Lipstick Magic Trick.

What are you thinking right now?

[besides the fact that you never want to see my face this close up again]

That lipstick has magical powers??: 

Me too. 

hence co-opted as wand
ps: check out that knuckle hair

I swear, though.
It does.

Transforming young women into vixens while morphing older women into younger women is certainly a heck of a lot cooler than shooting spider webs out of your wrists. 

Ok ok,

It's not. 

But it's definitely still cool. 

Lipstick is this little tube of dichotomies:

I've always thought of it as high maintenance, but it's really the easiest insta-classy trick on earth.

It makes me feel twice as old, but research published last week proves that it actually makes you look younger. 

And I always associate a strong lip with wealth and confidence, but the "Lipstick effect" explains that "for every 1% increase in the unemployment rate, women buy $25 million worth more of lipstick".

So what gives?

Why is lipstick such a big deal?

Why are the feelings associated with a woman's first application of lipstick akin to those of other, less kosher acts? How can that slightly uncomfortable, very mature and yet effortlessly sexy feeling come from the simple act of tinting your lips?

Well, men (according to numerous studies) are quicker to approach a woman with a colored lip - a fact which Ms. Kahlo may have caused us to forget. 

Yet, lest we think that the color alone does the attracting, I think we should remember the mind that drove the hand to apply it. 

Drawing attention to the lip is obviously a pretty big move in terms of the type of attention that we're seeking. Even when paired with a scruffy sartorial showing, the focus on that facial feature can negate even the highest of high buttoned shirts.

In my opinion, it's less of an aesthetic appeal, and more of a psychological one (at least, at first).

per your semi-request: shirt: American Apparel, skirt: Anthro (on sale here!), boots: Jeffrey Campbell, watch: La Mer, necklace, ring: Karen London

And maybe - (I'm just freeballin' here) - just maybe - the decision to center the attention on such a crucial component of our person - our face (our mouths at that) signifies a shift in self-confidence that "it" bags, designer shoes, Apple Bottom jeans (heh) and Tiffany's necklaces once so conveniently masked.

The simultaneous ease (and affordability) of application and the gravity of it's signification certainly make lipstick an interestingly little cosmetic, 

eh?

Cheers.

Photos by Matt Engelhart