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I struggle with daytime lipstick. I can’t find a daytime nude that doesn’t look grannyish; they are always a bit ‘tulle’. As for the brights... Well, I occasionally paint on a true red and blot it till it’s really matte, but I have to be feeling bang on form to carry that through a day at the office.
Yet lipstick is soigné. It adds polish to a face. It adds élan. And the act of applying lipstick is definitively, gratifyingly feminine. There is some kind of genetic memory at play, too — have you ever noticed that women use the same lipstick choreography as their mothers? The same flourish? And that their lippy stubs are often the same shape? Lipstick is emotional.
But blue lipstick? Blue? Really? A bullet of navy? Oh, honestly. Huffing and puffing and muttering ‘gimmick’ and ‘so silly’, I got out my mirror and slid on some of Lipstick Queen’s Hello Sailor, then turned to a friend who said, ‘What have you done? You look rather... finished.’
It goes on sheer with a whisper of cool berry and the faintest suggestion of sapphire that whitens the teeth and brightens the complexion. And the weird blue pigment is suspended in vitamin E so it nourishes. Be aware that this is subtle stuff. Its impact is slow-burn. One perfect, blue note.
Lipstick Queen Hello Sailor lipstick, £20, at SpaceNK (uk.spacenk.com)