Much unlike many a magazine editor who recommends you buy all sorts of crap that they most likely got for free, your Jezebel staff doesn’t get jack shit (other than books, unsolicited). And that’s how it should be. But on our own time, in our personal lives, we still buy stuff. So this is Worth It, our daily recommendation of random things that we’ve actually spent our own money on. These are the things we buy regularly or really like, things we’d actually tell our friends about. And now we’re telling you.
This is going to sound kind of disgusting, but that’s because it is: I first discovered Clinique’s Black Honey lipstick as it was rolling around on the back of a school bus when I was 14. Being a stupid, gross, crass teenager, I picked it up, tried it on, and immediately loved it. While it looks very dark in its thin silver tube, it actually goes on as a tint with some shine. The real magic of Black Honey is that it manages to look different yet flattering when paired with nearly every shade of skin. With its “natural” look, it lends itself so well to a refinement that, 18 years ago, people probably couldn’t tell just how uncivilized I was to be smearing something on my mouth that I found on the floor of a public transportation vehicle. I’ve worn it nearly every day since then.
Every once in a while I hear a rumor that Clinique is discontinuing the shade, but I think that’s just bitchy fear mongering. Still, I always buy a handful Black Honey whenever I’m running low, just in case, but also, because I keep tubes stashed all over the place, in my vanity table, in different purses, in my kitchen cabinet with my vitamins, etc., just because I like having it readily available and because you never know when someone is going to take a picture of you. In this day and age, when people just upload pictures and tag you on Facebook, willy nilly, Black Honey helps make you look a little more human and a little less like a creature.
Clinique Almost Lipstick: Black Honey, $14.50, Sephora.com