Here’s the thing: blue lipstick subverts the reason that most people wear the stuff. Lipstick is traditionally meant to be prettifying, making lips pinker and juicier and generally more appealing – and suggestive. Ah, yes, if you read anything on the power of red lipstick, you’re likely to be told that the reason for red being so popular is because it mimics arousal, and whispers/shouts (depending on hue) sex. By that token, blue lipstick can only suggest death, and the last time I checked, death was not hot.
But this may be the point blue lipstick aficionados are making. There is something powerful – defiant, even – in donning a lipstick that is not considered to be conventionally attractive, but that instead makes a statement. And boy does blue make a statement. I wore it for an entire week for the new InStyle UK Mads About Beauty series, and found myself garnering odd looks and raised eyebrows throughout.
That’s not to say I hated it. It affected me, sometimes for better (made me bolder, more happy to don avant garde clothes, less willing to tolerate stares without glaring back, etc.), sometimes for worse (it’s not my favourite look, and it required a fair amount of upkeep and precision in application in the morning). I wrote all about my experiences in wearing blue lipstick here, so have a read of that if you’d like to know about my mum’s horror or the brighter than bright blue lipstick that everyone stared at.
And, if you try/have tried it yourself, I’d love to know your thoughts. Is it one for the lipstick wardrobe, or are you of a similar mindset to me and do only the deepest, darkest of blues take your fancy?