LOVE NOTES: Lip edition
A Pretty Paper Beauty Letter
There are a few beauty rituals that feel less like routine and more like identity - and for me, lips sit firmly at the top of that list.
Not in a high-maintenance, overdrawn kind of way… but in the quiet power a lip carries. A polished lip can make you feel dressed even when you’re not. It finishes the face the way a bow finishes a package - the final detail that makes everything feel intentional.
And lately, I’ve been thinking about lips even more than usual.
Last week I went to a birthday party for a fabulous friend where in addition to many indulgent, darling moments - of all things, there was a lip reader. Like a fortune teller, but instead of reading your palms, they read your kiss (on a piece of paper).
She studied the shape of our lips, fullness, symmetry… even the way we held tension in our mouths. She said you can tell a lot about a person from their kiss - how they love, how they guard themselves, how they express emotion.
Romantic? Maybe.
Fascinating? Completely.
She shared observations that felt both playful and deeply personal — describing me as kind to the point of holding back my thoughts, a little “smudgy” in a romantic, lived-in way, and someone who finds joy in creating comfort for others. She noted my tendency to compete with myself, turning mistakes into lessons while also being too hard on my own efforts, especially when it comes to work. She called me self-sufficient, driven, and deeply fulfilled by making life more beautiful for those around me and then summed it all up in one word: an enigma. Her final advice stayed with me most… to use my voice more openly, to express not just care for others but my own desires too. I left reflective, realizing lips reveal more than beauty , they hold softness, strength, romance, and resilience, speaking even when we’re quiet, which is perhaps it better explains why I’ve always valued a thoughtful lip wardrobe just as much as any closet staple.
So in true Pretty Paper fashion, consider this a folded love letter of all my favorite lip finds … sealed with my signature pink lipstick.
