Lipstick stains

There is a point in my little play when James (the ghost of her long dead husband) asks Violet if he may kiss her. (Yes, that pesky kiss.) Before they kiss, she gets up, goes to the mirror and applies some ruby red lipstick – the colour she used to wear back in the day before things went wrong – and blots it with a tissue before she turns to face him. I actually have some nice red lipstick which I’ve used about three times in the past 10 years – all for plays. I thought that would be fine. “Are you sure?” a couple of people have asked me. Sure. Why not? 

Finally decided after last Sunday’s rehearsal that perhaps I should put this to the test. Came home, applied lipstick, blotted it with some bog roll and then started kissing my arm. Red lip marks all over it. Oh, dear. Ben suggested a while back that he should be wearing a fake moustache which somehow, following the kiss and after the bing, bing, bing, ended up on my face. Oh, ha, ha, I said, because, yes, he was joking. Having red lipstick all over his face after the kiss would be almost as bad.

So, I went online and did some research. There must be some sort of lipstick that will stay on my lips and off his face. Turns out there is. 

Although a number of companies claim to make a lipstick that does not transfer to coffee mugs or anything else (including someone else’s lips), there is apparently only one that actually does what it says: Rouge Dior Forever Liquid Transfer-Proof Lipstick. Yes, Christian Dior. With tax $60+. Oo, la, la!

This is not something I am going to order online and hope for the best. I need to see what the colour looks like on and, much more importantly, I need to be able to do the arm kissing test. 

Fortunately there is a department store in town that sells it. Unfortunately this means I’m going to have to get the ferry tomorrow for the first time this year to buy lipstick. 

It comes in various shades of red: Forever Dior, Forever Feminine (gag me), Forever Glam or Forever Icone. (What the hell is an icone when it’s at home? Oh, French for icon. Okay, I get it.) Which of these shades is closest to ruby I shall have to see.

I bloody hate having to go to town, but if I have to do it I might as well make the trip worthwhile. I have a friend who lives up island, an hour or so drive north of town and who I seldom see. We’ve been talking about me going up there to have lunch with her for a while without actually nailing anything down. So, I sent her a note to see what day this week would work, telling her that I had to go to town to “believe it or not buy a lipstick”. Said I’d explain when I saw her. Not surprisingly she replied: “A lipstick? Okay, this I gotta hear!” If the stuff’s as long lasting as they claim and the store has no handy lipstick remover, she might actually see it.

The things we do for our art.