Today, second to my birthday of course, is my favorite day of the year. It’s National Lipstick Day. We routinely celebrate the important things in life, like freedom on July 4th and gratitude on Thanksgiving. Lipstick is no less important. Not only is it the most essential makeup step – it polishes a full face beat, or can be worn solo for a bold statement look – it also has a long history of pushing boundaries and signaling the resilience and independence of women. At the height of WWII, while the Third Reich banned lipstick, intrepid American housewives supported the war effort and joined the workforce with a ruby red lip in full Rosie Riveter fashion.
While I still love all the lipsticks I curated in previous National Lipstick Day tributes, in National Lipstick Day: Matte to the Future, this curation is devoted to the latest moisturizing, pigmented, and plumping lippies I have in heavy rotation this summer.
It would not be hyperbole to state the first and oldest shade of lipstick was a bright, red. Historians have discovered that beauty mavens in ancient times, including Cleopatra, experimented with everything under the sun to find the perfect ruby stain, from insects, to red algae, flower petals, and berries to gemstones. Thanks to modern technology and advances in color theory, finding the perfect shade has been simplified.
Similar to the Kevyn Aucoin Beauty Velvet Lip Paints, Creative Director and Celebrity Makeup Artist Drita Paljevic sourced the best pigments from Japan for stunning color payoff and the most nourishing emollients in a next level gloss.
The Kevyn Aucoin Beauty Celestial Gloss, available in 7 shades of pinks, nudes and a shimmering brown, includes Cary, a perfect sheer iridescent red. It plumps with Vitamin E and a special gelling agent minus the sting. With a cherry red brightness, it’s the loving sister to my favorite matte red, the Allure Best of Beauty Winner Velvet Lip Paint in Stunning.
As the beautysphere is processing the closing of so many makeup brands, especially black-owned businesses, it’s with great pleasure that I found LYS Beauty’s Speak Love Moisture Matte Lipstick at the Makeup Show. Rich AF, housed in the brand’s sleek pink packaging delivers a blinding, pout-loving blue-toned red that compliments all skin tones. Given news that LYS Beauty has beaten the curve and secured a historic round of funding, after being the first clean, black-owned brand sold at Sephora, every application of Rich AF channels Rosie Riveter in more ways than one.
With the panoply of red shades that skew closer to pink, orange, brown, and every nuance in between, there is a perfect, unique red for everyone, as well a pink, berry, nude, burgundy, and brown. If not satisfied with the dozens of lippies out there and cosplaying Cleopatra in search of her signature lipstick shade is your way of manifesting your perfection, Lip Lab has a spot for you at their custom blending bar. With an array of glosses, balms, liner,s and lipstick formulations, as well as a myriad of color combos, Lip Lab will nail the color of your dreams or that beloved discontinued shade from sophomore year. Pre-mixed shades of all lippies, as well as appointments to blend the recently launched Soft Blur Cheek Sticks, are available in store and online.
To commemorate National Lip Stick Day, Lib Lab is gifting 100 free appointments for custom blending at its 17 locations, including Soho, Austin, Boston, DC and LA. Check the Lib Lab accounts on Tik Tok & IG, as well as partnering influencers Anna Barger and Ellie Williams Download the National Lipstick Day Lib Lab Flyer to get started.
Happy National Lipstick Day!!
