“PERFECT RED LIPSTICK” (SHORT STORY)
She paints her lips carefully, precisely, watching the colour bloom.
There are dozens of lipsticks in her collection, each containing its own shade of promise.
“Perfect Red Lipstick” is a meditative short story about the pursuit of the sublime.
What makes a woman spend her life pursuing a single perfect colour?
A single moment of perfection?
500 words / 2 minutes of intimate reading pleasure
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‘All my life I’ve pursued the perfect red.’ Diana Vreeland
STEFANO BOSCUTTI
PERFECT RED LIPSTICK
Copyright 2024 Stefano Boscutti
All Rights Reserved
At Céline, some of the models wear subtle eyeliner.
But she likes red lips all on their own. Tender and a little bit shocking.
Wearing red lipstick on a naked face is almost an act of defiance. A basic red lipstick was the only thing Katharine Hepburn wore off duty when she wasn’t performing on set or stage.
Red lipstick makes her feel put together, complete, in control. As for the tone of red, it’s usually in context with a setting or an outfit. Am impromptu, casual summer afternoon red is not a let’s paint the town red.
She likes the classics of the past - a handful of red lipsticks by Guerlain, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent - most of which are discontinued, unfortunately.
Guerlain’s Garconne, Rouge Saphir, Greta, Gala. All medium-reds, cool tones. Chanel’s Rouge Allure No.1, No. 3 are medium reds. Chanel’s Cible Rouge is the best dark red when she’s in the mood.
YSL Rouge Pur Couture has around ten red lipsticks she likes, some of which are still available. Rouge Muse, Rouge Feminin, Rouge Paradoxe, Rouge Insolite, the newer Le Rouge is good too. Light, medium and dark reds, mostly cool tones or neutrals.
These are the red lipsticks she grew up with, worn by all the women she knew, in Paris and Germany, even on stage.
She keeps hold of her old red lipsticks since the selection of today isn’t comparable with the lipsticks of the nineteen-eighties, nineteen-nineties, even the turn of the century.
Bésame makes some of her favourite contemporary lipsticks. Based on historic colours from nineteen-twenties to the nineteen-seventies, especially those glamorous reds from the nineteen forties. Highly pigmented and long-lasting, they remind her of my mother’s lipstick she used to play with for dress-ups as a child.
Her grandmother wore Estée Lauder Parallel Red every time she left the house. She said it made her feel finished. She thinks of her grandmother and how elegant she was every time she puts red lipstick on.
Some women tell her she’s inspired them to have the courage to wear red lipstick. She never felt it required courage. Just a dash of red lipstick is enough. Best on clean, clear skin and minimal to no eye makeup.
She applies a thin layer either straight from the stick or with a lip brush. Blots using a tissue and applies again, repeating the process until she’s achieved an opaque red that has melted into her lips.
It helps create a powerful stain, a more lived-in effect. Even though it doesn’t look like she’s wearing anything on her lips, she feels more put together, more confident, more her.
She knows everyone will be looking at her lips, at her mouth.
Looking at what she has to say.
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Copyright 2024 Stefano Boscutti
All Rights Reserved
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This is a work of fiction. While many of the characters portrayed here have counterparts in the life and times of mainstream publishers and others, the characterisations and incidents presented are totally the products of the author’s alluring imagination. This work is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It should not be resold or given away. Thank you for your support. (Couldn’t do it without you.)
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