Pucker up for some lip service

Tried and Tested: The six best lipsticks, glosses, stains and pencils to add to your makeup bag


Tom Ford's Smoke Red lip colour (€48) I've been in to visit this product in Brown Thomas a few times now. The blood red colour demands a brave person to wear it, and the price tag is hefty for a lipstick, but the colour pigment is out of this world, and the texture is creamy and moisturising with ingredients such as murumuru butter and chamomilla flower oil.

YSL lip Rouge Pur Couture Glossy Stain Lip Stain €29.70 Combining the shine of a gloss with the long wear of a stain, this was another that lasted all day on my lips and did not dry out. It is lightweight in texture, so much so that you almost don't feel it on the lips. The only downside is that it is slightly sticky, so I would avoid it on a windy day if you have long hair. My favourite colour was 11 in "orangish pink".

Dior Addict Lip Glow Pomade €36.50 This is an oil gel with a rosy tint that moisturises your lips and creates the perfect base for lipstick. Its high shea concentration helps colour last longer and stops that awful lip build up that can happen over the course of a long day in lipstick.

Chanel Matte Liquid Lip Colour €34 This glides on like a gloss but sets like a lipstick. And boy does it set. I wore it for an entire day, including during dinner, and I still needed to give my lips a scrub to get it off before bed. Don't let the "matt" part trick you into thinking it's dry – it includes jojoba oil and sweet almond oil, to keep things supple. My favourite shade is the brick red named "152 Choquant" but there is a variation of shades from nude to brown.

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Lip pencil in shade 'Brick' from Mac €17.50 I have spent a long time searching for the perfect lip-liner. I have gone through every variation of screw top, paint on, push-up pencil you can think of. And at the end of it all I have come full circle and am back using an old-fashioned lip pencil that you sharpen with a pencil sharpener. If it's not broke, don't fix it. The lip pencil in shade 'Brick' from Mac and does the job perfectly under all my current red lipsticks.

Dominique loves . . .

Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-In-Place lip pencil €23 This year, on top of the chapped lips, a new lip-related problem has arisen. I now find I have to deal with lipstick bleeding in small thin lines around my mouth. After a chat with a make-up artist, I have discovered Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-In-Place lip pencil. This is a very clever clear lip liner that you put on just as you would a normal lip liner. It keeps everything exactly where it should be and stops lipstick bleeding off onto your face.