If, like me, you work in a corporate setting, our tubes of bright or vampy lip colors have to wait until the weekend to come out and be the center of attention. At the office, you’d rather let your work be the most outstanding thing about you rather than your attention-grabbing lipstick. You also need something that wears well and is easy to swipe on when you suddenly have a client meeting. Here are some of my favorites to reach for from Monday to Friday. These are all locally available, all come in different shades to suit Pinay skin, and none of these is over P400!

Ever Bilena Advance Supreme lipstick

This glides on effortlessly and feels very lightweight on the lips, for those who hate heavy lipstick. It only lasts about two or three hours on me, but with a price tag of less than P200, you won’t feel like every touch-up is costing you a pretty peso. For work, I wear the shade Audrey, which is a cherry red that is not too intense or too pigmented, keeping it noticeable but not in-your-face for a professional setting.

Ever Bilena Matte lipstick
This is a crowd favorite, with good reason. It’s a creamy matte that lasts several hours without drying the lips and is again less than P200. I have these in a few shades, but Siennas is my favorite to wear to the office. It will be a beautiful “my lips but better” nude if you have medium to dark skin. On lighter skin, it’s a good way to ease into the 90s lip trend if you are not sure that it will look good on you, or don’t want to go outright brown.

Maybelline ColorSensational Creamy Matte lipstick

There are so many varieties of ColorSensational lipstick now, and each with at least half a dozen shades. Touch of Spice is probably the most popular of the Matte line. It used to get sold out all the time, but I think Maybelline Philippines heard the clamor and have kept their shelves well-stocked. I also like wearing Ravishing Rose if I want to go pink.

Flormar Super Matte lipstick
I have three shades of this (full review and swatches here), but 210 is one of my most-worn to the office. Considering how many tubes I’ve tried out, this one is really a favorite for its comfortable wear and sophisticated color. Sorry if the tip on this one looks pretty ratchet; something fell on it while I was taking this photo :(

A version of this post was previously published in SunStar Cebu.