How has your lip product routine and usage changed in the last year?
I already worked from home normally, and since I effectively test lip colors for a living, it hasn’t changed! I still wear tons and tons of lip products.
— Christine
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With the exception of buying another tube of MAC Craving (my most used lipstick of all time), I am buying no lipsticks at all. I haven’t purchased even one lipstick since the start of Covid back in March of….? was it 2019 or 2020? But I still wear it almost every day, even if I’m going out and wearing a mask (the insides of my masks bear witness to this fact). Occasionally, I’ll skip lipstick and wear a gloss or balm type product because I do find the masks I’m required to wear for work (and for any out-of-the-house errands) can leave my lips feeling dry.
I haven’t purchased lipstick during the pandemic either. The only reasons I still have some lipsticks around is that I get them when I do Back-to-MAC.
I didn’t buy any lipsticks or glosses in 2020. I’ve only bought a few in lipsticks in 2021, and most of those were variations on nude-on-me or MLBB. I bought a few lip oils for home use.
Mariella, have you tried those silicone mask inserts? They help puff out the material around your mouth so your lipstick doesn’t rub off on the interior of your mask. I tried them but the only drawback is that they make my lower face sweat, so I just resumed my clear lip balm/gloss routine.
My whole life I was never a lipstick girl. At any given time, I had about 3 or 4 max and then the first lockdown hit and I don’t know what came over me! It’s like I was possessed or sth! I went online to look for the best place for lipstick reviews (*hello Temptalia*) because obviously all the shops were closed and even when I was watching tv I kept browsing lipsticks…
I was never in love with lipstick because I’d always buy exclusively based on the “pretty colour” I saw (often without trying it on) and ocasionally I’d buy sb else’s favourite (not a bright idea!) but Temptalia made me realise I actually have “preferences” (how could I not have known that?!).
I wonder whether I’d have fallen in love with lipstick before, if I lived in a place where I could return them if I didn’t like them? Would I have tried enough to know what I do/don’t like as an adult?… I’ll be honest I’m a bit jealous when people comment here and go “oh I bought sth but I didn’t like it so I returned it and bought sth else!”.
Anyways I digress! So, to get back on track, during the first lockdown I went on Temptalia, made a list of what I thought I would like. Kept changing and curating the list… Finally took the plunge and bought a bunch of them (tbh too many) and I couldn’t believe it when my order arrived and they ALL looked nice! Been wearing lipstick pretty much every day since! Even when I’m home alone or out and about and wearing a mask!
I had some health issues over the last year and that made me avoid eye makeup a bit because I was never happy with the final result but lipstick is instant gratification guaranteed! I don’t think I’ve ever worn as much lipstick as now, I put it on almost every day!
I wear tinted balm under my KN95 mask, which I like better than a surgical mask because it creates a tight seal and doesn’t touch my lips. At my job we wear masks in some areas of the building and not in others, so I like to have some color on my lips for when the mask comes off. But doing a red or berry like I usually do for fall feels too bold these days and I’ve gotten so used to how the balm appears that lipstick looks really extreme. I am looking forward to wearing real lipstick out of the house at some point!
I refused to give up my lipsticks, even though it means that I have to launder my masks pretty frequently.
If two years ago someone would have told me I’ll be an expert on mask laundry routines… from stain removers, to detergents that don’t leave nasty residues that irritate my face… 😅
I work mainly from home and wear cloth masks generally when I go out. (This reminds me to buy KN95s!). Because I might have to pop on a mask, I haven’t been wearing red lipstick or very dark colors, which might stain the fabric. Because of masks and less full-glam, I prefer sheer colors and have almost finished up my tube of Urban Decay Ex-Girlfriend lipstick. I also keep lip gloss or lip balm on my desk to reapply with.
With our current world pandemic situation, plus the fact that I get around via mostly public transportation and ride-sharing companies like Lyft and Uber, this necessitates my having to use masks. All that said, this has meant that most of the time, I’m either using a liquid lipstick or something more neutral and not much deeper than my own natural lip color, so that if it does smudge by chance, it won’t be all that noticeable. Also, with wearing so many liquid lipsticks out and about, I’ve been especially generous with using lip balm when I’m just here at home.
In the past year I continued to wear lipstick sparingly. I still work only from home, and rarely attend events, so I mostly forget to apply.
But I’m still applying with due diligence my lip balm with SPF, especially since I spend as much time outdoors as I can.
It mostly stopped except for lip balms until spring, when we had a brief lifting of mask mandates. In spring, I wore lipsticks or glosses when I was out and about, and I started wearing lip oils for the first time. I wore balms or oils at home. With summer and increases in Delta, we went back to mask mandates, so I went back to products that wouldn’t smear off on or stain my masks: Clear lip balm (99% of the time), very light “nude” matte bullet lipsticks, or liquid lipsticks that dry down all the way.
I work from home, and always wore lipsticks around the house, but COVID lockdown depression and cabin fever had me in a state where I didn’t bother.
I don’t wear matte liquid lips nearly as often and prefer to reach for creamy bullet lipsticks in nude shades. I have a lot of gorgeous unusual colors (deep teals, blacks, etc), but as I don’t want to babysit my lip color and/or have it transfer all over masks, those haven’t seen much love. However my lipgloss consumption has gone through the roof. I’ve finished three or four since the start of last year – compared to NONE for years prior! If I’m at home, I’ve got a nice sticky gloss on my super dry lips and all is right with the world.
I have worn clear lip balm/gloss since March 2020. For a while over the summer while patron traffic was light at work (and 95% of us are vaccinated), I was maskless (only at work) and wore lipsticks again. Once the semester started (I work in a college library) and the university refused a mask mandate, I (and most of my coworkers) masked back up and I was back to my lip balm routine. I tried the silicone mask inserts in my mask so that I could wear my lipstick, but the only drawback is that they make my lower face sweat. The only good thing about all of this is that I have made some headway into my collection of sheer and clear glosses.
I’ve loved lipstick since I was 10. It’s my security blanket. I apply it a lot during the day because it’s just a wonderful feeling. When Covid came along with masks I was sad. Last November I began using Summer Fridays lip balm/mask, it’s nice and works. I’m back to wearing my Revlon Blushed and Blushing Mauve daily, hourly. I do think this year I’ll hunt for a new few colors maybe from Pat McGrath because she makes frost/shimmers.
Definitely. I can’t stand goo on my mouth under a mask. I wear lip product when I leave home. And if I travel in car. That’s it.
We still have lots of Covid around but I live in the country so walking, running cycling no mask and I start with lips on. Kinda sad. Wish we could get rid of it.
Wearing masks has definitely changed my routine as per lipsticks. I find I have no need to put on lipstick when I go out because of the mask situation – which is likely to continue for months and months here in Aus.
However I still like wearing lipstick around the house as it keeps my lips moisturised and I love the colour on my lips, so I wear it then. I have purchased some new lipsticks, but mainly just my old favourite of Maybelline’s Spice For Me as it came up on sale on an Australian online retailer for half price. So too good a deal for me to not take advantage of.
I’ve noticed a lot of lipsticks for sale in the last few months- maybe to capitalize on the opening of the economy? Don’t know, but I have bought less lipsticks and am going for more gloss and balms. Here where o am in California, masks are still required most places so there hasn’t been much of an incentive to buy lipsticks. But I’ve bought more eye palettes and blushes this year. This was the year of the blush!
During the early days of the pandemic, I went really spartan and only wore lip products when I was at home. I felt terrible, like I was always leaving the house naked! Of course, I jumped right back into lipstick gung-ho during spring and early summer! Now I’ve reached a middle ground: I blot down all my lipsticks-something I never used to do-when I’m leaving the house to minimize mask transfer and I only wear lip gloss when I’m home, because you can’t really blot it down enough for low transfer. If I’m doing a look that calls for lip gloss on a day that I’m out of the house, I wear a lipstick close in color to my gloss-of-the-day while I’m out and then swap out the lip products once I’m home.
I forgot to mention that I never stopped buying lip products-just modified my usage.
My lip product routine changed drastically as I finally cured my chronic chapped lips that would never heal and ongoing angular cheilitis. I added zinc and B Complex to my anti-Covid/ super immune support regimen starting last year and in 2 weeks my lips completely healed! Yay! So no more pricey balms and salves trying to heal my lips are necessary but I have been trying to use products that protect the lips like Neutrogena Revitalizing Lip Balm SPF 20 in Sunny Berry, Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Lip Shine in Berry Brown, Neutrogena MoistureSmooth Color Stick in Raspberry- all amazing products with healthy ingredients and nuanced shades that look far more expensive than their drugstore price.
My lipstick usage and routine is the same as always, and I have added to my collection during the pandemic.
I live in the countryside and only go outside house and garden when walking the dog, going to the vet or my own doctor, or going shopping and then only for groceries. I always wear a mask when I have to be indoors like at the store.
I use lipsticks when wearing a mask, I try to use matte ones or blot a lot so they don’t end up around the masked area.
I wear lipstick every day, as I always have.