Which is the most expensive lipstick?

Some weeks are odd and unproductive in equal measure. It makes me wonder why those philosophers of great wisdom, renown, and an insatiable appetite for honey, Winnie the Pooh and Piglet, have not come up with a suitable name for such weeks. 

Apart from bathing in sh*t (yes, this happened), I have been utterly unproductive.  I know what is happening:  I have a massively difficult task ahead of me, I am petrified (but very excited) and that is causing procrastination of the highest order. In fact, I certainly feel that a Presidential civilian award for accomplishing nothing is not off the tables.

Anywho, I should get back to today’s topic: lipsticks. 

Why lipsticks?

Readers have frequently asked me why I do not more regularly review make-up, such as lipsticks. 

To that I would say, I wish I could physically show you my wall-to-wall draw of lipsticks, lip crayons etc that are concurrently all in similar shades of beige and completely and utterly unsuited to my complexion and personality.

I guess, if you were to look at me in the blackest of dark nights, under a UV light, we could find some beige/brown combination that suits me.

In my attempt to rectify my poor choice of lipsticks, I decided to visit Sephora USA. 

I searched for lipsticks by popularity, collated this data and put it in a spreadsheet, filtering for lipsticks by price/gram. This is a common technique that allows me to make like-for-like price comparisons.

I know some of you may have thought that factors such as long-lasting, colour and texture matter when you buy a lipstick.  However, that just shows you have never been lipstick shopping with an Indian, who is genetically programmed to buy only beige and, for whom the price and physical weight of a product is important.

I learned 3 things that I wish to share with you.

The most expensive lipstick is not a cobbler

First, the most expensive lipstick is not made by Christian Louboutin.  Try harder you red-heeled beautiful shoemakers, as the title of LEAST value for money, goes to Hourglass Ultra Slim High Intensity Refillable Lipstick…

One gram of Hourglass costs US$ 40.  And FYI, the price of gold today is US$ 55/gram. Tom Ford lipsticks certainly deserve a special mention as they offer the worst value for money.

Remember 3.5 grams is your key to buying lipsticks

Second, the average weight of a lipstick is 3.5 grams.  Having not been born with X-ray vision, my sub-prime and faulty human eyes cannot tell the difference between 2 grams and 3.5 grams.  Many brands take advantage of this. 

Less product for you means more money in the brand’s profit line.  Some of the worst offenders include Fenty Beauty, Charlotte Tilbury, YSL, Givenchy and Nars.

Lipsticks that weigh more than 3.5 grams

Third, look for lipsticks that weigh more than 3.5 grams. 

Here are a few 4 gram lipsticks that I found:

I cannot tell you how much joy it gives me that Pat McGrath (that Queen) is at the top of this list, as are Bobbi Brown, NARS Audacious and Christian Louboutin.

Closing…

If any of you are a STEM student/graduate and are happy to develop a lipstick pricing algorithm, please get in touch with me at email@happyskindays.com

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I wish to remind some of you that I am a non-affiliated skincare blogger. I invest my time, money, blood, sweat, and tears in creating content for my blog. My blog is read in multiple countries and according to my lawyers, each of those countries protects my content and rights under copyright law. If you would like to use my content, do the right thing, and write to me at email@happyskindays.com. Don’t be that person who steals content, because it’s arrogant, disrespectful, and ultimately, a crime.