Shopping fix: a faff-free, moisturising lipstick crayon

A perfectly pigmented lipstick-lipbalm-lipliner hybrid for under €20. Have a peek.

Who has time for lip liner? Well, I do, actually, because of a lifelong fixation with MAC Stripdown Lip Liner, but if I could stomach my own face without a ring of dusky brown around my mouth, I absolutely wouldn’t bother.

In the morning, I need all of my make-up to happen quickly. I will be doing it mirrorless and I will not be faffing with a wardrobe of make-up brushes. I want to be able to press my concealer and blush into my skin with my fingertips and I want my brow gel, mascara and lipstick to require absolutely no brainpower. Long-wearing, perfect formulas only too – no one is topping up their make-up throughout the day, I do not want to find mascara has bled down to my cheeks by lunch, there better be no streaks on my face no matter how little effort I put in, and please don’t get me started on matte lipsticks that suck all the moisture out of your mouth.

I need sticks and quick-fix make-up shortcuts that can be applied with some haste. There is no time. There is coffee to be drunk. There are emails to be ignored.

If you can relate, crayons are your best friend. Crayon eyeshadows are as easy as it gets when it comes to make-up, but crayon lipsticks are admirably simple. Which brings me to Honest Beauty’s Lip Crayons.

Honest Beauty Lip Crayon, €19.99

Honest Beauty has just landed in Ireland, in the Liffey Valley Boots and online. Created by Jessica Alba, the range is made with botanical-based, plant-derived formulas and packaged in recycled material. There’s a palette of everyday essential eyeshadows, a double-ended eyelash primer and mascara, a multi-tasking beauty balm and a lightweight, luminising facial oil. But these Lip Crayons are the real scene-stealer.

They come in eight velvety matte shades and eight juicy shades of truly wearable tones; peaches, berries, burnt oranges, dusky pink, rich burgundy, bright pink and more. Both formulas are lightweight and conditioning (the matte formula is truly moisturising), and deliciously creamy as they’re made with jojoba and coconut oil and murumuru and shea butter. They can be dabbed on to appear as a light sheer, or layered to high-impact colour.

But more importantly, they are just pathetically easy. You can apply it and then completely forget about it because it won’t budge for the rest of the day. Due to their chunkiness, they can be applied without a mirror, in the dark, without being messed up, once you have a vague knowledge of whereabouts your mouth is on your face. They double up as lip liner too, if you do, in fact, have the time – simply draw it around the line of your lips and roughly colour in the rest. Then get back to drinking coffee and ignoring emails.

Honest Beauty is now available in Boots. 

Digital illustration by Sophie Teyssier. 

Read more: Bobbi Brown really wants you to have good skin

Read more: The greatest cleansing balms

Read more: Shopping fix: a smoothening, glow-giving complexion enhancer