Beauty obsession: Bright lips

I first began flirting with bright lips a few months ago when Paula told me she needed to go shopping for a bright orange lipstick. I tagged along and bought a couple, one from Napoleon (Hara) and one from MAC (Morange). They were pretty full-on so I toned them down a bit with a neutral Bloom lipstick (Charleston) underneath.

I did the bright orange lip thing a little bit but mostly, I reverted to my default lipstick look: pinky browns.

Interestingly, that’s one colour I know I can NEVER wear in clothes but for some reason, it’s pretty much the only colour I wear on my lips. And have done for YEARS.

Why? I have no idea. Nobody ever told me this colour suited me. I just made it up and went about amassing dozens of similarly coloured lipsticks, some may say compulsively.

Occasionally over the years, I have worn red lipstick but it always seems so high maintenance and too dramatic and I wear a lot of colour and red lips never seem to go with coloured clothes. They’re too strong.

Then I read Amazing Face and learnt that bright lips are not a trend anymore – they’re now a classic, almost a neutral. This came as a surprise. So did Zoe Foster telling me I could wear bright pink. Really? Yes. As in fuschia. And bright coral. Apparently my yellow undertones mean I can wear any colour I like which is delightful news to someone who has 153 pinkybrown lipstics and 429 brownypink ones.

Naturally, I went nuts, buying up every bright pink, orange and coral lipstick I could find. I bought Rimmel (Shocking Pink and Kiss Me). I bought Revlon (Haute Berry, Pink Velvet, Kiss Me Coral and Orchid Beach). It’s fun. And you don’t have to bother with much eye make-up when you wear a bright lip. And I bought Shiseido – a sheer bright pink shiny lipstick whose name I forget.

And can I tell you? Bright lips are fun. Especially in winter. As Zoe says, buy a cheap one and have a play before you commit to anything pricey.

But it’s the fastest way to get out of a rut. Go on. You know you want to.