For about nine years now, I’ve been wearing makeup. I usually don’t wear makeup a lot, but I’ve come to really like lipsticks. I still experiment with a lot of them to see what I like, but also what looks good with my skin tone and with what I wear. Sometimes it also just depends on if I feel like wearing lipstick that day or night. One of the things I’ve also been factoring in is how it makes my lips feel and what colors I prefer. The 4 underlining factors I really go by are moisturizing, lasting, look and taste.

1. Moisturizing

Moisturizing is key because my lips have a tendency to dry out and peel. Everyday scrubs and drinking lots of water, my lips still dry out. So if I want to wear a lipstick, I want there to be some level of moisture when I put it on. Now that might take away from the lasting portion, but that is why I list moisturizing before lasting because that is important to me.

2. Lasting

Lasting just means how long it will last on my lips. I’ve had some lipsticks that profess to be long-lasting, 6 hours, 8 hours, 24 hours, etc. yet there have been times where they still came off I ended up with splotchy lips. I seem to have found one that actually works a bit better than most of the ones I have tried, but then there’s the factor of removing it off my lips. A god makeup remover does the trick, but sometimes the lasting sticks for a long time even with the remover.

3. "The Look"

The Look also factors in because I love the darker colors of lipsticks. The darker reds, wines, and browns are by far my favorites, though I have ventured off and tried bright reds, blues, blacks and greens, again, depending on how I am feeling that day in order for me to wear it. But in most cases, I wear the dark reds or wine-like colors because they seem to match better with my skin tone.

4. Taste

Lastly, the taste of the lipstick matters to me as well. I usually go on taste because if something tastes nasty to me, then I don’t want to put it in my mouth, let alone on my lips. I’ve had some lipsticks that have tasted sweet like candy and others that taste bitter like a burnt matchstick. For me, I would prefer something along the lines of coconut or olive oil or some hint of flavor. There are also some matte lipsticks that have not flavor at all or just taste like petroleum, and I like those as well.

Overall, lipsticks bring another flavor to a personality and, like all people, every personality is different. There may be some lipsticks out there that others like and I don’t, but that why I do appreciate the varieties that are out there. I also love hearing suggestions about the different brands of lipsticks and if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to let me know.