Goodbye to gloss, it’s time to mix and match with matte lipsticks

The cosmetics industry has come a long way since the ancient Egyptians concocted homemade lipsticks from red ochre and crushed bugs. Women now have their pick of a seemingly impossible palette of colours, textures and finishes – all bottled in glitzy and eye-catching tubes.

The glory days of gloss appear to be waning, with many women ditching their sticky liquid cosmetics. Yet the drier matte lipstick, a fairly recent trend, seems to make some women wary. This is largely because of its tendency to exaggerate certain blemishes, such as bumps and cracks. Thankfully, a number of sophisticated new products , complete with hydrating and moisturising ingredients, have emerged to help remedy this problem.

Dior lipsticks, for instance, last 16 hours and help hydrate and revitalise lips with their blend of mango butter and Aroleat Samphira. This season, more than 60 years after Dior released Rouge Dior, its first lipstick, the luxury brand has set about reinventing its classic look, now available in an ultra-matte or satin finish.

Aside from Dior, Giorgio Armani, Gucci and Lancôme have all jumped on the matte wagon this autumn. The Giorgio Armani Lip Magnet, a matte liquid lipstick, is available in 18 bold shades, while Gucci’s Sensuous Deep-Matte Lipstick is said to leave the wearer’s lips feeling supple and silky. In a similar vein, Lancôme’s L’Absolu Rouge collection comes in a choice of three finishes – matte, sheer or cream.

 

 

 

 

“The glory days of gloss appear to be waning, with many women ditching their sticky liquid cosmetics”

Again maximising on choice, Mac has outdone itself with its Liptensity collection, which features 24 new shades of lipstick, in a range of bold and brilliant colours. Options include black Stallion and peachy Toast and Butter.

Another fresh option this year is Tom Ford’s Lip Contour Duo, boasting a lighter shade of lip shaper on one end of the stick and a darker lip colour at the other. The two shades can be combined and blended together for a fetching faded ombré effect.

For a touch of the more exotic, Russian model Natalia Vodianova’s new Holiday Makeup collection – produced in association with Guerlain – evokes images of the bright red bindi favoured by Hindu women as a symbol of creation.

The new collections from By Terry and NARS take a glamour-on-the go approach. By Terry’s convenient Rouge-Expert Click Stick summons the perfect layer of lipstick at the click of a button. The Velvet Lip Glide by NARS, meanwhile is a celebration of the liberated women of the 1970s.

Whether it be matte or glossy, neutral-coloured or vibrant, this season’s lipstick products should leave no-one down in the mouth.