Summer holidays are a good test of which makeup you truly can't live without. What am I willing to cram into a tiny, clear bag, cart across borders, then actually want to apply in the heat and humidity?
Having just returned from two weeks in France, where my top priorities were swimming in the sea and drinking pale supermarché rosé, one easy-breezy long long-lasting lipstick was never far from my face.
I wore it to alfresco lunches, galleries, bars, and the beach. It survived a sweltering Bastille Day street party in Marseille and an intense petanque tournament on the windy Provencal coast. It suits every occasion and costs just over a tenner, so it's my act of public service (on National Lipstick Day no less) to tell you about it now.
Why this budget lip stain was my holiday beauty hero
People often describe the best lightweight foundations as having a 'your skin but better' effect - and I'd say this lip stain does exactly that for your pout.
It subtly enhances the colour and adds a tiny touch of sheen, but essentially, you don't look like you are wearing makeup. It just appears as if you have a lovely natural lip shade, hence its versatility for absolutely everything my holiday threw at me.
Et voila! The weightless, lovely lip stain that lives in my bag at home and lived on my face on holiday. It comes in a beautiful neutral range of colours (I wore Peachy, but I won't deign to tell you which will be 'your' nude) and has a moisturising, lightly sheeny finish.
Shades aside, the reason this stain became so completely indispensable on my travels was its combination of comfortable feel - it swipes on all slippy and creamy, then sets but never dries - and intense lasting power.
In hubris, I brought maybe three or four lipsticks away with me - including a bold matte red, as if I'd bother! - but ended up solely reliant on Vinyl Ink.
I chucked it on first thing each day, gave it another swipe after lunch, maybe one more in the evening. It was always present in one form or another - sitting there all softly, comfortably, and subtly.
I may have been influenced by my environment there - French makeup is known for its whisper-quiet approach, and this fits the understated, effortless brief so perfectly.
And unlike scratchy shell bracelets or those jazzy harem pants I rocked in Thailand '09, this is one holiday style hero that's translated beautifully to my life back on home turf, too.
