You stash lipstick in your purse with every intention of pulling it out again.
Then you suck down a latte; eat lunch; ferry all the carpool kids home, and somehow that lipstick never again sees the light of day.
Face it, you're busy. And lipstick — especially the deep, dark colors so popular this fall — require some effort to reapply. Painting it on sans mirror is such a rare skill it could land a girl on "America's Got Talent."
And even if you do manage to paint on a new coat, it just never quite looks as good as when it was so carefully applied at home in front of the bathroom mirror.
For low-maintenance lips, try tinted lip balm.
The tubed wonders have been around for a while, but now they've really arrived. Premier brands such as Bobbi Brown and Tarte all the way to drugstore lines like Nivea have lip-smacking options.
People are also reading…
The appeal lies in tinted balm's natural, stained look and the fact that you can roll them on like ChapStick, no mirror needed.
Model Camerone Parker uses Tarte 24.7 Lip Sheer in "Monday" — a deep but see-through red — on her off-days, when she's giving her face a break from heavy makeup.
"I like the ease and the flexibility (of tinted lip balm). It gives me some color, but it has the added benefit of being healthy for my lips because it offers good vitamins and moisturizing components," says the Tucson-based Parker, who's the face and voice of Olay as well as the company's global beauty imaging consultant. You can listen to her as "The Fashionista" on 92.9-FM The Mountain's Jennie and Blake show.
"Tinted balm dresses up a blank canvas rather than doing a full face."
It's also perfect for active women, Parker points out.
"This is a great thing for going to the gym," she says. "You don't want to wear a full face of makeup, but you want to look good."
With lipstick, one false move can send your perfect pout into Ronald McDonald territory. Balm is virtually foolproof, says Bobbi Brown's Marc Reagan.
"You never overdo it with a tinted lip balm," says Reagan, a beauty team artist.
So for those who aren't into lacquered lips, tinted balm's a good option.
"Some people don't like an entire opaque color on their lips," Reagan says. "The way we flush our cheeks with blush, we're giving the lips a flush of color."
Get lips in shape
Before slicking on any balm, make sure your pucker is in lick-top shape. Smashbox's lip exfoliant ($18) gets rid of the dead skin flakes and has a zingy peppermint tingle. Find it at Product by Maria Martin, 2905 E. Skyline Drive in the upper level of La Encantada, and Sephora, which just opened at the Tucson Mall and is inside the J.C. Penney, 5265 S. Calle Santa Cruz, near West Irvington Road.