Recently I ran out of my favourite two lip colours from a Bare Minerals Paletee. (For more on that story see, What happens when your favourite lipstick is discontinued.) So I took it upon myself to go shopping for replacements, as my online shopping experience for colour matching was a big fat failure.

I find that apricot/pinkish coral tones work best on me for a neutral look. These colours are also the most forgiving on many skin tones.

I looked across all ranges, from cheaper drugstore brands to Estee Lauder, which is still one of my favoured brands. The Estee Lauder range of companies http://www.elcompanies.com incorporates many brands such as Clinic, Bobbie Brown and MAC  to name but a few. However as my town is limited to Debenhams, Superdrug and  Boots, these are the three lipsticks that I found that matched my requirements.

Max Factor 825 Pink Brandy

This really is the most divine colour; a true coral, and the texture of the lipstick is fabulous to work with and reminds me of an old Estee Lauder colour that I used to own

Barbara Daly – Iced Gem

This is really more of a pink coral tone. The colour is ok but the texture is not as superiour as the Revlon and was my least favourite pick of the day.

GOSH -82 Exotic

This is a bright, Apricot lipstick and my second favourite of the day. But if I were going from daytime to evening, this is the colour I would choose to brighten up my look. A good texture, not as moist as the Revlon lipstick, but not too waxy. Add a lipgloss and you will be good to go in this colour

Left to right
Iced Gem, Exotic and Pink Brandy

Top three coral tones

This is not the greatest of swathes but as you can see, if you want a bright colour, then Gosh in Exotic is your winner.

I would like to add a special thanks to the Superdrug in Chesterfield. Knowing that I was struggling to get around, and seeing that I was trying to match new colours for old, a super assistant, whose name I did not catch, helped in the search. She also recommended Brandy in the Beauty Uk brand, but it was not in stock. However, she really was very good indeed. and in a culture where good service is hard to find, she should be singled out for her good deeds.