In honour of Lip Appreciation Day, our Editor takes a trip down lipstick memory lane. From memorable moments, to milestone birthdays, to the trusty red lip that never lets her down.

*warning – embarrassing teenage images inside*

“I believe lipstick is so much more than just a way to add colour to your look. Similarly to perfume, it has a magical sentimental power of being able to transport you back to a certain time in your life with just a single swatch. Memories cling to a shade like moths to a flame. I think everyone has one, two, maybe even three lipsticks in their makeup arsenal that have a multitude of memories attached to them. Perhaps you wore a certain colour on a memorable day, or wore a specific pink hue every day for years on end. You’ll definitely never forget the lipstick that you were wearing the first time you kissed the person that you love. Memories can be made, and kept, with makeup. Lipstick is a powerful little thing.

“My first ever high end lipstick was Creme Cup by MAC. I remember standing at the counter for about thirty minutes, swatching and dithering about whether to buy Creme Cup or Plink. The sense of confidence that 16-year-old Megan felt whilst walking through Newcastle’s City Centre with a black MAC carrier bag on her arm was something addictive. I wore Creme Cup on my first day of Sixth Form, because I knew having just a little bit of luxury on my lips would give my anxious self that boost to socialise with scary new people. As a young girl, when I felt low due to mental health problems and body image issues, wearing a MAC lipstick gave a little spark to my soul. Looking back now, I realise that the shade was far too milky and pale for my complexion, but I don’t think I’ll ever have it in me to throw my first MAC lipstick away.

“That MAC bug had a tight hold on me during my mid-teens. After Creme Cup, I believe Chatterbox was my next purchase, and then Costa Chic. These days, all of those shades (quite sadly) live boxed away in storage, but my first ever (and only) Limited Edition MAC product still, almost four years after purchase, sits pride of place on my dressing table. Cut a Caper remains one of my favourite lipsticks of all time. I distinctly remember the day that it was released. I went to my local MAC store to pick it up from the Heavenly Creatures collection, and almost immediately after walking out of the building I received a phone call telling me that my mother had been hospitalised. At the end of that scary, upsetting day, the only thing that brought my MAC obsessed self a slither of happiness was the fact that I’d got my hands on a tube of the coveted coral Cut a Caper. That lipstick saw me sing my lungs out at the concert of my favourite rock band, witnessed me cry at my grandmother’s funeral, and accompanied me to my very first day of University. Cut a Caper will forever have a place in my heart, no other coral will ever come close.

“I remember spending about four hours getting ready on my 18th birthday. My hair was curled, I was dressed head to toe in black, my false lashes were suitably spider-like and MAC Vegas Volt was sat proudly on my pout. Can you tell that I was all about MAC lipsticks during my teenage years? Something about that vanilla scent grabbed hold of me. Corals were my thing. I found fuchsia looked terrible on me, and pink would make me look ill. That balance between pink and orange just hit the nail on the head. One of my best friends bought me Vegas Volt as a gift and therefore it was extra special to me. Little did I know on my 18th birthday that my life was about to turn on it’s head.

“Starting university brought out a whole new side of me. Here I was, studying a subject that I adored, and bonding with hilarious, unique people who would soon become the best friendship group/ohana/support system that I’d ever had. A few months into my first year I travelled to London with my programme to attend a masterclass held by some of the best journalists in the magazine world. I was inspired, excited and I felt like I had found my ‘thing’. During the lunch break that day I found myself in the local Space NK and bought NARS Red Square – the brightest red that they sold. The shade encapsulated everything that I wanted to become, it was confident and bold and unashamedly different. I wanted to stand out and thrive in my field. Red Square is my perfect bold lip, I wear it and I feel like the woman that 5-year-old Megan wanted to grow up to be. When I die, pop me in my coffin wearing this lipstick, please.

“Lastly, I need to share my love for Charlotte Tilbury’s Glastonberry. The reason that this daring shade of plum has such a special place in my heart is that it was when I was wearing this colour, surrounded by people that I utterly adore, and watching Florence and the Machine perform ‘Delilah’, that I had a moment of realisation that totally changed my life. A specific lyric in the song hit a nerve with me, and it sounds so trivial but I just remember standing there, glancing at my wonderful friends, and realising that through them I had the support network needed to get me through the actions that were necessary to make that pivotal decision a reality. That lipstick and that song made me feel like a woman about to take charge of her happiness. I associate Glastonberry with being unapologetically independent, free, and in charge of my own life.”