Dear lipstick haters, here are 11 recos you just might love!

by Marianne Raterta, contributor

Lipstick is the easiest gateway to a love affair with makeup. We love how we can change our look and brighten our face almost immediately with the right shade! For others though, lipstick may be the thing they dread the most, the lone product that they can’t get into. As a result, they either avoid wearing lipstick altogether, or treat it like a fancy pair of shoes, only to be used on special occasions.

We get it though – some lipstick formulas just feel off. They can feel heavy and sticky, dry out lips or need to be constantly reapplied so to the point of it being a hassle. If you can relate to the lipstick hate, we hope you reconsider! There ARE lippies that deliver a great punch of color without the added stress. We have 11 picks in different types, shades, and finishes that'll hopefully turn you into a lipstick convert!

If you have dry lips and obvious lip lines, go for moisturizing balm-type formulas. These tubes are often formulated with ingredients that care for your lips while packing on intense color. 

Pixi by Petra’s Shea Butter Lip Balm (P420 at BeautyMNL, Glamourbox, and select SM Department Stores) boasts of a super-nourishing formula that includes vitamin E. A single swipe gives a sheer wash of color and can be layered on to create a rosy pink lip.

Here's a new one - the Bobbi Brown Nourishing Lip Color (P1400 at Bobbi Brown counters) is an oil-rich lipstick with Avocado, Babassu and Jojoba Oils, plus Olive Oil Complex, Cocoa Seed Butter and Vitamins C and E. Sounds impressive? It is! It's one of the most moisturizing lipsticks we've ever tried. It's so hydrating yet staying power is great and the colors are so pigmented.

Burt's Bees Lipstick in Suede Splash, Pixi by Petra Shea Lip Balm, L'Oreal Glossy Balm in Innocent Coral, NYX Butter Lipstick in Moonlit Night, Bobbi Brown Nourishing Lip Color in Berry, Peripera Peri's Ink in shade 1, Chateau Labiotte Wine Lip Tint in OR01, Revlon Colorstay Moisture Stain in Parisian Passion

For a more budget-friendly pick, try NYX’s Butter Lipstick (P390 at NYX stores). Coming in a satin finish, these are such a treat to apply because they glide on so smoothly onto the lips. They’re as moisturizing as they feel, and offer buildable pigmentation so you can go from sheer to opaque in a few swipes.

We recently raved about the Burt’s Bees Lipstick (P795 at Burt’s Bees stores and Beauty Bar), the brand’s first foray into full-color cosmetics. For a brand more well-known for their awesome lip balms and skincare, it wasn’t a surprise that their lipsticks would have the same nourishing and moisturizing feel – but the praises don’t stop there. The pleasant surprise comes in how pigmented these are, with even the light shades showing their color in one swipe!

Do you prefer chubby, stick-type products? L’Oreal Glossy Balms (P400 at department stores) offer both moisture and shine in a handy crayon form. The sheer color and convenient shape makes it easy to apply without having to be too precise; you can even get away with a mirror-free application.

If you’re forgetful, too busy or simply hate having to reapply, stains are the best way to go. They also feel quite invisible on the lips since its base liquid evaporates after a few minutes. However, the stains of 2016 aren’t the usual sheer ones you've known before – these are full-color products that look like legit lipsticks, but without the waxy feel!

Peripera Peri’s Ink (P200 at Althea PH) looks a calligraphy ink bottle but the dropper cap is purely cosmetic. It actually opens to reveal a flat, doe-foot applicator with a tapered tip. The pigmentation is solid in one to two swipes, and leaves a deep stain even after the initial color has worn off.

Get that wine-stained lips look sans alcohol with Chateau Labiotte’s Wine Lip Tint (P500 at Mei Satsuki). The cute packaging contains a brilliantly pigmented formula that also leaves your lips moisturized; a pleasant surprise since lip tints are normally drying! It stays put even if you drink but fades a little when you eat oily food. The stain stays on even when the opaque top layer finally comes off.

The Revlon Colorstay Moisture Stain (P625 at department stores) delivers glossy color enriched with vitamin E and aloe. It initially applies creamy, but sets quickly to a finish similar to that of a glossy lipstick. One swipe is pigmented enough, and after a few hours of wear, becomes a solid stain on the lips.

If you don’t like the feeling of having anything on your lips, as in ZERO, nothing beats the featherweight formula of lip pencils. They feel like you have nothing on, and provide long-lasting color. Just let your fave lip balm sink in first then blot it before applying your pencil to prevent dryness!

Coming from their collaboration with Heart Evangelista, Happy Skin’s Shut Up & Kiss Me Moisturizing Matte Lip Liner (P499 at Happy Skin) contains their signature shea butter and collagen combo to hydrate and nourish lips, leaving a creamy and pigmented application that doesn’t bleed throughout the day. This already-stellar formula also contains cupuaçu butter, which adds even more hydration, plus improved elasticity.

Want your lip color to stay on from coffee to cocktails? The Make Up For Ever Aqua Lip liner pencil is both water- and saliva-resistant, making this pencil ultra long-lasting and with zero transfer. It glides on the lips, too, and also prolongs the longevity (and reduces bleeding) of any lipstick used with it.

If you want longevity AND an invisible feel, try out a lip manicure!

The RiRe Lip Manicure (P360 at Mei Satsuki, P350 at Althea) looks like a bottle of nail polish to match its odd name, but that’s where the comparison ends. The long-wearing formula has a surprisingly light texture! It feels creamy upon application but soon settles to feeling like you don’t have any product on. It has a small, doe-foot applicator that can be used to create an ombré lip or swipe on full color. This is available in 11 shades.

Make Up For Ever Aqua Lip, Happy Skin Shut Up & Kiss Me Moisturizing Matte Lip Liner in First Date, Rire Lip Manicure in Pink Brown

Discuss:

• What are your complaints about wearing lipstick?
• Have you tried any of the products above?
• Send us your own recos, please!

Photography by Sam Gonzales