Back in the day when I wore makeup with nary a green thought in my mind, one of my favorite products was from a certain well-known brand with the words “longwear” and “lip color” bandied about the tube. Why? Because I could put it on in the morning and have “longwear” lip color all day. Sure, who knows what kind of chemicals I was sinking into my lips – I had lipstick that no drink or food could kiss of my choppers. And you know what? I loved it.

Then I got green. Suddenly, I wasn’t so comfortable painting my face with something that could permanently mark up leather. After throwing out – excuse me, recycling – half my makeup bag, I let go of my long-lasting lip wear. And just that much more color went out in my world. Okay, just my on lips. But still.

Then I heard about the advent of Josie Maran’s Lip and Cheek Stain Magic Markers.  Was it possible that the world of natural (or I should say, “more natural”) cosmetics was offering up its own version of the lip stain? Investigations were immediately implemented, and here’s what I found.

Packaged in a recyclable stick, Ms. Maran’s Lip and Cheek Stain is free of parabens, sulfates, synthetic fragrances, and phthalates. It does have Sephora’s “natural” seal of approval. This means that it has high concentrations of antioxidants, botanicals, essential oils, fruit extracts, minerals or more. Yes, I agree that this is all rather mysterious. Maran’s Lip and Cheek Stain is designed to “flush” lips and cheeks with a natural-looking stain, and it is available in six colors. Each shade is named after a dance, a nod to Josie’s stint on Dancing with the Stars.

And it all sounds promising, right? But does it work? Cue drum rolls and green fairies – yes, yes it does! Not only does it work as well as the longwear products of old, (my old – they’re still thriving on the market,) Josie Maran’s lip stain provided lasting color. It also worked well on my cheeks, giving me a rosy glow I hadn’t seen since middle school. But be careful with the product – it is a stain. Meaning, if you go out of the lines, you will be scrubbing to get it off.

Want to know more? Here’s Josie herself talking about her lasting Lip and Cheek Stain.

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