For a long time, even after I started wearing makeup every day, I never wore any lip color. Lip gloss and lipstick were the only products I really knew about, and I had this notion that only older women wore lipstick. So that left me with a world of drugstore lip glosses. They were sticky and sickly-sweet tasting, and turned me off right away.

I has only been recently (within the last year or so) that I’ve discovered the world of lip color and all that I had been missing for years. Seriously, the perfect lipstick can complete not only a makeup look, but an entire outfit.

I have also been slowly introduced to other lip products, most recently the NARS lip pencils. I am in love.

The velvet matte lip pencil, which I have in the shade Cruella, is my favorite. I love a classic red, especially one that goes on so smoothly. It’s probably the longest lasting  lip color I own (even after six hours, lunch, and a snack there was still a nice stain left on my lips).

I also got a satin lip pencil in the shade Rikugien. This one doesn’t last as long, but the color is a nice rosie-pink that for me is the perfect my-lips-but-better color.

The pencils definitely require a steady hand (especially the red), but the crayon-like tip is easier to use than your average lipstick.

Anyone have a suggestion for what lip colors/formulas I should try next?