(This isn’t an advertorial, or a paid promo, or anything. Just me fangirling.)
Barry M’s Genie lipstick has changed my life.
I’m a ‘late adopter’ when it comes to pretty much everything. You won’t see me in the queue at midnight to get the latest phone or see a new movie.
Make up didn’t interest me as much as it should’ve done in my teens. As my friends sat around comparing foundation shades and applying a fifth layer of mascara, I stayed resolutely barefaced. It didn’t interest me.
Something I did use near-religiously was toner. Harsh, bright blue, abrasive, sting-inducing toner full of alcohol. Which did the job of keeping my teen acne at bay – and gave me full-face rosacea for good measure. I’m starting to think I should’ve necked the stuff instead.
Now, I wear make up.
It started with a little bit of under-eye concealer. That turned into quite a lot of concealer. Ladies, Touch Eclat is a gateway drug. My burgeoning addiction to late nights and coffee undoubtedly contributed. The more purple the bags under my eyes become, the more often my Boots loyalty card comes out.
Then came foundation. Then came a layer of redness-balancing green concealer underneath my foundation. Powder. Mascara. Blusher. An overly long experimental stage of using every eyeshadow colour under the sun. That was fun. Holding out for discounted gadgets is one thing, doing the ‘electric blue eyeliner’ phase when you’re 24 is just embarrassing.
And suddenly, I’ve decided to also wear lipstick.
What happened?
Other lipstick-wearing ladies happened. I look at you all and I see nothing but lips. Pouty, perfectly coloured, lovely lips. I feel like the only woman who hasn’t found THE lipstick, her one true love and perfect life partner. I’ve never wanted to be a ‘mouthy cow’ more in my life. There’s a lipstick out there for me, and I started feeling the urge to seek it out.
Finding the right colour has been like looking for a pink, red, coral or maybe even properly orange needle in a haystack. I have no idea what works, because all lipstick looks alien on my face. I’m not used to it at all.
Raspberry seems too pink. Cherry Red seems too red. Ice Baby Pink? Too icy, too baby, too pink. It doesn’t help that I change my hair colour a lot. Am I supposed to use Coral with Cocoa Melt or Pure Purple hair? At one point, the black lipstick I keep solely for Halloween was looking like the most suitable option.
This is where Genie comes in. It’s green. And it reacts to the alkali in your lips, changing into a colour that’s more individual. It looks slightly different on everyone. The resulting colour on me is one I actually like. It doesn’t have the brashness of a deep red… or that odd tinge in baby pink that makes your teeth yellower.
The best thing? When I tell people my secret weapon, THEY turn green. Beautiful.
