How to Start Wearing Lipstick

The first time I wore lipstick, people made fun of me for it. I was in kindergarten, so no wonder people thought it was strange for me to have dark red lips. I lied that it was actually cherry chapstick (which was far less embarrassing than lipstick), but the humiliation stuck with me so strongly that I didn't wear any lipstick for the next 18 years.

But at a personal session on how to do my makeup, the beauty consultant was shocked that I had never worn lipstick and wouldn't let me out of the store until I chose and learned to use my own lipstick.

It was a challenging step, but now that I made it, I'm glad to be wearing lipstick. Here is what I have learned from the experience of starting to use lipstick:

-It can help to you to look the age you want to look. I'm 23 but probably could pass for a high school student. I wanted to use lipstick to make myself look a bit more mature. Other people might use lipstick colors that make them look more fun or young. It depends on the person.

-Lipstick can boost self-esteem. A study by Ogilvie and Kristensen-Bach found that self-esteem was a bigger reason than sexual allure for why that women wore lipstick.

-It's great for men if they want to wear it, although I don't have much personal experience with that since I am not a man.

-As my friend pointed out when we were trying on lipstick, it makes your teeth look whiter! Having darker or more colorful lips can make the teeth look whiter in comparison, with no strange chemicals or expensive procedures required. Just make sure you keep the lipstick off your teeth, though.

-When looking at the colors, rub the lipsticks on your hand to see how the color will look on your lips. It might look different on your skin and lips than it looks on the stick. This also helps when you're comparing colors, since you can look at them side-by-side on your hand.

-If you are transitioning to lipstickfrom lip gloss or just starting to wear lipstick for the first time, think about using something in-between as your first lipstick, like the Lauren Mercier Stickgloss (sufficiently colored gloss in stick form). The built-in sheen creates the illusion that you're wearing only transparent lip gloss over naturally colorful lips. Whereas I might be self-conscious about wearing matte lipstick, I feel comfortable wearing the Stickgloss anytime I'd wear lip gloss (which is anytime I'm not in bed).

-If you're playing up any other facial features beside your lips, go for neutral tones that don't stand out too much. As the beauty consultant told me, you want to play up one feature on your face. In my case, I choose to play up my eyes, so I opt for a neutral lipstick color that will look nice but won't detract from my eyes.