What Makes One Type of Lipstick Different from Another?

Different types of lipsticks are formulated for diverse purposes and have special ingredients to target their own unique function. The fragrances, antioxidants and sunscreens that are found in lipstick are what create the specific formula to give each tube its own uniqueness. So what makes one lipstick long lasting, one shiny, and the next lipstick matte? It does not matter whether your favorite brand is Chanel, MAC, Clinique, Revlon, Avon, Estee Lauder, Aveda, Ulta, or Loreal - each brand follows a specific formula to achieve a distinctive purpose. The secret is in the ingredients and formula. Here are some of the more popular types of lipstick and the meaning behind each formula.

Long-Lasting: This type contains a balm and polymers that helps to keep the lipstick on your lips. My favorites are Clinique Stay The Day Lip Colour, Bare Essentials 100% Lip Color, and L'Oreal Endless Eight Hour Lip Color.

Shine: The ingredients are made from metallic which catch the light and gives the lips a glossy wet look. My picks for best shine are Dior Addict Ultra Shine Lipstick or Shu Uemura Rouge Unlimited Crystal Shine Lipstick.

Hydrating: One of my favorite formulas! The hydration comes from a gel formula which makes the lipstick apply to the lips much like a balm such as Chapstick but still holds the color in without fading it out. I have very dry lips and my absolute favorite hydrating lipsticks are Chanel Hydracaresse Super Hydrating, Versace Hydrating Lipstick, and Ulta's Hydrating Shimmer.

Mineral: The secret formula here is that the ingredients are natural and chemical free. Try Joelle Mineral Cosmetics Lip Color or Pur Minerals Mineral Shea Butter lipstick.

Sheer: This lipstick leaves the lips sexy and seductive with gloss and shine. My personal choice for a sheer lipstick is Clinique Moisture Sheer Lipstick with SPF 15.

Matte: This type applies with a flat finish but the wax and silicone formula prevents the lips from feeling dried out and caked. It glides on smooth and stays in place all day long. The best matte lipsticks I've tried are Clinique Long Last Soft Matte or MAC Matte.

Stain: Great for those who don't particularly like lipstick because this formula contains pigments that stain the lips. Once the lips dry they have an opaque appearance and give the lips a pouty seductive look. Try L'Oreal Just Bitten Lip Stain, Aveda Lip Tint with SPF 15, or MAC Lipglass Stain.

Cream: Lipsticks of this type contain essential oils and have a wax base to give the lips a deeper color that lasts longer and they leave the lips soft and supple. My preferred brands of cream lipstick areCover Girl Continuous Color Cream or Revlon Moon Drops.

Plumping: These add fullness to the lips and give them that sex kitten pucker up and kiss me pout. Adds shine and gives the lips a younger look. I don't like plumping lipsticks but my friends tell me their favorite picks would be Bourjois Pour La Vie, Avon Beyond Color Nutralush with SPF 12, orLorac Lotsa Lip.

Anti-aging: Wonderfully smooth and full of vitamins E and C and antioxidants that nourish the lips and gives them elasticity and a sensual look. There is also Vitamin A that helps with anti-aging. I'm a huge fan of anti-aging lipstick and my top picks are Gourmet Body Treat, T. LeClerc Transparent, Olay Regenerist Anti-Aging Lip Treatment, DDF Glossy Lip Therapy with SPF 15.

Organic: The key here is 100% natural ingredients that are made from coconut, jojoba and sunflower oils and beeswax. My mom likes to wear organic lipstick and her top choices are Honeybee Gardens Color Balm, Nvey Eco Organic, Earth's Beauty Shea and Aloe, and Marie Claire Afterglow Organic Liplove.

Lancome Lipsticks

L'ABSOLU ROUGE

Wrap your lips in rich, satiny color with this deeply replenishing lipstick. Infused with moisture-boosting Pro-Xylane™, lips stay moist, soft and comfortable for up to 8 hours. Antioxidant-rich Vitamin E and SPF 12 help keep lips safe from environmental aggressors, so they’ll look and feel healthier day after day. The stay true color won’t feather, flake or fade, so your pout will always look picture-perfect.

Benefits

• Deeply replenishes, softens and moisturizes lips for up to 8 hours
• Lips feel comfortable and smooth for hours
• Intense color glides on evenly and looks satiny
• Help protect delicate lips against environmental damage, UVA and UVB rays
• The sleek black case features an innovative magnet closure system and looks un decidedly luxurious

BAUME IN LOVE

These neon-translucent permanent shades saturate lips with comfort, moisture and lasting stain of color.ransluscency of colors and adds shine to lips.

When the texture is applied, its high content of light oils delivers a very smooth, thin and glinding film on the lips that provides a comfortable, lightweight feeling for the customer.

Protective jelly enhances its adherence on the lips. This adherence combined with its barrier effect optimizes comfort and protection of the skin from its external environment by maintaining moisture levels within the lips.

Shea butter has a unique composition compared to other plant-derived oils: it provides a naturally moisturizing effect and leaves the lips feeling soft.

L'ABSOLU CRÈME DE MAT

A liquid rouge with a matte finish. 

L'Absolu Creme de Mat combines the gentleness of a gloss and the coverage of a lipstick with a deep velvety finish on the lips. Three limited edition shades, ranging from bright red to profound burgundy, will cover every look from day to night. The precise-angled, tapered tip applicator ensures an even and contoured application.

•   Velvety touch upon application
•   Gel fillers keep lips moisturized with a matte finish
•   Contains waxes to prevent feathering

Make UP Forever Lip Liner

AQUA LIP

The extremely waterproof texture of this pencil can be used to reshape and heighten lip contour.
Very long-lasting and non-transferable, it holds for hours even in extreme conditions. It is water and saliva resistant. It can be used on the entire mouth, after applying non-oily skincare on the lips (Lip Contour Skincare Pencil). The range of matte shades offers natural harmonies in matching tones and other more intense colors.

 

LIP LINE PERFECTOR

Colorless Anti-Feathering Lip Pencil

Lip Line Perfector is a colorless pencil that defines the lips for a long lasting result.
Acting as an invisible barrier, it keeps the color inside the lip line and prevents lipstick from bleeding and feathering. 
Its smooth and creamy texture is enriched with beeswax, ceramid, Elastomer of silicone and high molecular hyaluronic salt. This cocktail fills in fine lines, keeping the lipstick in place and preventing smudging.
The transparent color suits every lipstick shade and every skin tone.

LIP LINER PENCIL

The extra-long Lip Contours Lip Pencil draws precise, even lines that remain sharp for hours. The flexible tip, soft and rich in pigments, marks as soon as it touches your skin. Ideal for correcting the shape of the mouth, it also makes your lipstick last longer and helps prevent “bleeding”.

Make UP Forever Gloss

GLOSSY FULL

Vinyl Effect Pluming Lip Gloss

This colorless gloss gives lips an ultra-brilliant vinyl effect. Maxi Lip, a collagen stimulator, replumps and shapes lips. Lips are rejuvenated and smoothed. Its non-sticky texture won't rub away and stays on lips for hours. Colorless, it can be used alone, applied over lipstick or mixed with shimmer. Its lightly and very fresh menthol perfume stimulates and improves micro-circulation at the lip.

  

GLOSSY FULL COULEUR

Vibrant color

GLOSSY FULL COULEUR is a gel-textured and long-lasting lip gloss, that leaves lips ultra shiny. Available in 9 shades, it colors the lips and lights them up with an unparalleled mirror effect.

The range features bold pop-art and nude colors to apply directly to the lips or layer over lipstick.
Its mentholated fragrance reinforces the iced, frosty effect of the gloss.

LAB SHINE

Sparkling - Pearly - Chrome Shine Lip Gloss

LAB SHINE Lip Gloss offers a spectacular and intense shiny effect. 
Especially designed to achieve an ultra-bright effect, its silky brush ensures an optimal and dazzling coverage.

LAB SHINE is available in 3 collections, in a wide range of 35 creative colors and effects:
- The Diamond Collection offers a sheer coverage, natural effect and a sparkling shine.
- The Star Collection offers a medium coverage with a pearly shine.
- The Metal Collection offers a high coverage with a chrome shine.

SUPER LIP GLOSS

Super Lip Gloss slightly-colored glossy gel formula adds volume to the lips and is long-lasting. 
Since it was first marketed, it has been a staple of the beauty world. Models in 
particular love this magical gloss which gives them a sensual edge.
The best way to keep lips glossy for hours, Super Lip Gloss is also very popular in the music world, where the camera gets up close and personal with the stars'make-up.

Make Up For Ever Lipsticks

AQUA ROUGE

Waterproof Liquid Lip Color

As a 2 step product, Aqua Rouge comes in a double-ended packaging consisting in 2 bottles connected by a black metallic ring.
The ergonomic form of the applicatore helps to paint lips precisely. Its texture is highly loaded in opaque pigments with a matt finish. Aqua Rouge is extremely stable and long lasting.
The transparent texture of the top coat provides a lacquer finish for extreme shine and comfort.
Available in 12 colors, each shade of aqua rouge corresponds to a shade of aqua lip.

5 LIPSTICK PALETTE

This practical, fun palette exists in 13 pre-selected harmonies and consists of 5 removable and refillable lipstick pots in a single case. 
The colors, with various textures, can be mixed together to create volume effects or your own colors. 
The integrated wraparound mirror and brush allow you to make up your lips with precision wherever and whenever you like.

ROUGE ARTIST NATURAL

Rouge Artist Natural has an ultra creamy formula that hydrates the lips with a natural sheen. 

Enriched with a cocktail of vegetal ingredients, made of waxes and Cupuassu Butter, it contains nourishing properties for a moisturizing smooth texture that glides on effortlessly.
Its translucent shine reveals pure pearls and pigments for a profusion of 50 luminous shades. 

Rouge Artist Natural makes it possible to find a color to suit every mood!

Shades of Lakme

         



    

Start with looking at yourself carefully in the mirror. Use swatches of fabric to see what looks good on your facial skin – that will give you a clue which colour family to look at. The colour that makes your face seem muddy and dull is a complete no-no. When you find the shade that makes you seem as if you are lighted up and glowing, you will know it almost immediately. Every woman knows when she looks good. 

The first step – take your time and examine the range of lipstick shades carefully. Choose a colour that gives you the same kind of 'glow' as the fabric did. To make it easier for you, you can use the following rule of thumb. 

• If your skin is fairly light, opt for medium tones – pinks, beige, pale peach, orange, taupe.
  
• If your hair and skin are dark, choose deep tones – maroon, fuschia, dark chocolate, plum, wine, ruby.
  
• If your colouring is somewhere in between, you are lucky – you can wear almost anything you like, from a pale nude to a brilliant scarlet to a gentle caramel.
  
• If you are olive-toned, like many Indians, be careful with the violets and pale lavenders. Use brighter colours with less blue in them.
  

The general rule is to keep lips soft and natural if your eyes are dramatic. During the day, stick with lighter, softer, more matte colours, to present a more professional and sober appearance. Night time allows more glitz and glamour, so up the voltage with brights and lots of drama. Gloss and glitter is best saved for a special evening out.



If you are looking for a long stay lipstick, go for Lakme 9to5. Usually long-lasting lip stains dry out your lips. But Lakme 9to5 moisturizes the lips without fading or ruining the lipstick’s color. 




For regular lipstick users, every bit of moisture helps. So look for lipsticks with vitamin E to moisturize and protect your lips.  Lakme Enrich Lip Color is enriched with Vitamin E to keep lips feeling softer and smoother. 




Lip glosses are very popular these days because they add softness, moisture, and sheen to the lips; making them look a bit fuller, younger, and oh-so-yummy! 




Lipliners are useful when you want a carefully defined lip contour, and essential if you are wearing a dark (plum, maroon) or very bright (red, fuschia) shade, since any bleeding will be clearly visible.