Lipstick or lipgloss – the popularity of each one seems to change from season to season but I have noticed something interesting, women tend to gravitate towards one or the other and psychologists would like us to believe it is a subconscious choice.

I recently read an article that claimed that women tend to wear the opposite product of what their mother does.  If your mom is a lipstick person you are more likely to be a gloss girl and vice versa. It’s an interesting idea and in my own case it’s actually true, my mom has always worn lipstick and I tend to prefer gloss.  Not to say I don’t own four zillion lipsticks, but I do wear more gloss than lipstick so I am obviously subconsciously rebelling! I don’t have any kids but it would be interesting to know if I did have a daughter if she would lean towards lipstick…

There are pros and cons to both formulations: lipsticks tend to be longer lasting, well pigmented and less messy while glosses are super shiny and can be applied very precisely.

Whichever one you like – application is the key – The Joker and Robert Smith from the Cure are the only ones who can get away with lipstick smeared all over their face, the rest of us should try to stay inside the lines!  Here are a few tips for perfect lipstick/gloss application:

1) Start with a smooth surface - gloss is a little more forgiving but nothing looks worse than lipstick on top of chapped lips!  There are several ways to get rid of the dead skin: buy a pre-made lipscrub, make your own with sugar and olive oil, or use a soft toothbrush/facecloth.

2) If you want to use a lipliner go for it but please make it the same colour as the product you will be wearing – the late 90′s with that dark lipliner, light lipstick trend were dark times my friends – history is something to be learned from! I have personally become a fan of reverse lipliner which basically is a clear wax that you draw around the outside of your lips, this prevents the lipstick or gloss from bleeding outside of your lips!

3) The darker/brighter the colour you are using is, the more precise your application needs to be. If you can’t be bothered messing around with this step than use a lighter colour as it’s then less obvious that your application isn’t perfect!

4) Have fun with it – it’s makeup! Don’t let anyone tell you that women over 30 can’t wear gloss or redheads can’t wear pink – I break both of these “rules” all the time!

Now what do you suppose those pychologists would say about women who like to layer gloss over lipstick?