Buying another tube when I have ten at home
I really should have stopped buying lip products months ago. My bathroom drawer is a mess of half-used tubes, and yet, when I saw that new coral-pink shade in the department store last weekend, I just bought it anyway. It was about 45,000 won, which is honestly too much for something I’m just going to toss into my bag and forget about until the tube gets crushed by my keys. I tell myself it’s part of that ‘lipstick effect’—the idea that you buy small luxuries when everything else feels expensive—but honestly, it’s just me being bad at managing my collection.
The struggle with staying power
I’ve tried those ‘unsmudgeable’ tints that promise to last through lunch, coffee, and even a nap. Usually, they either stay on for three days straight—staining my skin so badly I look like I’ve been eating popsicles—or they vanish the second I take a sip of water. I remember trying a highly-rated orange-coral tint from a popular brand last year. The color was perfect, exactly what I wanted for the summer. But within twenty minutes, it had settled into the fine lines of my lips, making them look all dry and textured. I spent half the day trying to blend it out with a lip oil, which just made the whole thing look even more messy.
Why I keep reaching for the wrong colors
Sometimes I see people on TV, like actors who pull off these incredibly bright, bold red lips with outfits that shouldn’t work together, and I think, ‘I can do that.’ Then I look in the mirror after applying a similar shade and just feel ridiculous. It’s funny how a color can look so cool on someone else in a scene or a magazine, but on me, it feels like I’m wearing a costume. I’ve been trying to force myself to wear these bright shades lately just because I spent the money on them, but I find myself rubbing half of it off with a tissue before I even leave the house.
When the skin actually starts to react
Lately, my lips have been acting up. They’ve been feeling a bit itchy and tight, almost like a mild case of cheilitis. I read somewhere that if your lips start acting like this, you’re supposed to stop using tints and heavy lipsticks entirely and just use a medicated ointment. It’s frustrating because I have this habit of applying layers of product just to feel put together. Now I’m stuck staring at my collection, knowing I shouldn’t touch any of them, but still checking the expiration dates just in case I can get away with using the mildest one.
The uncertainty of the whole routine
I’m not even sure if I’m ‘a lipstick person’ or if I just like the idea of it. My friend suggested a lip palette so I could mix shades, but the thought of having to use a brush and clean it every single time sounds like a chore I will absolutely ignore after three days. I’m currently looking at a pile of discarded lip products on my desk, wondering why it’s so hard to find something that doesn’t dry me out or look like it’s sliding off my face. Maybe I should just stick to a clear balm, but I know I’ll probably walk past another cosmetic counter on my way home tonight and get curious again.
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