Lipstick issues

September 6, 2006 4:24 PM

Ok, I am probably wasting my question quota here, but here I go: Ladies, am I the only one on this planet that has found it IMPOSSIBLE to find the right lipstick? I have put so much effort into this pursuit, had I shifted my priorities, I might be a world famous physicist, or at least a pretty good bagel maker. I buy lipstick ALL of time and CANNOT find the right one. Twenty years later...same story.....suggestions? (sarcasm allowed due to the silliness of my question I suppose).
posted by peglam to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (40 answers total)

Right how? Color, texture, formulation?
posted by crabintheocean at 4:26 PM on September 6, 2006

Clinique - Black Honey
It's the right lipstick for everyone.
posted by clh at 4:29 PM on September 6, 2006

I need to know more about what you like and don't like, and I don't think it's silly at all.

Generally, L'Oreal lipstick has been good to me, and you can buy it at the drugstore for like $6.

Or go play at the makeup counter at a department store, and see what you like - try before you buy and all that.
posted by KAS at 4:34 PM on September 6, 2006

Wow. I was totally going to suggest Black Honey. I guess that proves it!
posted by crabintheocean at 4:35 PM on September 6, 2006

what is your skin tone? i'm tan/dark beige with yellow undertone (ie "pacific islander") and most shades of lipstick make me look like a vampire hooker. still haven't found a good one, but then again i don't try anymore. everyone's into gloss and "almost lipstick" anyway.
posted by milkdropcoronet at 4:36 PM on September 6, 2006 [1 favorite]

This is not so much a suggestions as it is a item of note: It is important to factor in the color of your natural lips. Natural lip color varies dramatically between us all. If two people with different colored lips put on the same lipstick - say clh's Black Honey (see above) - it will appear completely different.

As for myself, I sympathize; I have never found the right lipstick either. NOTHING ever worked for me. When I realized my natural lipcolor was the problem, I resolved to investing in a quality, non-sticky lightly tinted lip gloss. Problem solved.
posted by pigwidgeon at 4:37 PM on September 6, 2006

Lancome. Only lipstick I wear, you can take it back if you hate it. You can get the creme kind or the longwearing kind. Great colors, lots of suede type colors. Worth the money, it lasts forever.

I sympathize, I'm a redhead.

Contact me off list if I can tell you more.
posted by mad_little_monkey at 4:51 PM on September 6, 2006

My mom swears by the Bobbi Brown counter at Nordstrom's. Their stuff is incredibly f-ing expensive, but apparently the people who work at the counter have good training about which shades work for whom, and how to apply, and so on.
posted by LobsterMitten at 4:53 PM on September 6, 2006

I look awful in Black Honey. I do, however, acknowledge that I may be the only woman on earth for whom that is true. Everyone else I've ever seen wear it looked amazing.

Bobbi Brown lipsticks, which have neutral, brownish base tones, tend to work for me. Also, I just got "Lip Lingerie" gloss in "Velvet Bow," and it is very nice.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 4:57 PM on September 6, 2006

I was gonna say black honey, too. It's a very popular color purchase, in part because it looks good on so many people. The "almost lipstick" in black honey is my preference, but that's because I don't like the obviousness of opaque lipstick.

Also, MakeupAlley is an excellent resource for looking into makeup/drugstore type things. It requires registration, but the diversity of reviews are worth it. Also, you can go to cosmeticscop.com to see what Paula Begoun recommends.
posted by neda at 5:00 PM on September 6, 2006

Lipstick melts easily - Given the amount of effort spent so far, if the issue is colour, perhaps you could mix your own to the exact hue you seek, like custom paint colours.

(I reserve the right for this suggestion to be dumb).
posted by -harlequin- at 5:01 PM on September 6, 2006

I have the same problem. I'm pale, so vivid colors make me look like a little girl playing dress-up with her mom's old makeup, and pale colors don't do me any favors either.

Right now I use a sheer lip tint - Burt's Bees in rhubarb. It gives me a little bit of color without the twenty-one-going-on-five look.

Coincidentally, I'm having the same problems finding a shade of nail polish I can wear comfortably on my hands. I've bought, and discarded (not really literally discarded, but just discarded as an option) about five different shades this month.
posted by anjamu at 5:03 PM on September 6, 2006

I finally found the perfect lipstick... then the manufacturer discontinued the shade. Damn! I found two tubes on ebay, but that's it. So I'm in the same place you are.

Cargo and Bobbi Brown are a little expensive, but they have a wide pallette of neutral, natural shades and their makeup people are skilled at creating a beautiful everyday look.

If you prefer a little more glam for evening or a special event, Nars lipsticks are gorgeous.

The trick is fiding a good makeup counter. Or a shop like Sephora.
posted by QueSeraSera at 5:06 PM on September 6, 2006

i've battled with this particular problem, too, and in my case part of the issue is that the color of the lipstick *changes dramatically* when it reacts with my skin chemistry. I've had professional makeup artists recoil in dismay and horror, it's so drastic and unexpected. It's hard to come to terms with, though, because it's not that anyone is picking bad colors, it's that the colors BECOME bad after they're put on me.

My suggestion is to start trying colors you're sure would never, ever, ever in a bazillion years look good on you. Spend some quality time at a Sephora or your local department store. If your problem is the same as mine, then with enough trial and error you will find the color family that starts out horrifying in the tube and then changes into a GREAT color on you. :)
posted by Andrhia at 5:07 PM on September 6, 2006

Oh pish on this "perfect color for everyone" posh. Who only wants one color? Not Scarlett Johanssen and not me! I have three drugstore level lipsticks I blend or use alone, and I choose them for the simplicity and intensity of the colors. For me, it's a Black Cherry, a very vibrant Hot Pink and a regular Red. More or less (and then less still) of one or all produces different results. I rarely slather. Diy blending and blotting is the way makeup artists do it, right?
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 5:10 PM on September 6, 2006

Heh, I feel obliged to answer as I just happened to be picking up from my desk a lipstick I thought I'd lost as I saw this question. It's Clinique, Pure Posh shade, which is OK, just slightly pinker than my usual choice of Toasted Rose. Like the others say, colours will vary according to your own colouring but I'm happy with Clinique as a brand that goes on and stays on.
posted by penguin pie at 5:14 PM on September 6, 2006

My friend who is a makeup artist said that she almost never wears just lipstick, but rather combines lip pencil and lipstick to create a shade that she likes. First she applies lip balm. Then she lines her lips with the pencil and usually fills in the lips lightly with it, then goes over it with lipstick, and then might highlight it with a gloss. That way you can tone down a too-pink lipstick with a brownish pencil, or brighten up anything with a gloss. I follow her instructions when I wear lipstick but applying three products is more than I care to do regulary. I wear Pretty by Paula Dorf which is a pink semi-sheer that looks great on a lot of people, and because it's sheer the color can be altered with a lip pencil.

I found the right lipstick/pencil/gloss combo by asking the guy at the counter, who is a professional makeup artist (most of them are); I got him to show me how to apply it all, and to suggest other ways of using them.
posted by kenzi23 at 5:28 PM on September 6, 2006

I read somewhere that Nars's Dolce Vita (here is all of Sephora's Nars lip colors, listed alphabetically) was the most universally flattering lipstick. So I bought some. It was expensive, but I figured if it was the only color I would ever need, it would be worth it. It's a great color, and it doesn't dry my lips out as much as some other brands.
posted by lagreen at 5:37 PM on September 6, 2006

When Monica Lewinsky appeared in her Barbara Walters interview years ago, people raved about her lips (not joking). She wore Club Monaco Glaze, an almost sheer flattering plummy color, and her lipliner was Club Monaco Nude (again, not joking, that's really the name of the product).

Club Monaco Glaze is too sheer for me, but almost everyone else I know LOVES it. It became THE lipstick for many people.
posted by GaelFC at 6:11 PM on September 6, 2006

Aromaleigh sells reasonably priced samples. I love them. I can try on a range of colours in the privacy of my own home, without feeling pressured by a salesperson, or feeling like I've wasted a bunch of money on one or several lipstick tubes that I'll never wear.
posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 7:35 PM on September 6, 2006

I'm a big fan of Bobbi Brown and a makeup artist suggested a certain shade of Nars for me, which I discovered happens to stay on for freaking ever, even though it isn't marketed as one of those all-day lipsticks which all seem to feel yucky on my lips.

They aren't cheap but they last, and having some professional assistance in choosing shades can be worth the extra $.

*looks nervously over at Metafilter user # 42440*
posted by ambrosia at 7:54 PM on September 6, 2006

I manage to be both pasty and ruddy so 99% of lipsticks look wretched. Yet I can almost always find something wearable at FACE. (Lately I've been wearing their Cranberry Veil--deep, clear, sheer red--and Nude--pinkish brownish, not too much of either). Spendier than drugstore cosmetics but worth it, not least for the all-metal tubes that survive lots of bashing around in various bags and backpacks.
posted by vetiver at 8:14 PM on September 6, 2006

Would love to share my vast knowledge of this topic but I need a bit of information. (I could have been a rocket scientist with the amount of time I've spent studying this topic.):
- What is your skin tone? If you don't know think of well-known women who have similar coloring to you and post who they are.
- Is the natural color of your lips close to the color of your skin or is it a high contrast? If you have pale ivory skin and your lips are pale, a nude shade might wash you out. But a dark shade might look too garish.
- What bothers you about lipstick? Is it changing color on you? This is due to your body's pH. Years ago I had this problem with just about every lipstick except MAC. Eventually I was able to wear just about any brand. Maybe it was my diet, who knows.
- Or do pinks wash you out? Do reds make you feel conspicuous? Do matte colors seep into lines?

I'd love to read a little more detail from you so that I can make recommendations.

Here's something I learned watching Oprah's show. Her makeup artist Reggie Wells says you can not have a good lip with one color. He recommends you use 3 different shades and a lip brush. Line the lips with the darkest shade. He does this instead of using lip pencil. Then line inside the dark shade with the medium shade. Then do the center of the both lips with the lightest shade. Blend. It sounds time consuming but becomes a faster process with practice. Also you just use a little bit so it doesn't get blobby.
posted by Soda-Da at 8:38 PM on September 6, 2006

Clinique Black Honey looks f'ing terrible on me. Nars Dolce Vita is an awesome color, but I only wear it on job interviews - very neutral and professional looking. Other people I know like it because it looks good on them at night, so go figure.

I highly recommend going to either Nars or Bobbi Brown and having a makeup artist help you decide what colors look best. Both have fantastic quality and a wide range of neutrals. Once you figure out your best neutral, you can work to figure out more dramatic colors.
posted by gatorae at 8:40 PM on September 6, 2006

You're talking about color, right?

If you've been trying for years and years, it's possible you're making some kind of assumption that just isn't true. Is thare a category of color that you haven't tried because you just know it's wrong? That might be where your color lies.

I'm saying this as someone who tried many many likely lipstick colors for 30 years, and then found out that a sheer brown was the perfect thing. Brown? But I'm as white as Casper! Not any old brown -- but it's definitely brown.

You might be in between color groups... neither warm nor cool. I read recently you can tell which group you belong to by looking at your inner wrist. If the veins look blue, you're cool, and if they're green, you're warm. Well, mine are neither. They're in between.

If your veins are neither blue nor green, email me and I'll tell you what colors work for me. It's worth a try.
posted by wryly at 10:36 PM on September 6, 2006

the right lipstick is the one that will not stick to me when kissing the belipsticked.
posted by krautland at 1:00 AM on September 7, 2006

No no no. You don't understand. MAC's Viva Glam V is by far the best Your Lips But Better lipstick. There is not one person I know who dislikes it. (Makeup Alley review, swatch).

(You also won't feel guilty for buying it as all the profits go to AIDS research).

And if for some ungodly reason that the V doesn't work, there are 5 other shades in the Viva Glam series (including a just-released sheer plum) that are pretty versatile.

At least try the Viva Glam V. You won't regret it.
posted by chronic sublime at 1:16 AM on September 7, 2006

It took me decades to figure out that a lipstick with much more of an orange cast than I ever would have bought looks good and pinky on me. Try messing around with colors you'd never think of wearing (as has been pointed out).
posted by puddinghead at 1:59 AM on September 7, 2006

I've got the same difficulty as Andrhia, with lipstick colors changing dramatically once applied. Here's something I learned at the Lancome counter, but am actually too lazy to implement in real life - use foundation + powder on your lips before lipstick and liner and the color will (hopefully) stay true.

While I've found that this trick actually works, it still hasn't helped me find the One True Red Lipstick. *sigh*
posted by Space Kitty at 2:32 AM on September 7, 2006

Good grief, you guys! I was on my way home tonight after reading this thread when I saw that the cosmetic area in Myer was still open. I ducked in to check out this miracle Clinique "Black Honey." Since I'm utterly clueless about makeup and basically don't wear any, I had to get the assistant to find it for me. "Is it expensive?" I asked as she fetched it. "Oh, not at all," she said. "It's only thirty-four dollars." THIRTY-FOUR DOLLARS. Seriously? The last time I bought lipstick, it was the ten dollar stuff at Walmart in the States. I decided to try it on anyway, and she cranked the handle and I got my first look at it. It's black! I know, yeah, the name and all, but I really wasn't expecting that. "There's no way that's going to look good on me," I said. She had me try it on anyway. I looked AWESOME. I bought the damn $34 lipstick, and I've told my husband that you're all to blame.

So I'll second the recommendations for Black Honey. It looks good on this pale-ass freckled quarter-Korean bleach blonde.
posted by web-goddess at 3:31 AM on September 7, 2006 [2 favorites]

I love Aromaleigh for all the rest of my face, but I've yet to find a lipstick of theirs that really suits me (however, they are scented orange-cocoa, which is divine).

When I find a color that's almost okay, especially if it just needs to be toned down against my pallor, I try wearing it over lip-colored lipstick - not clear, an actual lipstick that is approximately the color of my lips (Clinique Nude, for me). It won't fix hideous orange, but it will fix too-dark reds and purples.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:04 AM on September 7, 2006

OMG I was going to recommend black honey too!

I feel the same way but I also just happen to hate wearing stuff on my lips in general. I don't like the way it tastes or feels so in addition to the color issue is just the challenge of keeping it on.

Have you tried something like DuWop Venom, a lip gloss that tingles your lips and gives them natural color?

Then again though the problem with that I find is the texture (tends to be sticky) and in my opinion you sort of build up a tolerance for it.

I was planning on going to the Clinique counter in a few weeks to get my colors re-evaluated, so maybe I'll learn something...
posted by clairezulkey at 7:14 AM on September 7, 2006

I am a lip product nut. Here are a few products I love (yes, Black Honey is on the list and no, I don't work for Laura Mercier...)

Laura Mercier Lip Silk: Put it on at bedtime and your lips will be soft and smooth in the a.m. Use it under lip color and it will help it last. Use it around your lip line if you worry about wrinkles or feathering. It's divine.

Laura Mercier Lip Balm with SPF 15: Oh. My. God. I have turned a dozen friends on to this. It's ridiculously expensive but it smells fantastic, is the right weight, has a bit of gloss and stays on well.

Laura Mercier Bitten Lip Gloss: My favorite -- great colors are Tender and Healthy (and note, they look very different on then they do in the tube). The packaging is excellent for stuffing in front pocket of jeans. The gloss is substantial enough that it stays on but isn't gloppy or sticky.

Nars Dolce Vita: An actual lipstick in an excellent color, pinky taupey neutral. I don't wear real creamy lipstick in the daytime, so I use this at night.

Clinique Black Honey: Day, night, whenever. Good and slippery and sheer enough that you can put it on without looking.

Aveda Lip Tint in Berry: I have long wanted to have red lips once in a while, but real lipstick is too flashy for me. This is a reddish tint that stays on, good for day or night, not too dramatic, satisfies my ScarJo impulses.

By the way, I do not like Mac Viva Glam V. It's drying!
posted by thinkpiece at 7:57 AM on September 7, 2006 [1 favorite]

Oh, I forgot that I cut this out of my latest InStyle but I have it right here as a reminder to try on the next time I'm at the makeup counter:

"Before accepting her Oscar this year, Reese Witherspoon got red-carpet ready with Los Angeles makeup artist Molly R. Stern, who applied Nars Lip Stain Gloss in Sayonara, a universally flattering coral-pink shade ($22.50, narscosmetics.com). "It's creamy," she says, "so it won't dry out your lips."
posted by clairezulkey at 8:08 AM on September 7, 2006

Before my best friend became a make-up artist, I had this problem, too. She told me to go with something sheer so no matter what the color is, your natural color will come through and it won't look too thick or fake. She also told me that Chanel and Dior make the smoothest feeling lipsticks with the best color concentration, and I found that to be true, still on my first tube of Dior after many months of wear. (Though you are supposed to replace it after 6 months anyway, who listens to that?)
posted by rmless at 8:12 AM on September 7, 2006

I'll second the recommendation for Laura Mercier. I use the Stick Gloss in Baked Earth (of course the only one that's sold out, but they sell at Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's and Sephora online). I think it might also be one of those universally flattering shades because I have dark/olive skin and dark hair, and I just asked my co-worker who is the polar opposite of me (super pale with red hair) and it turns out she wears the exact the same one.

And black honey looks awful on me, too. Plus, not a huge fan of clinique in general, their makeup fades away on me.
posted by echo0720 at 8:35 AM on September 7, 2006

My best friend is a makeup artist, and I also had this problem. Until she started working at a salon that custom blends makeup, including lipstick. I went in one day and she worked for quite a while mixing up the perfect shade. She wrote down the recipe, and since it was unique, we even got to name it!
posted by thejanna at 11:29 AM on September 7, 2006

I'm with kenzie. Lipliner is the key. And not in the outline-your-mouth way, but blending it with whatever color lipstick you have on. The MAC liners are especially good for this--Chestnut, Spice, and Cork are good blenders.Get a nice neutral that looks like it would match your skintone, put on a lipstick that's close to what you want, then go over it with the side of the pencil. If it looks too harsh, go over it with a lip brush.

Benefit also used to make a product called Depth Charge, which was a sheer black used to slightly deepen lip colors. There was a white one as well, but I don't remember what it was called. If you could find these or similar products, you could probably work with the lipsticks you already have.
posted by TG_Plackenfatz at 1:19 PM on September 7, 2006

My two favorites for natural looking color that looks sophisticated--like your natural lip color, just pumped up a bit. They're sheer, and they are far two of the best colors I have found that I consistently go back for:

Lorac Rita and Lorac Martha

I agree with previous posters that have recommended Clinique's Black Honey. I used to wear that shade a lot, but tend to like the Lorac Sheer Lipstick a bit better. It seems to last longer, even though it's a sheer.

You can make any lipstick sheer by the way. If you have a long lasting or cream lipstick that you like, blot the heck out of it until it is almost gone, and then add some Kiehl's lip balm or other balm on top.

I am a lipstick fiend, and I usually look for things that have berry or raspberry in the color. I find they make your teeth look white, and they go well with my coloring--light to medium skin tone with dark blonde hair. I would imagine the Lorac colors going with a variety of skin tones though, they are not really "berries".

I also agree with using lipliner. Blending is key, I often take a Q-tip and feather and blend it into my lips. The trick is to tone it down and use a color close to your natural lipcolor, but still use it as a definer.

.
posted by LoriFLA at 1:58 PM on September 7, 2006

May I suggest that you may not be a lipstick person, you may be a lip gloss person? I can't stand the feeling of most lipsticks on my lips: flat, drying, and I hate the way they make my lips look so severe (I am post-30, btw).

I love lip gloss instead. And luckily, we exist at a time when the neatest lip glosses to roam the planet can be found at Lancome counters. They're called Juicy Tubes. Try on Simmer and see if you like it.
posted by macinchik at 3:58 PM on September 7, 2006