5 reasons women over 50 are switching to the lipstick that goes on clear

You know the routine. A wall of shades, three stripes on the back of your hand, and a color that looks completely different once you're home. Every shade on that wall was chosen on someone else's lips.

NEKTAR skips that step. It goes on crystal clear, then reacts with the natural pH and moisture of your lips to develop into a pink that's yours: a soft rose on most women, a deeper berry on some. No swatches, no shade names, no more drawer full of almost-right.

After 50, fine vertical lines start to form around the mouth. A classic lipstick is a layer of color sitting on top of your lips, and as the day goes on, that layer travels into those lines. That's the faint red halo you catch in the mirror at 3 p.m.

NEKTAR works differently. The color develops in the lip itself, as a tint, so there's no layer on top to slide anywhere. Clean edges, no liner, no checking the mirror after every sip of coffee.

Walk through Saint-Germain on a weekday morning and you'll notice it: women in their fifties, sixties and seventies with a soft, fresh lip that never looks “done.” In Paris, the goal after 50 isn't a perfect red. It's your own lips, only rosier, as if you'd just come in from a walk in the cold.

That's exactly the finish NEKTAR gives you. A sheer, natural rose that brightens your whole face without announcing itself, and looks as right with jeans at the market as it does at dinner.

Long-wear and matte lipsticks get their staying power by drying down. On lips that have lost moisture over the years, that means a tight feeling by noon and little cracks by dinner.

NEKTAR is a soft balm. It glides on, stays comfortable, and lets you decide how much color you want: one swipe for a sheer everyday rose, two or three for a richer berry when you're going out. Want it even softer? Blot once on a tissue.

Because it turns into each woman's own shade, it's one of the few lipsticks you can give without guessing. Your sister, your daughter, the friend who has complained about her lipstick for ten years: on her, it becomes her pink.

And right now you don't have to choose between keeping it and giving it. During the Fall Sale, every lipstick comes with a second one free: one for your purse, one for someone you love. That's $16.45 a tube.