A Lipstick By Any Other Name…

Tinting lips used to be as easy as picking up a tube of lipstick. For better or worse, those days are gone. Stop at any make-up counter these days, and you are sure to find an array of choices to get that perfect shade. Lipsticks, lip glosses, lip tints, lip stains…the choices go on and on. So how does a girl pick? Like job titles, the name of a product can tell you very little about the product itself. So ignore all the fancy names and hone in on what the product does; there are really only three different ways to tint your lips.
The sheerest, and probably easiest, way to give your lips a little added something is with a lip gloss. Lip glosses can be clear or have the slightest hint of color to them, and they will make your lips incredibly shiny. Lip glosses often go by names like Lip Slicks, lip glass, and lip shine. They can be worn alone or over lipstick for a darker color.
The next step in color is lipstick. Lipstick is more permanent than lip glosses, and it has more pigment too. It will color your lips more noticeably than lip gloss. Lipstick comes in a variety of colors and it is usually sold in tubes. You can buy shiny or matte lipsticks depending on what look you want. Of course, lipsticks don’t always stay on as long as you would like, and who wants to take a break every few hours to reapply lipstick?
Lip stains and lip tints are the most likely candidates to pass the staying power test. They are virtually the same thing, and they are the most permanent color you can get for your lips. Lip stains adhere to your lips, and they will last you a very long time. The only downside to lip stains is they can dry your lips because they contain ingredients like alcohol. If your lips are already feeling dry, a lip stain may just collect into the dry spots.
Rubbing the color on the inside or your thumb will often give you an idea of what it will look like on your lips. In the end, how it looks on you will determine what you want more than what it’s called. Next time you are in the make-up aisle, sampling the product will give you a better idea of what you want than looking for a product with a particular name.