We looked at Byredo Color Stick on construction, materials and how it holds up. Here is what stood up. Matching exact shades is harder than matching temperature, so aim for warm with warm.

What decides this is shade range, finish and how long it wears. Everything else is preference. A shade range under 20 tones usually means the ends of the range are an afterthought. A higher price mostly buys materials and finishing, and occasionally it buys nothing at all.

Pick one feature. Eyes or lip, not both. Blend past the jaw or do not go near it. From the second group, Chantecaille's Brilliant Lip Gloss ($43) is the one that earns its place, because it works in more than one context without being restyled. The third group is smaller and deliberately narrower, skincare, for the decisions you make after the main one. None of this needs the whole group. One piece from each is usually enough.

There are 20 makeup here from 13 brands, $8 to $65, all in stock when this was written. We would not buy all of them, and neither should you. elfcosmetics.com's H2O Proof Eyeliner Pen at $8 is the low-risk way in, and Sigma Beauty's Cool Neutrals Eyeshadow Palette at $65 only makes sense if this is a category you already use constantly. Read as a set, they get you close to Byredo Color Stick without any single purchase being compulsory. Nothing here is included because it is famous, and price is not used as a proxy for quality anywhere on this page. If you take one thing away: buy the one you can picture using this week, not the one you are saving for later.