When Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner’s make-up artist of choice, Mary Phillips, launched her m.ph brand last summer, she dubbed the colour line’s signature lipstick ‘Lip Ciggy.’
True to its name, the eight-shade hydrating lip product boasts a slim, cigarillo-looking silhouette – something the brand’s promotional imagery reinforces.
Phillips is not the only beauty player seemingly inspired by the skinny cigarette.
Dior’s new Rouge Dior On Stage offers a level of gloss associated with liquid lip formulations but in a slimline stick with an upside-down teardrop shape for controlled application.
It follows in the footsteps of Tom Ford’s elegant, stiletto-inspired Slim Lip Color Shine, launched in 2024.
2025 newcomers from Givenchy (Le Rouge Velvet Matte) and Morphe (Lip Filter Hydroplump Soft Matte Lipstick) opted for a slimline case, as did the L’Oréal Paris x Mugler collab.
Kiko Milano’s new semi-matte launch, One Magic Touch Lip Stylo, boasts a one- handed slide opening mechanism.
They nod to old-Hollywood cigarette elegance, with a modern, minimalist twist
It “brings together the skinny stick format and maximum practicality” allowing for “precise application in a single gesture”, according to a Kiko Milano spokesperson, adding a distinctly Zippo lighter gesture to the ciggy-looking lipstick.
Of course, Virginia Slims-width lippies are not unique to today’s beauty environment.
The likes of Hourglass and Christian Louboutin Beauty are well known for lipsticks so spiky that they could double-up as a weapon in skilled hands.
YSL’s slim, square-tipped lipsticks have, in the past, been photographed ciggy style between models’ fingers.
“We have seen a proliferation of slim lipsticks over the past two years,” confirms Lucie Ray-Lalanne, Marketing Manager at luxury cosmetic packaging maker Axilone.
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