Editor’s Note: We’re celebrating 30 Days of Beauty to help you get ready for all of those holiday parties. Prizes or discounts will be awarded randomly, so you won’t want to miss a day!
Bobbi Brown’s eponymous company began exactly 20 years ago. Back in 1991, when she was a freelance makeup artist, she created 10 brown-based lipsticks for Bergdorf Goodman, called Bobbi Brown Essentials. It was a revolutionary idea: Lipsticks that looked like the color of lips—only better. One hundred lipsticks sold on the very first day, and a beauty star was born.
To commemorate that original set, Bobbi’s created a collector’s anniversary edition palette ($60) featuring all 10 colors (from Blackberry to Burnt Red) plus 10 more ultra-modern colorful ones (like Coral Gables and Pink Martini). It’s just too good for words.
This adorable and infinitely fun kit lets you play, mix, and match, and comes with a built-in mirror in between the two trays of lip colors, plus a mini wood-handled lip brush. It’s a can’t-go-wrong gift for any lipstick lover on your list. Like moi.
Lagniappe:
If those 20 killer colors aren’t enough for you—and when is makeup ever enough?—I’ve found five more pucker-worthy ways to get your kisser gorgeously locked and loaded for whatever the night may bring:
1.- Bobbi Brown Party Alice Lip Color ($23)
This pink rose (which isn’t included in the anniversary edition palette, by the way) looks like the color of babies’ lips. It’s so fool-proof you don’t even really need a mirror to apply. And it feels so good on—thanks to Vitamins E and C, and beeswax—that you’ll want to wear it to bed.
2.- NARS Happy Days Velvety Gloss Lip Pencil ($24)
Leave it to French makeup guru François Nars to figure out how to combine a lip crayon that can double as a glossy lipstick, with Vitamin E and a lip-plumping formula. This is a very sheer pinky coral with subtle gold shimmer. Feels like butter. Parfait.
3.- NARS Joyous Red Lipstick ($24)
Don’t let the color freak you out. It’s supposed to be joyous, remember? If you’ve been scared to try a red lip, this is the one you want. Semi-sheer, semi-matte, this warm, long-wearing amber red will look beautiful and is forgiving and easy to wear. Really. Plus the award-winning lipstick’s got conditioners and antioxidants to hydrate, nourish, and protect your lips. J’adore!
4.- Benetint ($29)
This iconic rose-colored lip and cheek tint by Benefit Cosmetics has been around a long time because it works on everybody and there’s nothing quite like it. It looks like a bottle of nail polish except the stain itself feels like water. You brush it on the apple of your cheeks and blend it very quickly with your fingertips—Benetint truly is a stain. Dot it on your lips and blend it the same way. Voilà: lovely, flushed cheeks and lips that look natural, fresh, sheer, and won’t come off until you decide. Great stuff.
5.- Femme Rouge Velvet Crème Lipstick in Raven ($30)
If you’re like me, you’re not afraid of anything – least of all a bright, bold lipstick. Please. I was rocking red lips as a toddler. No big! I’ve found my fave new red, by Hourglass Cosmetics. I can’t say enough about this lipstick!
First of all, the color itself. It’s a true, richly-pigmented, long-wearing, water-resistant, refillable, warm, happy red whose shade doesn’t turn. That alone is huge. Next, the angle of the bullet: The tip is sculpted and flat for precise, defined application; you can forgo a lip liner. That’s huge. Next, the texture: it’s light, soft, silky-smooth, and luxurious. And finally, it’s actually good for you (this is how you justify the price): it has Vitamin E, conditioners, and super antioxidants to repair, nourish, and moisturize ; and it’s paraben-, sulfate-, and phthalate-free.
My Cuban lips and I are smitten.
