Personally, I am all for choice in the field of make-up – never am I in greater paroxysms of pleasure than when contemplating a wealth of products. I find the process of deciding which colours will be complementary when paired tremendously enjoyable. It is a morning ritual that, like cleansing in the evening, I really do look forward to.
There are days, however, when time is short and make-up must be applied speedily. I then reach for multitasking products that make making up a cinch. In this field, few are as handy as the lip and cheek product.
While these balms or stains that can be patted onto the apples of cheeks and then dabbed onto lips on the way out the door/in the car/on the tube have been around for years, they have really come to the fore of late, with the industry answering the need for speed in make-up with new textures and finishes, making it easy to tailor the look to your preferences.
These are also a good purchase to make if, unlike me, you don’t delight in choosing a cheek colour to complement your lip or vice versa. Do you need further reason to splurge? Consider the cost element – cheeks and lips in one. Much cheaper than buying both separately. And easy to travel with, too. Oh the reasons for loving these are as multiple as their uses…
Note: lip and cheek colours shouldn’t be applied to the same intensity on both features – I’d suggest going easy on cheeks to avoid looking like a pantomime extra. Add a touch to the top of eye or into the socket line for an effortlessly polished look
Ones to try //
– Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge, £17.10 (reduced from £19) at debenhams.com. Finish: slightly shiny. Hugely popular for a reason – great colour pay off, creamy textures that melt onto the skin and colours that just last and last. Also, just look at the array of wearable colours. Sigh.
– Stila Convertible Colour, £16 at cultbeauty.co.uk. Finish: slightly shiny. When I was 15, I remember taking my pocket money up to Space NK to buy one of these hallowed award-winning pots. I wore it daily in the hope of conferring a little A-list glamour onto my schoolgirl face. Over ten years later, I still get out a little pot of convertible colour when I want to look lit from within. Very creamy, very cult.
– Yves Saint Laurent Kiss & Blush, £24.30 at johnlewis.com. Finish: velvet – not quite matte, though close to it. You know how I said there were some pretty excellent new releases around? Meet the cream of the crop. What’s the difference between these and traditional balms or stains? Texturally, they’re a little more complex – they start as a gel that makes spreading on the cheeks a breeze but, once set, become a velvety stain. Again, take a moment to ogle the colours.
– Becca Beach Tint, £20 at uk.spacenk.com. Finish: mimics skin. Becca: purveyors of glow, worn by the likes of Bosworth and Kylie. They make the good goods. These tints are water-resistant, smell delicious (fruity and not too artificial) and take to the skin like an ink, leaving colour without any greasy residue. I’ve got Papaya and Raspberry for use during the warmer months. And I’m really looking forward to cracking them open (COME ON SUMMER).