Looking for Lip Shades to Stick With

Dear Fashion Police: Every time I find a lipstick color I like, I later discover it has been discontinued.

I’ve just been to eight stores where I bought five lipsticks that looked great in the tubes and ghastly on me.

Do you have a source for discontinued colors?

--LIP LOCKED

Dear Locked: Once upon a time there was a company called Visage Beaute, which custom-blended lipstick, foundation and other cosmetics, and it made all the women and all the makeup artists in the land very happy. Sadly, the company went out of business, and we haven’t been able to find anything similar. Re-creating lipsticks is very difficult, since both the color and the formulation must be matched.

We did discover that Revlon has a Consumer Information Center that will tell you which current shade will most closely match your discontinued one. The number is (800) 4-REVLON.

Also, several cosmetics companies now offer cootie-free single-use samples, so you can see how the color looks on your lips, not your hand. Ask for them at department store makeup counters.

If you buy your lipsticks at drug stores, the product is usually sealed, leaving you to guess the color by looking at some little microscopic color swatch or peering through several layers of plastic. However, Rite Aid offers a return policy in case you don’t like the shade.

Makeup artist Patrick Tumey, with the Santa Monica-based Celestine agency, says he completely sympathizes with your plight.

Sometimes, he said, a company will bring back the exact same lipstick under a different name, especially if the old names sound dated.

“It’s about marketing,” he said.

Now, not all companies do this (Revlon says it doesn’t), but Tumey made this suggestion: Find a knowledgeable cosmetics saleswoman and “befriend her. Keep going back to her. Talk to her, take her card, build that trust. If she’s a good person, she’ll steer you to a color that’s right for you, and maybe tell you that the shade you’re looking for has a different name--or even try to improve upon it.”

We hope that brought a lipstick-coated smile to your face.

*

Dear Fashion Police: Please settle a disagreement I’m having with a friend about the direction one’s belt should be inserted through the belt loops. As a former (female) law enforcement officer, I was indoctrinated to respect the holy “gig” line, where the outer edge of the belt buckle should form a straight line with the fly of one’s slacks, with the belt threaded through the loops beginning from the left. The belt’s tail ends up in the opposite direction of the fly opening.

I was discussing this with a co-worker in my current civilian profession, and she disagreed, stating it is the tail of the belt that should point in the same direction as the opening of the fly.

I cannot bring myself to think she is correct. Are the rules in the civilian world different for women?

--BUCKLED DOWN

Dear Buckled: So at your police academy, did they also go over the belt matching the shoes and handbag? Because that’s what we covered at the Fashion Police Academy. And then we all got manicures and went to lunch.

We’re impressed that so much attention was paid to belt direction during your training but hope it didn’t take time away from other issues, such as bank robberies and murders and things like that. Frankly, we’ve never thought about belt direction, figuring that being a “lefty” or a “righty” probably determined which way it went on.

So we’re not going to call this one right or wrong. One suggestion: Now that you’re in civilian life, you really should learn to loosen up. Not too much--we don’t want you going to work in shorts and tank tops. But arguing with co-workers about belts shouldn’t be a big part of your day. Trust us--office gossip is much more interesting.

From the Fashion Police Blotter: The Oscars are only a few weeks away, and we need you to weigh in on how celebs should dress for such award shows. Give us your thoughts on the good, the bad and the ugly, and fax or write to the address below. Time’s a-wasting.

When reporting or preventing a fashion crime, write to Fashion Police, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053, or fax to (213) 237-0732.