Merry Kiss-mas!
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| Guerlain Rouge G de Guerlain,$46 |
But, when shopping for everyday use, I buy Revlon, Maybelline, Cover Girl—and if there's a BOGO sale, sister, stand back!
I asked a beauty editor of a North American fashion magazine if there is a distinct, evident benefit to prestige brands (Armani, Guerlain, Chanel) that justifies an increment of three to five times the price of drugstore brands.
She said, "Packaging aside, no." She requested anonymnity, because her magazine depends on ad revenue from those status companies.
Some brands may perform better on you than others, or you may prefer their weight. I like Clinique's Different Lipstick; Leslie will wear nothing but MAC's Pro Longwear line.
Getting the colour value
During party season, whether in $45 Guerlain or $7 Revlon, we want that lippie to last. Many times, it's not the product but the application that ensures good wear.
Five tips from makeup artist Troy Surrat:
1. Prep your lips
Lipstick adheres best when the skin on your lips isn't flaky; use a gentle exfoliator.
2. Choose a matte or nearly-matte finish over a glossy lipstick
These contain more pigment, especially in deeper shades.
3. Apply with a brush
The pigment sinks into your lips better. Natural-bristle brushes are often too soft; I like Revlon's Covered Lip Brush, which is stiff enough and the right shape.
4. Apply two light layers
Blot between applications; this lifts a little moisture and leaves the pigment. Surratt recommends oil-blotting paper (this Japanese product would make a cool gift)—but I usually use a tissue.
5. Don't add gloss on top
The moist top layer will break down the pigment.
Some women praise lipstick fixative, especially Sealed With a Kiss, which I've never tried. Have you?
The unbudgeable option
If I absolutely do not want that colour to lift, I wear Cover Girl Outlast All-Day, queen of the paint-ons, usually in a Bobbi-Brownish neutral, "Naturalast #545".
With Outlast, you do use gloss (included) on top, and reapply occasionally. You can also use the Outlast colour as a base, and apply your favourite coordinating lipstick on top, but it will not last as long.
My friend Sandi wore Outlast "Ever Red-dy" for her son's wedding; it stayed richly red from 3 pm. vows through midnight sliders, with no smearing. Your party hosts, who will not have to launder lipstick stains out of their table linen, will thank you, too.
After an evening in Outlast, I condition my lips with a rich night cream, because it's drying.
Discount luxe
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| Make Up For Ever, $22 |
eBay vendors offer brands like Nars, Poppy King or Make Up For Ever at much less than the department store counter or seductive Sephora; if you don't need a certain shade for tonight's party, put the product on your watch list.
Helen took me to a recent L'Oréal warehouse sale, which featured many of their brands (Armani, Kiehl's, Lancôme, Shu Uemara), at less than half retail price. The sales are advertised in city-specific discount-shopper sites; some are by invitation only. There, we found selected shades of Lancôme lipstick for $4!
The gift-with-purchase offer endures, for brands like Lancôme, Clinique and Shishedo, and store loyalty programs allow you to trade points for makeup.
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| Tarte lipstick, $18 |
A satiny, gleaming new lipstick is a dependable spirit-lifter. A friend and I once bought a big lot on eBay, chose a few for ourselves, and donated the rest to a women's shelter, where we were told it was enthusiastically received.
Why has your favourite brand earned your affection?
Any tips for a full evening's vibrant wear? Mwwwah!
Comments
Thanks for the frugal post!
Vildy
Merry Christmas
Karen
Vildy: Do you know the product No Bleeding Lips? I have it and it works beautifully (though as I said, when I need permanence I use a paint-on). See this review:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/10/29/no-bleeding-lips-review_n_2040583.html
Karen: Thank you; the encouragement keeps me writing.
I have several tubes of the Revlon lip butters and they are chick full of moisture, nice shades too but one does need to reapply these fairly often. At the price point it is not a problem.
Delicious as that variety was, I've learned that I do best in a range of fairly muted berry shades, lightened or deepened according to the season and occasion, and can't use most of the really long-lasting ones because my lips are too dry. But I don't like gloss, either. My solution is to use a waxy Burt's Bees chapstick over matte color. It moisturizes without melting the lipstick or adding too much shine.
My parents' friend confirmed Frugal Scholar's comment, by the way: in the 1950s, the cost of making one lipstick was 3 cents. That stuck in my brain, too!
C.
Allure line. I have about 4 lipsticks and they last well.
Vildy
materfamilias: In many of my work situations (such as a meeting that lasts 3.5 hours with no break), I find the colour totally "talked off" (or left on a cup, within a half-hour. Same at someone's dinner table, and I dislike jumping up to reapply it. The paint-ons are godsends then.
AN: She has beautiful colours, very discreet, but with interest.
hostess: I find the lip butters vanish as fast as...real butter ;)
LPC: I suspect that is true; I wear LipFusion "Buff" and it's a dead ringer for Armani "lip" shade.
C.: The actual cost is still small change, it's the marketing that contributes to the price.
I condition my lips (Clinique's All Abut Lips or Arden Eight Hour cream) when know I will need the paint-on. I cold not stand it everyday, but for certain occasions, it delivers.
My mother somehow received a kit of maybe 36 teensy lipsticks (I think Helena Rubensten), little longer than the eraser end of a pencil. She used every last smidgen (with a brush). I still remember that dazzling array.
Mme: It's not that I mind reapplying, it's that so often, I can't, easily and discreetly, in a business setting.
I have observed many women in meetings or and also on city streets with only a ghostly remnant of their lipstick on. Come to think about it, a freshly made-up mouth is mainly something I see en route in the morning!
Anon@12:55: I agree about the smile but don't think a high end lipstick delivers a more attractive, brighter one. The pleasure is in the status object, and I too have enjoyed those sleek Chanel cases.
I use it with my darker lipsticks and it works quite nicely.
Lin
Lin
Lin: I once stockpiled a Lancôme colour I feared they would discontinue- and they did. But I got over my obsession and had about 11 tubes of it!
Cornelia: Thanks for the Clarisonic tip.
Beth: Upgrades are always fun; I will look for Ecco Bella based on your recommendation. You said it was very emollient; I like LipFusion (sold at PharmaPrix/Shopper's Drug) for that reason.
Though I enjoy the lightness and moisture of glosses, I seem to "talk them off" in moments.
The longer-lasting glosses give me a gloppy, 'wet mouth' look I don't like.)
I do find a noticeable difference in texture and quality of colour in higher-end lipsticks. For example a cheap lipstick I bought recently feels 'gritty' as the shimmery particles are big enough to feel.
My mum gave me the perfect 'slightly better than your natural colour' lipstick by Lancome a few years ago. I still fondly remember the smell, the smooth texture and moisturising but suprisingly long-wearing formula.
I've got some Revlon Lip Butter lipsticks on my Christmas list. I recently bought a cheap Clinique one off Ebay but it's really too light a colour for me. Shame...
re donated makeup, suggest you call first to check policy. We were surprised to find one social agency refused any unsealed cosmetics (though the tubes were clearly unused.) But a small, church-run shelter for women, took them in a flash.
The Rimmel Kate Moss line had a few beautiful cheap reds in elegant black and red packaging, but I recall that they also wore poorly (and all turned magenta at the end of the day).
But I am finding more and more that I will either wear a light, moisture-rich neutral lippie for day and when required, go full-on with the Outlast, which I wore through a long restaurant meal last evening with results unobtainable from wax-based lipstick.
Geez Louise, does no one else like Outlast?
I'm really lazy about touching up unless I'm wearing red, which is rare.
Although if someone can tell me about a cheaper, similar product, I'd be grateful ...!
Kathleen