Lipstick, Gloss, or Stain

 

There are days when a person wants a little dab of color.  Other days, a person prefers having a deep wine red to make them feel sexy and other days no color at all.  I’ve gone shopping and often wondered how lipstick, lip gloss, and lip stain vary. I can tell you right now that my mother is a lipstick person who would never do gloss or stain while my sister preferred a hit of color.

Lipstick is the most common product people use to color their lips.  It contains  waxes, oils, pigments, and emollients  to keep the lips soft.  It is usually found as a solid that can be applied directly to the lips or via a brush.  Lipsticks tend to be highly pigmented, easily reapplied, will stain anything your lips or the lipstick touches, wide variety of finishes, can be easily cleaned off, and it’s easy to change the color.

Lipstick can also be found in a liquid form that is painted onto the lips.  The liquid form provides intense smudge free coverage lasting for a long time.  It can be found in matte, velvety, semi-matte and shiny versions. Liquid lipstick can remain on your lips through dinner, drinks, and dessert without fading. Unfortunately, liquid lipstick can feel heavier than regular lipstick, could dry your lips out more, and quality does matter.  The higher quality liquid lipsticks last longer and do not fade like the lower quality ones. 

Lip glosses are sticky gel-like substances that provide a bit of color.  Lip gloss comes in a squeezable tube or a bottle with an applicator.  Gloss is also the easiest way to apply. Unfortunately, it does not last long so it has to be frequently reapplied.  Lip gloss also provides the lips with a natural shiny look. It is also the most inexpensive choice of the three and doesn’t stain things.

There is also a lip paint which is a hybrid of lip gloss and liquid lipstick. Lip paint is lighter than lip gloss or liquid lipstick but still has the color and won’t dry your lips out nor will it be sticky like gloss.  This should leave your lips nice and dewy so be careful because some liquid lipsticks are being marketed as smudge proof lip paints.

Finally lip stain is a type of dye designed to stain the lips (provide color) for a long period of time. Although it is a predominantly water based product, it comes in a variety of colors of types from gel to marker to liquid but the color is not as bold or dense as lipstick or lip paint. It will not overwhelm the rest of your makeup.  Unfortunately,  It is possible for lip stains to contain alcohol which could dry your lips.

Some lip stains can stay on your lips for up to 24 hours, does not smudge, can give a matte look, defines lips well, is fast drying so the stain needs to be applied carefully and precisely, and requires makeup remover to be removed properly. Unfortunately, the color choices are limited to the more natural colors but the lip stains can be applied in layers to increase the intensity of the color.

Lip paint is something I’ve never heard of before and hope to check it out. Let me know what you think, I’d love to hear. Have a great day.