At the tail end of one of those horribly long days at the end of a horribly rainy week where I’d been besieged by the sort of cold that makes you feel improbably gloomy and turns the rims of your eyes along with your nostrils red, I had to go out.

It was a dinner party requiring a bit of effort, and so I duly plopped some foundation on to cover said redness and reached for the only make-up item I knew to be imbued with magical powers: red lipstick.

Once coated in Lisa Eldridge Velvet Ribbon, my mouth not only took centerstage, drawing attention away from the signs of that cold, but I noticed my shoulders dropped and my back straightened, my body starting to learn that bright lipstick is more than just lipstick: it engenders a feeling, directs mood. You don’t so much wear it as deploy it.

See Full Page