I was being sent a lipstick, a lip gloss, and an eyeshadow, but this cute little sample of their Rallye Balm took me by surprise. This stuff is odorless and provides a soft, light sheen to your lips – perfect for applying before lipstick, or alone just to give your lips a subtle boost. The full-sized product is currently out of stock on their website at the moment, but as soon as it comes back into stock, I plan on purchasing it. I’ve had bad experiences with a lot of lip balms in the past due to allergens – lots and lots of itchy lips in my past – but I know that will never happen with this product.

Next up was one of their lipsticks, in the shade New York.  It’s a gentle nude colour with just a hint of pinky-orange. This is just the kind of colour that I like because it lends itself so well to doing a natural makeup look. One thing I noticed instantly about this lipstick is that it’s super-moisturizing. Sometimes, a lipstick will feel dry and caked on as soon as you put it on – not so with this one! It glides on smoothly, without a hint of unpleasant dryness. If I closed my eyes, I would think I was just putting on more of the lip balm. Plus, that little Red Apple logo on the lipstick cover is adorable.

The lip gloss, which is in Nude Peppermint, comes in a pretty little container with a silver top that screws on and off. As soon as I opened this up, I knew I was going to adore it – it’s scented. To me, it actually smells like spearmint, not peppermint, but that’s all fine by me because I actually love spearmint better than peppermint. In fact, I used to have another spearminty lip product which I loved, but which turned out to be one of those demons in disguise that gave me an allergic reaction. So I’m really excited to have this one, which will do no such thing. And it’s so pretty: a soft, sheer, high-gloss pink that could easily be worn alone, or paired over a lipstick. For the record, it goes beautifully with the New York lipstick.

I was really, really excited about this one because I’m obsessed with gold eye shadows. This one is called Golden Girl, and it comes in a super-cute little container that includes a little mirror and applicator. I’m actually obsessed with the mirror and the applicator. It’s like they exist in a secret compartment. If I ever become a spy, I’m going to fold up my secret documents into tiny squares and keep them in this eye shadow case, and nobody will ever think to look there. Don’t tell anyone that’s my plan, though. In fact, forget about my spy antics and let’s talk about how this eye shadow can be applied dry for a light gold shimmer, or wet to intensify the colour. I haven’t yet tried applying it wet, but I do know that I’m loving how it looks dry. It’s perfectly appropriate for a daytime look while still satisfying my desire for all things gold and shiny.

So here I am, all Red-Appled out, and I can report that I am in love. I’d recommend this makeup to anyone, even if you don’t have food allergies to watch out for. While the fact that this makeup is safe for me is a big reason that I love it so much, it’s also high-quality and very beautiful, and you can keep your spy documents in the eye shadow. I mean, you can put the eye shadow on your eyes and move along like a normal human being. Ahem.

A big thank you to Red Apple Lipstick for generously allowing me to sample their wonderful products, and for existing as a dedicated allergen-free makeup company! It’s wonderful to know that there’s somewhere absolutely safe to go for beauty products. Financial compensation was not received for this post. Opinions expressed here are my own.