How My Search For The Perfect Shade Of Pink Lipstick Became A Quest

Checking my lips in the car’s makeup mirror, I press them tightly together. Shifting my lips from side to side helps to ensure my lipstick is smeared just so. My index finger offers to final gentle touch and finishes the corners.

Smiling back at myself, I think, “There! They look perfect! Plump and juicy like the inside of a sun-kissed peach.”

My months of searching for a specific lipstick have finally paid off. I found the perfect shade of pink lipstick. Feeling like a hero, I am ready to celebrate.

In the business world, there is an expression called The Lipstick Effect. During challenging times, consumers namely women still spend money on small indulgences like lipstick.

It’s strange how a shade of lipstick could have such a powerful effect on me. I’m not a frivolous person. I first saw this shade of lipstick in a story on the American network TV show 60 Minutes. The show was interviewing the now infamous adult-film star and director Stormy Daniels about her sexual relationship with then-President Donald Trump. Strange how the memory works. As interesting as this interview with Daniels was, all I truly remember about it is the beautiful shade of her delicate pink lipstick. By the end of the interview, I knew I had to have it.

Feeling like a modern-day Don Quixote, my quest for this, the perfect shade of pink lipstick began. From drug stores to department stores and specialty retailers, I visited every beauty counter I could find.

Lipstick has a long and often contentious history. Prior to WWII, red lipstick was something only worn by women of ill repute. Respectable women did not paint their lips. But that all changed in World War II when the US military used Hitler’s distaste for red lipstick to persuade women to join the war effort. The iconic American female war icon of Rosie the Riveter and her vibrant red lips left an indelible image and changed our thoughts about lipstick forever.

Today, many women keep a variety of lipstick shades in their makeup collection. Shades to suit every skin tone, event, mood, and season. But pink has always proven to be elusive.

After months of looking, I almost gave up hope. I even considered trying to track down Stormy Daniels through social media. I wondered if she would respond to a crazy tweet about her lipstick. It is so crazy she might.

In the end, I walked into luxury beauty brand retailer Sephora’s store in Vancouver, Canada. I asked one of the makeup artists to help me find the perfect shade of pink. Together, we tested out many different pinks. So many different shades on the backs of my hands I looked like a little girl who used her mother’s lipsticks without permission.

Some of the pinks are too orange. Others too red. Some are too beige. There were even those that were too purple. Surely, it shouldn’t be this difficult to find a soft, gentle pink.

There it is! We found it! Before she even smeared it onto the back of my hand, I knew this was THE pink. My search was over. My perfect shade — Girl Crush — Baby Pink.

Then, along came Barbie and everything in the world was suddenly Pinkalicious.