Thursday 21 November 2019

Toast of New York

Do you wear lipstick?

There are varying opinions about it in our family. My daughters, for the most part, quite strongly dislike the feel of lipstick. 

I personally like lipstick a lot. Low energy and low blood pressure combine to give me a strikingly deathly appearance at times, and in my opinion lipstick cheers things up. Aye, and blusher. Though I've long since retired defeated from eyeshadow and mascara, having lost my eyes beneath hooded folds of skin some years ago.

If you do wear lipstick, what colour suits you?

I look best in either brown reds, or berry colours. 

I have one lipstick — this one (sorry, I see I should have combed my hair) —



– that is a favourite, not initially because of the colour (though happily I like that too) but because of the name. It's an American lipstick, so I didn't get to try it on before I bought it — I got it online. 

It's called Toast of New York. As soon as I saw that, my inner foolish child had to have that lipstick, would not sit down and shut up until I pressed "Send" on a purchase, and waited eagerly for the postie to bring it along to our house.

Sometimes if I'm feeling blue and looking mauve, if life feels less than attractive and so do I, then I apply a lavish helping of Toast of New York, and tell myself things have never been better and I'm probably the happiest woman who ever walked the earth.

It sets this song off, playing in my mind. Not that I have any desire at all to wake up in a city that doesn't sleep, or be top of any heap — I'm entirely happy with where and what I am — and plus I have mixed feelings about Frank Sinatra but, that aside, what a tune, eh? And what a band!

9 comments:

Suzan said...

I buy myself a lipstick and my mother promptly makes it her own. She has so many cold sores etc I will not use it. So I have given up. But as I age my lips are looking colourless.

I have taught my girls to not share make up and only buy it in small quantities as it should be discarded far sooner than most people expect.

Anonymous said...

How fun! It is also a good color on you! Personally, I don't wear lipstick anymore,just the more utilitarian lip balm such as colorless Chapstick (but usually something more like Lavera or Burt's Bees). I have what some people call "puppet lines" the downward folds at the corners of my mouth like a Marionette, and lipstick just seems to draw attention to them uncomfortably. But i do still wear eye shadow and mascara even though things droop there as well or I just look too tired.
DMW

Pen Wilcock said...

Hi Suzan — I wonder if you could get a really nice lipstick and hide it deep in a zip compartment in your handbag? About not keeping make-up too long, yes, I understand it should be discarded earlier than we might think, just as you say. I'm guilty of hanging on to mine for ages, once I've found a colour I like.

Hi DMW — Oh yes, the lines and changes of ageing present new challenges all the time! I find it isn't as easy to get make-up right as one might think.

Sandra Ann said...

Yep a bit of Lippy certainly helps at this end! That colour really suits you and your hair looks fab too! I have two very dear friends in that beck of the wood and so I love that name xx

Elin said...

I don't wear make-up at all but even when I did I didn't really like lipstick. Some people really look great wearing it but I always felt uncomfortable when I tried to wear it and scared it would go all over my face or teeth. When I did wear make-up I was more of an eye shadow and mascara type of person. I loved wearing glittery eye shadow, I remember a dark brown one with some sparkles in it. I loved it and it looked good on me.

Suzan said...

I wish I could but I have very little privacy. Mum is no respecter of an individual's rights. As she gets older the worse she becomes.

Pen Wilcock said...

San — I could imagine you in strong pink shades, because your colouring is delicate — or quiet nude shades on days when you aren't feeling outgoing.

Elin — "scared it would go all over my face and teeth"! Haha! I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes it does, too. When I was a schoolgirl we had a teacher who always wore a bright shade of orange lipstick. She was a formidable person, with great dignity, and would summon individuals to her desk to critique their work — really a pleasant experience, but alleviated by observing with fascination the traces of orange lipstick on her teeth.

Suzan — Geez, your mother!!!

Julie B. said...

Your lipstick looks perfect on you. I love it.

I wear some kind of lip moisturizer most of the time, and wear lipstick when I put on makeup, which is about once every couple of weeks.

My mother wore Revlon's Extra Silvery Lilac back in the day, and it always made me feel happy when she had lipstick on. It meant she was in a cheerful mood for whatever reason.

I have pink/blue undertones in my fair skin, so gravitate toward medium lip shades that are cooler.

You are radiant. xoxo

Pen Wilcock said...

"Extra Silvery Lilac" Wow! That made me stop and think. I can exactly imagine that colour, and it is not a section of the colour palette I would ever think of visiting. Interesting, isn't it? So many different skin tones! xxx