The first one is lipstick

I've always thought lipstick, especially a bold color, added instant polish.  It makes a woman look like she took more time grooming than she actually did.  So I decided this would be my first item to try out for my "one best thing" experiment.
I chose MAC's "Wild 'Bout You" shade, a dark berry with a matte finish - limited edition from 2006.  Obviously I don't follow the suggestions to throw out your makeup after certain time periods.  How can I when it's not available anymore?
So here's the picture from 2 angles.  One picture has the nice pink bathroom lighting, and for the other I color corrected it to get rid of the nice pink light, just to be brutally honest.  It does seem to me like it dresses up my look a lot from a plain, no-lipstick face.  I'm still self-conscious about the zits, big pores and blotchy red spots on my skin, though.  For ease of comparison I put the first "no make-up" picture at the bottom.

Lipstick only - no concealer, foundation, etc.

Lipstick only with harsh natural light

Bare face - nothing but a smile!