I always liked the “If you were to get stuck on a desert island” game. What movies, what music and best off what makeup would you bring. Remember you can only bring 3 items. So if I were to actually be stuck on a desert the most important thing to have in my opinion would be some form of lip balm, gloss, stick anything to cover my lips and protect them from the elements. Sun block is a bonus but if you have a good lipstick it’s not as much of a necessity. Most lippies have sunscreen in them. I happen to have very dry lips. I also happen to prefer mattes over anything else and all day liquid lips. The two most drying types there are but I love them just the same. I’ll note this, most liquid lip and matte lipsticks will not only stay well put when applied right but will keep your lips happy and free of chapping. Yes that’s right they actually do help. 

The best of the best in liquid mattes is MAC Powder Kiss. They go on so smooth and feel so nice that no matter what type of lips dry or not they will look great. They are very pigmented and thick yet soft so they go on smoother than most liquid lip colors. I gave them the test and wore them at work which I have a mask on all night and still they stayed on and didn’t even smudge around my face. Some other liquid lip colors that are really good are Pudaier Sexy Lip Pill which I did a video of the test on my instagram. I did and it had good staying power as well. KVD Vegan Beauty is good too especially like the Everlasting Glimmer Veil colors. They are so amazing and the sparkle. Oh that shine and sparkle. If you like glitter and all day stay these are perfect. They come in some unique colors too!there’s nothing like a good red lipstick. Everyone should have at least one. This is Aveeda Love My Lips in Jujubee

Matte lipsticks that are made to not just be matte but are made with staying power. These are good too and not as drying as the liquid lip colors. Sephora has good ones. and they aren’t terribly expensive. The Sephora Collection also has pencils to go with each color. Lip pencils are important. They outline your lip shape and allow you to fix any uneven shape. We’re all human and nobody is perfect. With a good lip pencil you can have perfect lips. Another trick I learned long before the days of mattes and liquid lips was that I’d first do the out line then shade in my lips lightly with the pencil then add the lipstick. Blot and voila you have a cream lipstick with the staying power of a matte.

Glosses. Glosses are fun. they are a lot of fun. Lip Glosses can be so much fun and versatile too. When it’s really hot and humid they are nice and light and the lighter colors are my preference and can be a refreshing light summery look. Another fun thing I do with gloss is when I need to make custom colors for a particular look I’ll take a light or clear gloss and mix with pigment or even a very fine glitter. Once you master the mix the possibilities are endless. Kab Lip Duo that comes with the pencil is one I recently got in a Boxy Charm box. I like it a lot and it’s not too gooey. The down side of many glosses is that they are in fact gooey and if you have chapped dry lips can actually make them feel worse. MAC Lip Glass is another good one to use. Also Milani makes some great glosses. Again I think glosses are for light colors. Save the darker shades for lipsticks. A fun thing that can really jazz up a bland color of lip stick is to take a sheer opalescent lip gloss and lay a thin coat over the color you are wearing. It really gives it a nice pop.

Lip Stains

Some years ago I came across a new to me anyway lip thing. It was called lip Stain and it basically looked like beet juice in a rollerball bottle. I liked it because I could roll it across my lips and it would make it look like I had been eating Lollipops all day. The down side of these little bottles was that it didn’t condition or moisturize at all. Not that big a deal, a little dab of lip balm does the trick and since it’s a liquid stain it doesn’t become slippery and come off your lips. Basically once you have put it on it’s on. I used Benefit. They have some awesome products. I think Benefit has changed the way they package this and I haven’t been able to find it with the roller ball. It seems that it now comes in a larger bottle with a lip gloss type applicator. I’ll give it a try and post about it at some point. I tried their lip glossy balm in a pot as well. It was perfect in texture and tint, however it was rose infused and I have an allergy to rose oils and rose water so I can’t use any cosmetics that have that as a main ingredient. If that isn’t an issue for you though I highly recommend