Aimee Horton

Once upon a time a queen was sat in her window sewing and she pricked her finger on the needle. As three drops of blood landed on the snow on the ebony window frame, she looked down and said quietly, “Oh, how I wish I had a daughter with skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as ebony”.

Well Queenie, with me, you just might have been in luck. Skin as white as snow I can do, I am positively translucent. My hair could be classed as ebony (L’Oreal Brasilia, potato / pahtahto). Now, lips red as blood, now that I’m working on. Constantly. My quest for permanent lip colour is endless and there will be no living happily ever after until I find it. Wooed by the promise (LIES) of kiss proof, semi-permanent, lasting lipstick, I’m there. I have tried them all, lip stain, lip gel, lip paint, lip creme, lip conditioner, lip fix, lip tint, lip duos, two step, top coat, double wear, semi-permanent, super stay, supreme, infallible, long last, long wear, lasting colour, lasting finish, forever and matte. Alas, my make-up drawer is overflowing with the good (it stays), the bad (it doesn’t) and the ugly (it bleeds) of lip colour. All I wished for was long lasting vibrant colour that doesn’t descend into a lip liner frame around bare naked lips as soon as you so much as exhale.

And in Mac Pro Longwear Lipcolour, I think my lasting fix has come.

Now I have a somewhat uneasy relationship with make-up artists. Following the ‘we’ll just pop some bronzer on, make you look alive’ debacle, I’m sceptical. But when I was recommended the Gwen Stefani-esque scarlet red of Lasting Lust, I was tempted and my, I’m so pleased I was. It’s a two-step process, you paint it on, you let it dry, you slick on the gloss et voilà, lip colour that stays put. I always get a good 8+ hours wear and inevitably get asked, ‘how do you make your lipstick stay?’ by the envious pale lips. I whip out my Pro Longwear and extol its virtues, often to somewhat mixed results. Some, like me, love it and have got the hang of applying it so it does exactly what it says on the tin. Tube. Others who put it on top of lip salve or lip balm struggle when it slides off. Those who think more is more and slathering it on so thickly that it’s more Dulux than durable. Then there are those who think two coats are better than one. They’re not. The second coat will make the first roll off leaving a patchy, lumpy and most definitely non-permanent mess. No, applying it thinly, evenly and carefully (if you stray over your lip line, there it will stay) and the results couldn’t be much better. Whilst Mac state top up of gloss every now and then will moisturise and add shine, I find it sticks to the colour and take some of it with it. Tempting as it is to reapply, my fail safe method of painting, drying, shining and leaving, works.

Thanks to Mac Pro Longwear, I have found my happy ending, with lips red as blood I’m positively fit for a queen.