by Noleen Wyatt-Jones

Created on: April 11, 2008

I love lipstick; it's my favorite accessory. No matter how bad you feel a quick application of my favorite lipstick will always rejuvenate me. I have always favored the minimal approach to make-up - a little black eye liner, mascara and a liberal application of my favorite shade of lipstick.

Over the years I have experimented with different lipsticks and have come to the conclusion that you do get what you pay for, and that for me Chanel is by far the best. There is nothing better than that feeling when you have applied the color to your lips and they feel deliciously smooth and soft. To be perfectly honest I feel naked without lipstick and if I was only able to have one cosmetic product then it would have to be lipstick, and as make-up guru Bobbi Brown says "If I had to teach someone just one thing about lip color it would be this: Find a lipstick that looks good on your face when you are wearing absolutely no makeup." She is so right once you do find the right colors then you have the prefect pick-me-up.

The most flattering colors will be a shade or two darker than your normal lip tone but there are always those occasions when you may want to go big and bold with a vibrant red or a shocking pink and it is important to see which particular shade of red or pink suits you. I always use a lip brush in order to apply my lipstick and it really does give a more accurate result and it helps the lipstick to last longer as well. Though I do have to confess that there are occasions where I have found myself without access to a mirror and I can just about manage to color my lips without mishap!

Lipstick is more than simply a cosmetic product containing pigment, oils, waxes and emollients; it represents a bold personal statement about who you are as an individual. In one form or another it has been around for a long time and even the ancient Egyptians found ways to color their lips. In the book, "Read My Lips: A Cultural History of Lipstick," a reddish purple mercuric plant dye called fucus-algin, 0.01% iodine, and some bromine mannite-was used for lip rouge but unfortunately for the Egyptians this was a somewhat poisonous combination.

Anyway, thankfully lipstick is a considerably safer product these days and I know that if I was faced with a choice between lipstick and lip-gloss I would pick lipstick every time.

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