One of the secrets to a winning formula is the element of surprise—something about a product that looks like x, but turns out to be y, is just more fun (especially when y is cooler than x). It's why we all got into mood rings, rainbow gel pens and color-changing lip balms in the first place. For the last couple of years, I reached for every pale pink balm, gloss and lipstick that promised to react with my body's chemistry to deliver the most flattering shade of color with the hope that I'd finally find my perfect, natural-looking shade—only to be underwhelmed by the fact that they all left my lips with the same cotton candy, sweet pink hue. Maybe that's what my pH levels call for, but I don't like it.
Then these balms came along and finally got it right. Yes, there's still the standard pale pink, but there's also a hotter pink, coral, red and plum. The color payoff is intense for sheer formulas (after all, it's MAC), and each shade really does vary depending on who's wearing it. My favorite is Side Dish, a purple I'd never think to pick up but that magically turns into a soft fuchsia that feels custom-made.
MAC Cosmetics Tendertalk Lip Balm, $20 each, maccosmetics.com.
