My favorite lipstick wore down until I was scraping my lip flat across the edge of the tube to apply it. It was time to get a new one. A few weeks of digging with a Q-tip (that also does double duty as fuzzy lip wand) to get the last remaining bit out, and after that my perfect shade would be all gone.
The pandemic made me lazy about shopping. That, and being in Los Angeles where beauty products are either found in anxiety inducing malls or on trendy streets with parking challenges. Ordering online was the way to go for products that I already knew. I typed in ‘Lipstick Queen Medieval’.
The result? The last of a dwindling inventory held by makeup hoarders were commanding prices of $150 each!!!
I guess I have been using this same tube for several years. Gross, I know.
Not only had the color been since discontinued but in 2020 Lipstick Queen was acquired by Forma Brands, the parent company of Morphe Cosmetics, which closed all of its retail shops in 2023 supposedly after numerous employee complaints about working conditions. A week later Forma Brands filed for bankruptcy. (Forma has since emerged from bankruptcy with a new strategy for their products but I don’t have time to wait and see if they resurrect Medieval. Plus, their history now puts me off.)
I forced myself to the nearest Sephora to look for a close replacement for my beloved sheer red shade of Medieval.
Fortunately, as makeup trends come and go, sheer colors are popular right now so there are quite a few to choose from.
Being of an age where heavy makeup on any part of the face is not advisable, Lipstick Queen Medieval has been my shade for at least the last ten years. I never had to think about it. It always looked good – a flattering shade of just a hint of red that was more like a natural stain. There was no smell or taste, and the consistency was luxuriously creamy and hydrating. Wearing it made you look as though you had just been picking and eating ripe berries in the sun. And since I live in a place where winters are like summer, sheer reds are for ideal for a no-fuss face all year round. A deceptive flush of color on any skin tone that can make one look California healthy without having to actually resort to strenuous hikes or hot yoga.
So, for those of you further north and looking forward to a berry-stained summer face, consider these shades:
L to R: Lipstick Queen Medieval, Glossier Fete,
Givenchy Rose Perfecto 37, NARS Voltage 222
Glossier Fete
My first introduction to Glossier was in 2016 when I still lived in New York. They had just launched and had a second-floor showroom on Lafayette Street. There was a line behind a velvet rope to get in. I was at least 20 years older than the mothers of the young women who dragged them there. I bought what promised to be a sheer red lipstick. The color was nice but otherwise it was waxy and hard to put on, like dragging a dry crayon across your lips. The lipstick soon broke inside the tube and turned into a lumpy mess. Meh.
So it was with hesitation that I gave Glossier a second chance. But to my pleasant surprise, they have greatly improved in the last eight years. Did they grow up? Their Ultralip in Fete is my new favorite. It’s redder in color than Medieval but has a tiny bit more pigment, so makes for a brighter face. And thankfully it’s no longer a violent application.
Glossier Ultralip in Fete
NARS Voltage 222
Nars seems fond of sexy names for their products and Afterglow Sensual Shine Lipstick is right up there with Orgasm.
This shade, Voltage 222, has even more color than the others and is a just-right translucent shade of bright red, neither too pink, nor too orange.
Nars Afterglow Sensual Shine Lipstick in Voltage 222
Givenchy Rose Perfecto 37
Givenchy’s Beautifying Lip Balm in Rose Perfecto 37 is almost exact in color to Medieval but also has more pigment. Of the three, this one is the priciest at $40 (about £31). But then the tube is covered with salmon colored leather!
I imagine it being the kind of thing one of Truman Capote’s swans might have in their dainty little handbags. I just wonder how long it will take for that nice leather to start peeling off as it knocks around in my utilitarian and un-ladylike bag which also includes cat treats and a bicycle tire gauge.
The one thing I don’t care for is that it has an old lady perfumey taste and scent. So maybe it smells like a coiffed swan too.
Givenchy Beautifying Lip Balm in Rose Perfecto 37
If you want to go all matchy-matchy for summer, you can also opt for sheer red nails.
I’m happy to see that the jelly nail trend is back. I love the transparent color of a cherry lollypop shining in the sun and would like to replicate that color on my nails.
And not only is sheer nail varnish very forgiving if you don’t have a steady hand (those of you who are too cheap to spring for a visit to a nail salon), it’s also much easier to remove, and chips are less noticeable.
I was hoping to find a replacement for another discontinued sheer color that I once adored – Supermodel by Deborah Lippmann, popular about ten years ago. That was a perfectly clear candy apple true red. I wish they would bring it back.
In the meanwhile, Butter Jelly Preserve in Strawberry Rhubarb is more of a light pink even after two or even three coats. Londontown’s  Perfecting Nail Veil #8 is a deeper shade of clear pink.
Both are pretty but I’m still searching for something more red and less pink. Something that will enhance the summer beauty of tanned and weathered old hands, even ones with stumpy nails.
Gone but not forgotten: Deborah Lippman Supermodel – the ultimate Sheer Red
