Hello it’s that time again for our monthly style report with Cindy and Sarah. This month we are talking about lipsticks!
Ancient History
Do you remember your first lipstick? I remember exactly what mine was. I was nine. I know. Well it began in my fourth grade class where we were doing collages with magazines, (something I loved), and my chic teacher, Mrs Reyerson had magazines like Vogue to cut out and I was in love with the photos and the fashion. I went home and wanted to buy Vogue too, but mom said I was too young.
We met in the middle with a Seventeen Magazine subscription. That was back in the old days when magazines were huge and oversized and glossy. I poured over those pages, and could spend hours on my bed looking at the images of college girls in their knee high socks and pendleton skirts wishing I was a teenager. (I should have been doing something more productive, but hey it was the 70’s…) Thats’s why in 1974, or ’75, Yardley Pot O’Gloss was all I wanted. I could be persistent about these things and mom finally gave in, with the agreement I wear it ONLY in the house… I nay have broken that rule a few times.
This was the ad for it back then.. Imagine my mother when I showed her this.. She was a patient mom.
Later on my friend Laurie Montilla and I learned how to make our own lipgloss in third grade. Her sweet mom let us take ALL the lids of the family salad dressing bottles and mix vaseline with blush and eyeshadows to make our own colors! I thought this was the coolest thing on the earth. Later we progressed to Maybelline Kissing Potion with the glass roller ball in middle school. Remember that goopy stuff? And then there were the big Bonnie Bell Lip Smackers.. I believe I had Dr Pepper on a rope!
I felt I had reached the lipstick pinnacle when mom took me for some real makeup for my first dance in tenth grade. She said if I was going to wear makeup, it better be something of good quality, so we went to Macy’s and I was allowed Borghese Opalescent lipstick with a matching eyeshadow. I think my mom liked it as it had little color and I wasn’t looking too made up. I was in heaven and that was 1981.
Flash forward to now, and I own just about ten lipsticks! I don’t like to hang onto things and clear out my drawers every 6 months or so. During the pandemic I wore balm a lot, but I really need lip color as I have zero lip tint and I’m a beige blob essentially.
Do you Know Your Best Colors?
Even though I’m fair, light pinks don’t really pop on me and I need something middle of the road. I like colors with a cooler base with my skin. For some reason bricks and orangey reds don’t do well on my skin, though I have gold undertones.
Are you aware if you look better in cool or warm lipstick colors? If you are, it can help you from making mistakes when shopping for makeup. One way to tell is go to the colors you have always loved and feel good in and notice if they have a warm base like bricks and corals or a cooler one, like fuchsia that has a closer to purplish base. You’ll know the you have the right tone on, when your eye color will pop a bit and your skin looks good.
Also I have lipsticks that have changed color while on my lips. That can happen. Everyone has a different PH to their body and if so, take that lipstick back. They count on people not doing it, but I always save my boxes, just in case. Sephora and Blue Mercury are both great about that- as long as half the product is still there.
Where to Shop?
As summer is nearly here and the change of seasons, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to throw a new lipstick or two into my mix. I can get into a rut with colors and brands. One of the perks of this blogging stuff is I’m forced to do a bit of research, and this lipstick post got me into the store and blotting away at all kinds of brands and colors. I normally do not have the patience…and seeing myself in the department store mirror…can be frightening. LOL… and I’m not always keen on the help, though they mean well.
I spent some years working in cosmetics at Macy’s and Nordstrom while I was going through college. I worked the counters at Lancome, Estee Lauder, and Borghese. I wore a lot of makeup back then, and did a lot of applying on myself and others.. Now I’m more inclined to shop small instead of at the mall or just order online.
I did find a few new things in this adventure. I spent some amount of time at my little local Sephora and Blue Mercury. I find both those places to be less stress, easy to get in there to try things on my hands with accessible alcohol, Kleenex and remover. They let you play around without too much intervention and I kind of like that. I highly recommend them. if you’ve got makeup counter aversion like me.
Here’s what I came home with..
Three new lipsticks I bought and love..
First up, I have been wanting to try Pillow Talk by Charlotte Tilbury. Pillow talk is the most popular lipstick in America. They say a tube is sold every two minutes and apparently its appeal is the nude pink shade that is flattering on many skins and a secret matte formula made with orchids, that isn’t drying. Bonuses are the beautiful tube, quality ingredients and long wear for $34.
I bought the original formula and though it looks quite dark in store and on my hand (weirdly online it looks almost beige), it was the perfect medium tone pinky color. In the bathroom at home, it looked even better. (Me in my unfiltered glory… I apologize I really didn’t know a better way to show the colors!)
Secondly, what I was missing in my lipstick wardrobe was something with a little sparkle. Working at the Borghese counter and there was one color with sparkle all the women were mad for called Fiamma Garnet and we just could not keep it stocked!
There is something to having a little sparkle, but not too frosty that looks great on everyone. So I hunted Sephora for something similar. (Honestly, right now there are a lot of muddy matte colors are out there..) I found a wonderful dupe, Spark, by Sephora. It’s prettier on than in the tube and almost kind of neutral. It’s a lovely formula and only $9. You can also layer this over a more long lasting lipstick for a little gleam. I love many in the Sephora house line and you can find it all here.
While I was looking I found Nars Pour Toujours, which has a mauve sheen and is matte. I forgot to model it, but this is the online pics. It is more matte than Pillow Talk, but goes on softly and is deeper mauve than these photos show.
Nars lipsticks are formulated without toxic ingredients and wear fantastically for $26.
Favorites I already own and love..
I have one lipstick I have been loyal to the past couple years and that is LIKE, from Glossier. Love the formula which is called Sheer Matte that feels good, looks natural. I’m just crazy about this color, which seems like your lips have been blotted, and I haven’t found anything similar. I’m not crazy about the other shades, but the Jam color is a deeper version of this.
Also Glossier has one of my favorite mascaras which makes your natural lashes look pretty and long and wears so well, never flakes or runs, yet easy to remove.
Another fave, Clarin’s Natural Lip Perfector is a forever love. It’s the one gloss that isn’t sticky. It has the perfect consistency and I love the sponge applicator. I love the natural and all the colors in this soft balmy gloss which lasts and feels great. I have one in my bag all the time and for tennis too. (By the way Clarin’s Total Eye Lift is my eye cream of choice and it’s wonderful for sensitive eyes. It’s fabulous and I hope they never stop making it.)
I also love Chanel’s Lip Duo, which has ultra long wear color and the prettiest gloss on the other end to dab on top. I save this for when I’m going out. This is also one of the best selling lipsticks and at $42 pricier, but so good! I don’t own a lot of Chanel makeup, but everything I have has been worth the cost!
I recently rediscovered this gem, all time best-seller and universally flattering Clinique’s Almost Lipstick in Black Honey. It’s appeal as it looks unique on every person and is a sheer balm that feels great on.
My go-to lipliner for years has been MAC Whirl, which is described as a dirty pink and the closest to natural lips and so I stick with it. I like to line my lips from the corner in after lip color is on, blot, go back to add more to the center and a bit to the edge and cupid bow and blot. You just never want to notice it. I love their pencils, which never break and last forever. I’d say I buy one of these a year. The whole color range here
I am always looking for brands that are better for the planet and use less toxic ingredients. Beauty Counter is a good one and I love their Sheer Conditioning Lipstick. I have had the raisin and the clear and need to try this petal color next.. Love the quality of their things and mission to get toxins out of beauty products, lipsticks especially!
Please share in comments, what are your favorite lipstick colors and brands and if you prefer mattes, glosses or balms? Have you found anything new lately?
I’m always curious where we are headed in the lip department as it seems that’s the one thing that we continue to buy, during recessions, wars, etc…except during the height of the pandemic when we were in masks. Apparently lipstick sales have rebounded since. Kind of an interesting story of how they chart lipstick sales and sometimes even when they surge it means people are saving money in other places.. Full story here on Forbes
Well, I hope you enjoyed this lip chat, now please see what Cindy and Sarah have for you in the lipstick realm. I can’t wait to see what they love…
Thanks for being here!
Kim
You might also like last month’s Signature Style post on Crossbody Bags.
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Love this topic, Kim. I have the hardest time with lip color. First of all I have no lips so color choice is everything … no brights or I look ridiculous. But I love a soft, nude-ish pink. I just ordered the Charlotte Tilbury. Apparently I’m the only person on the planet NOT to know about it … I do now. Thank you. It also drives me insane that when I find a great lip color and it’s discontinued. Why do they do that? I’m currently loving Glo’s Cream Glaze Crayon in Chiffon (although it wears down quickly and does not sharpen easily … sigh) with Estee Lauder’s Lip Pencil Duo in Fig. Really enjoyed the walk down memory lane. I spent so much time in my room with those big, beautify magazines too. I miss them. And I wandered around our local drug store’s cosmetic aisles for hours. During high school I worked at Capwell’s and started shopping for cosmetics at department stores. Can you imagine if we’d had Sephora back in the day? Thanks for all the information and recommendations … can’t wait for my Pillow Talk to arrive! xo
Juliet we would have been friends I know it! Capwells must have been fun. Oh if there was Sephora I would have been in teen heaven! I am looking up GLO now and the fig pencil Duo.. Sounds like my colors. I agree I wish I could do reds, but I don’t think they flatter me…though my inner Deborah Harry wishes they would! Let meme know about Pillow Talk! I hope I accurately represented it! Thanks for your note! xo
This article is so on point. I love the reminiscent pictures of the old ads of lip gloss. Brings back wonderful memories. Reading this I can smell my cherry lip gloss. Thankyou. Kariann.
Kariann weren’t they a hoot those ads? Yes some of those scents are burned in my memory lip glosses and Love’s Baby Soft.. Aww glad it resonated!
Fun subject for this month. Interesting how different our skin tones are. I just knew you’d love the natural lip color. Have you tried putting a lip balm over the lipstick for moist look without looking like a glazed donut?
I’m going to check out Cindy’s Chanel choice. I think it would be a good color for me. I’ve been wearing Pillow Talk for ages, but the Sephora Spark intrigues me. Another trip to Sephora.
I love the pillow talk on you Kim. It is absolutely colorless on me. it is really strange even a color that looks intense is not so much on me. I am a die hard for Chanel I just wish it weren’t so pricey!! Wai till you are my age and the color creeps into all the little lines!
Cindy isn’t that funny? I do love the Chanel lip color too. I know I use foundation and some powder and then blot to help with bleeding around the edges. I wish I could wear the brights like you. You look lovely in them.xx
Sandra, I knew you would dig this! I do use a balm over the lip color, especially the matte ones! UI can see what you would look pretty in Pillow Talk! Let me know what you think of Spark if you see it! I should have shared your lipstick story! xo
Wow! What a wonderful History you have with lipstick. I can’t boast that, although I did dabble at homemade lip gloss! Love it! Looks like we share a similarity in palette.. a red eludes me and you!
Sarah, Loved your post and the beautiful colors you choose! Red is not for me really.. Though I have had some cherry reds a while back. The darkest I go is raisin. xo
Seventeen…best magazine ever. Could not wait for the august issue. It was such a treat. Yes to lip potion and bonne bell. I still carry lip smackers! Lately I have been into gloss more than a pigmented lipstick. I use pillow talk liner but didn’t like the lipstick on me. My go to is a lip smacker for at home or Fresh sugar peach lip balm pot. When I go out it’s Chanel rouge coco gloss 712, rouge coco shine 54 Boy, Bobbi Brown sheer lip color Bobbi 5, Dior Addict lip balm in pink or beige or Clarins lip perfector. I also like the Clinique lip chubby in caramel shade as it’s so easy to apply no need for a mirror. Actually you don’t need a mirror for any of these. When I do want color I use max factor color elixir cushion 015 nude glory…still not crazy but has more color. Dior lip addict in 612 has more color too. I also have a deep berry lip pot – have no idea brand but it’s great. I use Mac nude liner and also NYX sugar glass, vanilla sky and Sephora 02 nothin but nude. This has been a fun exercise to identify the ones I really like.
Wow Jackie you are a wealth of good lip choices and I am loving this and saving every one. Thank you! I have two try the Pillow Talk liner which apparently a lot of people love too. Yes to Lip Smackers. I always loved Dr Pepper color if I can find it! Clinque Chubby sticks are great too. I have to look for Caramel. I’m sure a lot of people are going to love your list! Nothing like recommendations from real people. Thank you!
Hi Kim,
Sorry I’m so late posting a comment. You know I loooove lipsticks, and have a drawer full of every type imaginable, tubs, tubes, sticks, crayons, glosses etc etc. But I haven’t tried the ones you mention here and will just have to fix that problem with a quick trip to the store! Sephora here I come, but I need someone to hold my hand because I become so overwhelmed in there! Too many choices make me crazy. Anyway, lipstick has always been a quick and relatively inexpensive pick-me-up and sometimes it’s all i need for a fun little change.
I remember those flavored glosses and the lip tubs from high school. And Seventeen, Glamour and Mademoiselle magazines which were my favorite and innocent addiction back in the day! So fun to remember all this!
Great post, you always go above and beyond.
XO Heidi
Hi Heidi! I can understand and I feel the same. Good thing our Sephora is small, so I can deal. When there are too many choices, I can get overwhelmed also! That is why I love Blue Mercury. They seem to be the right size! I loved all those magazines and lip glosses! We need to do a little shop trip together. I think you would look good in that Pillow Talk! xx
Forgot to mention that Lancôme makes a clear waterproof lip liner 00 universalle – helps with lip lines as I saw a comment about that.
I had no idea about that! xx
BORGHESE!
NOW THAT TAKES ME BACK……….I was not a lipstick person until later in LIFE.I LOVED all THE CLORS but seldom bought one.
IN 1978 I went crazy in a PHARMACY in NICE, FRANCET the rumor was then that the pharmacies had the BEST COSMETICS!
I BOUGHT YSL!!
AS I LOVED his FASHIONS and invention of the MANS TUXEDO for women…..
He also did a lot of CAFTANS back in the day……..NOW THAT WAS GLAMOUR!
I would LOVE to see a bit darker shade on you as you are so pale……..the brownish pinks are good but step it up a notch !Lets just see what happens!
XXX
Pot O’Gloss! Forgot all about those until I saw the ad you posted. (How inappropriate though, right?)
I was a sucker for those glossy Seventeen and Glamour magazines back in the day.
Pot O’Glosses were my first foray into lip color. Glosses were it for me for years. Then it was Clinique’s Raisin.
We inevitably ingest lipstick chemicals so now I wear “clean” lipsticks like Kosas, Merit and Ilia. Love them!
I am glad I am not the only one who used Pot O’ Gloss. That was an era!
I also love Ilia and I have to check our Kosas.. That has been on may radar. I know you are right and we should try to use cleaned products like Beauty Counter too. Thank you for the tips! xo
Borghese was the bomb and they had natural ingredients way before it was cool. They had a lot made with grape extract too. Isn’t it funny you could go to a Pharmacy and buy high end things like YSL? Love that.
I have to tell you I spent my cosmetic years wearing very dark lipstick. Also did at my wedding. Now I think it looked very Goth as I am so pale. I will send you few… xoxox
Hi, Kim! Your lipstick picks look lovely on you. I also like the gleam of a somewhat shiny/frosty color. MAC cosmetics has a Frost Lipstick, but it’s not crazy frosty, just a nice amount. I bought the color Odyssey, which on the website looks alarmingly purple! It’s not–just a lovely, pearly plum. But although I was in a plum period at the time–!–I have to say that the name of the lipstick cinched the deal. I’d recently read the Odyssey, and I was so enamored of the character of Odysseus that I couldn’t let go!! A nutty way to choose a lipstick . . .
Kim,
This is a great post, thank you! Lipstick colors seem to be harder for me to figure out but it wasn’t the case when I was in my 20s & 30s! Borghese was one of my ALL time favorite brands! They had a lipstick color that was a magenta red, that was my go to. But now it seems finding the right shade of red, let alone a flattering color is a chore. But you have given my some paths to discover.
Thank you!!!
This was fun! Thanks for the memories of first lipstick and Seventeen Magazine. Can you believe that mag was first published in 1944?! I was glued to it in the early 1960’s. Every teen I knew wanted to look like Jean Shrimpton or Twiggy. I love lipstick, and my current go to is MAC “Burning Love”. That being said, . I am trying to go with clean cosmetics these days, and I’m not sure that MAC is a clean product.
Yardley, Seventeen – oh what memories! I’m similar to your coloring and have been using Estee lipsticks forever. They have been fine, but I see there is a whole new world to explore! Im similar in coloring to you so I can’t wait to check out some these you highlighted. Great info!
Barb that was an era wasn’t it? Estee lip color is so good and I have forgotten the popular ones.. You may like Charlotte Tilbury. The quality and formulation are very similar. If you’re my coloring the ‘Pillow Talk’ is great..enough color and not too dark. Good texture and long wearing. xx
I’m not a huge lipstick person, but I too use Clinique’s Black Honey. You just can’t go wrong with it! That beauty counter product does look good. I will keep it in mind if we have a special event! Thank you!
Oh & you cracked me up with your comment about that ad just being straight up about selling sex! Yup, the only gloss that ad was selling was legitimately the lip gloss!
LOL wasn’t that the truth?? It shocks me now reading it, but it was the 70’s..
Nicole isn’t it good? I think it looks wonderful on everyone and feels good too. Yes Beauty Counter has a very nice product too.
Hi I am a lipstick Junkie myself and absolutely loved your walk down memory lane. For many of you like myself, who absolutely goes nuts when a favorite lipstick gets dicontinued, I have discovered Three Custom Color Specialists. They can duplicate your favorite discontinued color. I have always been an Este Lauded fan and when they discontinued my two favorites Pink Lame’ and Barcelona Rose , I had them duplicate them for me. You need to send them the tube you have left with some product in it so they can see what color they are trying to recreate- they will ask if it was matte, glossy, frosted, whatever- and then they will send you a tube of the duplicated lipstick. I will say they are pricey- I believed I paid $60.00 for each tube several years ago, but knowing I could get my favorite lipsticks again was awesome. Three Custom Colors- Provincetown , Ma. Hopefully they are still in business as it has been a while since I’ve used them. Loved your article!
Hi Gigi, You are wonderful! Thank you for sharing these specialists! That is so cool. I had no idea and a lot of people are going to appreciate this tip!
I just found them here for others who need them.. I can think of some lipsticks that should have never been discontinued!
https://threecustom.com
xo
, Finally figured out berry lip pot.. – it . .. was driving me nuts! Balmyard baby love in black Roses great for evening as it is more of a stain than lip stick i L ove it
Oh love that name!! Thank you so much!
The ad for Yardley lip gloss – “Look Ma, I’m a sexpot!“ made me laugh out loud! Yes Yardley and Bonne Bell were BIG in the 60s and 70s! Seventeen magazine was the Bible! Your mother was patient and wise. I don’t wear much makeup if I’m home (So much home time during COVID) or running errands.but I always wear lipstick! Great post and so glad you included something with sparkle! When I think of lipstick, I think of when my dear aunt was in the hospital in ICU and she kept asking for her lipstick. I was so upset and emotional that I wasn’t thinking about lipstick. The lovely ICU nurse asked what colors she liked and bought her a tube of a berry hued lipstick. It made her so happy! She was 86 and dying but she needed her lipstick! Me too!
Catherine, What a great time in many ways! I had forgotten about that ad until I googled the name of the gloss..
Aww your dear aunt sounds like my grandma who was asking to have her lipstick and eyebrows on even the last weeks of her life at almost 101. She always said, “Honey I need my face on.”
Lipstick gave her joy. Sounds like your auntie was the same. Nurses are so good understanding things like that..
I feel the same way Catherine about it… and yes Seventeen magazine! It was so good. xx
Kim, just catching up on all of your posts. Apologies but life has been busy.
Lipstick! This is such a great post in so many ways. I love the walk down memory lane with your mom for your first real make-up! Bonnie Bell, I had those too! I loved those. I do not remember that ad but I do remember many like it…shocking to see in todays environment but those were different times.
Eye liner and lipstick are my thing. Admittedly I am lazy and do not use primer, or anything but the lipstick. I am also an “equal opportunity” lipstick person. If I see a color that I like I don’t care if it costs $6.00 or 50.00. Since Covid though I find myself using it less and less. Maybe I have become lazy? I have found that since Covid I am allergic to a lot of things I used to wear and use, strange but true.
Thank you for sharing! Have a wonderful week.
Elizabeth, never worry! I know you all are out there and it gets hard to leave comments on everything!
Also, I have developed more allergies and sensitivities to things. Someone told me its could be menopause and we are a lot more reactive than we once were.. Another joy! xo