money where your mouth is

[metaphortunate]

For today, a little frivolousness.

I can't remember who it was who had a job interview at a coffeeshop and was looking for a lipstick that wouldn't leave lip prints on a coffee cup. Which is a hell of a catch-22, right? You're supposed to wear makeup to a job interview for ~professionalism~, but you also can't get makeup on anything because zomg girly and "unsightly" and etc. Incidentally, the previously linked site suggests licking your glass before drinking from it to reduce the amount of lipstick that transfers. I can only imagine the tone that would give your job interview.

My own personal lips reject lipstick in the blithe and seamless manner that The Toast rejects asshole commenters. The blogger from Brightest Bulb in the Box (now sadly defunct (the blog, not the blogger (I hope))) used to test the lasting power of lipstick on "four hours and a meal."

Four hours. And a meal. Let me tell you my own personal test on the longwearingness of lipstick. My question is: if I put it on in the morning before I leave for work, is it still on my lips when I get to the office? MOST LIPSTICKS FAIL THIS TEST.

(…this may or may not be related to the amount of child kissing I have to do on the way to work. However, it doesn't matter, as that is a constraint I plan to keep.)

I'm with Caitlin Moran on this one: lipstick is ridiculous. And yet. And yet! I continue to enjoy it. So I continue to look for things that will at least make a freaking gesture in the direction of lasting.

Which takes us firmly by the scruff of the neck and hauls us back to the topic introduced back in the second paragraph! You must have given it up for dead by now. But no, all of this was just to introduce that very holy grail: a lipstick that will not leave prints on your coffee cup! It really exists and it is called Maybelline Super Stay 24 Hour Lip Color. 24 hours of course is a complete lie, but this is a lipstick that, swear to god, stays on my lips not only through my morning commute but also through cups of coffee and tea and all the way to lunch. It does not survive lunch on me, but now we're back to my radical feminist lips who reject the patriarchy and all its works.

The thing about this stuff is, you have to take the two step process very seriously. You have to get your lips clean and dry, then put the color on, then wait, seriously, at least two minutes, for it to fully dry out. Then, when your lips are fully dry and kind of tacky, you put on the gloss part from the other end, or your favorite lip balm, whatever. And voila! You're done for half a day. It does fade from the outside in so after lunch I do end up with that fun clownlike lip outline which I hate. But if you're not going to have a full meal this is the shit that will not leave lip marks on anything. You have been told.

The other really long wearing thing I know is Revlon ColorBurst Balm Stains. They totally last and they don't leave weird clown lip outlines, but they will come off on your coffee cup, or your children, and I have three colors that I almost love and none that I 100% do. Creating a need and aaaaaalmost filling it so that I keep buying shit looking for the exact perfect solution: since 1776, well done, capitalism!

Comments

[cofax7]

I use Revlon Colorstay: it stays all day, if I let it dry a really long time before I put on the top coat.

... I occasionally worry about whatever chemicals are in it.

[laurashapiro]

I have these same issues with lipstick, and I don't even have children to kiss. Thanks for the recommendations!

[dangercupcake]

I am totally the person who does the licking trick, except instead of licking my cup I lick my lower lip before I sip. Works every time. But I rarely wear lipstick because I almost always chew it off these days.

When I did wear lipstick, I found that a layer of lipstick, blot, set with a coat of powder, apply another layer, then blot gently almost always worked to keep it on for several hours.

[metaphortunate]

Layer powder blot works better than just one layer, but not enough to get a non-long-wear lipstick to last all the way to work for me.

[kate_nepveu]

Thanks for the rec; if I actually didn't have to think about it, and it didn't dry out my lips, I might actually wear lipstick.

[loligo]

My lips hold on to lipstick just fine, but my lashes reject all mascara. And the teeny tiny flakes that fall into my eyes are irritating! So I gave up on it decades ago. And I wear glasses anyway.

[liseuse]

One of my aims for this year was to get to grips with lipstick. I want to love it! But it just disappears off my lips. So, thank you! This is very helpful! (I own a lot of tinted lip balm because I don't mind reapplying that.)

[the_siobhan]

Avon (of all places) used to sell a product for "sealing" lipstick. It looked and tasted like clear nail polish. (It might in fact have been clear nail polish.) Once it dried my lipstick wasn't going anywhere.

[azurelunatic]

I had something similar once! It came in a little rollerball applicator tasted like it had some terrible solvent in it, and once it dried I had to be careful to not leave my lips pressed against each other too long or they'd stick together and then chunks would come off (mostly of the sealant, but partly of lip).

[azurelunatic]

It's fabulous, isn't it? I'm currently using the equivalent from L'Oreal, in a wonderful dark magenta.