LOVE YOUR LIPS

There's never a wrong time to wear a statement lipstick. marie claire puts the most-wanted lip colours under the spotlight to prove their pulling power, whatever the climate

- SALLY HUNWICK

The other day I was looking everywhere for a lipstick – in my work bag, my weekend shopper, in my car, in evening clutches. My 11-year-old son asked me what I was doing and I said, “Looking for my lipstick.” He replied (correctly) that I have many lipsticks and asked, “Why don’t you use one of the ones in your bedroom?”

Of course I could. But I didn’t want just any lipstick, I wanted the lipstick. Which, in that moment, was a nude shade created by Peter Philips for Dior. With its matte finish and brown-tinged rose tone, it was everything I needed to make everything right, right now.

It’s no secret that lipstick has the power to change your face completely. Full lips, symmetry, colour. But, of course, it’s not just your face that it affects, it’s also your inner self. The perfect shade can boost confidence in an instant, and this is probably why – at a time when interest rates are sky-high and the monthly squeeze is real – we are buying up high-end lipsticks.