Lip Colors from Smashbox

Yes, I admit it, I'm a Smashbox junkie. I'm also a lip gloss junkie. I thought I was the lip gloss queen until I saw my older sister's stash, but I'll settle for the title of lip gloss princess. However, since rumor has it that lip glosses will be "out" this summer, I've begun to expand my lip colors into other possibilities.

Smashbox makes Lip Enhancing Gloss in three different formulas, each with its own group of shades. My favorites are the Sheer glosses; they include "shine polymers" for a beautiful shine, so shiny that they reflect light. The True Color glosses contain wonderful things to nourish your lips, like Vitamin E and sunflower seed oil. The colors are creamier, and seem to me to stay on a little longer than the Sheer Colors. The Full Colors are, as their name implies, highly pigmented colors that contain both shine polymers and Vitamin E. These glosses won the Allure Magazine's Editors Choice for Best Lip Gloss, so apparently I'm not alone in my love for them.

Smashbox also makes seasonal glosses, that often are packaged differently. If you hurry, you may find the Heart Breaker Lip Shine Gloss in Melon Drama, a peach shade shown in the photo. They'll be gone by fall, but no worries; there'll be another group of must-haves with the fall presentation.

Last year the Muse collection came out, with eyeshadow palettes, blushes, and of course, something for lips. In this case, they're called Lip Paints (one is shown in "Artiste"), and while they're no longer available in stores, they can be found on eBay if you can't live without them (that's where I got my set!). The Lip Paints are highly pigmented, and thicker than most Smashbox glosses, although they're not sticky or gooey.

If you're a liptstick lover, Smashbox's Photo Finish Lipsticks are just for you. They have Smashbox's patented "Sila Silk" formula, that includes silica and light-reflecting polymers for color, and they're also enriched with Vitamin E and Tahitian flower to keep your lips moist and help the color stay put. There are both sheer and creamy shades, and the photo shows one of each. Sheer "Dazzling" is a deep rose bronze, and creamy "Captivating" is a neutral nude, and a perfect base for your favorite glosses. Smashbox Photo Finish Lipsticks won the Self Magazine Healthy Beauty Award, and were nominated in the Glam Beauty Awards for Best Lipstick.

It's not all about color, though. Smashbox wants to protect your lips, so after you exfoliate, apply a base coat of Lip Treatment with moisturizers and an SPF of 15. There are still a few Tinted Lip Treatments around (see photo for "Solar" with the white treatment inside a ring of color), and if you can't find them at a Smashbox counter, check eBay or the Ulta website.

Before you apply lipstick, don't forget to define your lips with lip pencils. Although I have several in different shades from the past, Smashbox is going simpler with their Nude Lip Pencils. They come in four shades, from Fair to Dark, and one should match your lip color, which is the idea behind the Nude Pencils. Define, but do it invisibly.

I hope I've given you an idea of why I love Smashbox for lips. Check it out at their website, or at a Smashbox counter near you. But be careful: once you try them, you'll be hooked too!