February 18, 2016

Would You Tell A Stranger They Had Lipstick On Their Teeth?

lipstick on teeth

So would you tell a stranger if they had lipstick on their teeth? I mean you wanna help a fellow sister out right? Can’t have her going out into the world looking all stupid….! I’ve actually run into this issue a total of three times in my life.

Personally, you have to feel these situations out. I mean if the person you’re talking to is nice and seems approachable I’m all about casually taking them aside and telling them to have a little issue going on. However, if the person isn’t so friendly well, you’re taking a chance telling them they have lipstick on their teeth as they might just snark you out.

This happened to me three different times in a business setting with strangers. When I was able to get a quiet moment as not to embarrass or bring attention to the matter I casually told the women they had a little something, something going on with their teeth.

The first two were quite friendly so I felt confidence enough to whisper to them about the lipstick issue and both were relieved and grateful I told them about it. The third lady I was terrified of. She was quite aggressive and a little snippy so I was scared to tell her about the problem at all in fear she would reign terror and fire down around my head. But I also didn’t want her going through an entire day with a big old smear of red on her teeth. I braved it out and told her. Funny enough she was actually quite thankful I told her. I seriously thought she would chew me out for telling her about it.

I think you do have to be a bit brave about telling people about an imperfection and you also have to be sympathetic and approach the manner gently. You don’t wanna be an ass about a situation like this or condescending to the person. It’s always a risk approaching a stranger and being like, “Umm hi you have lipstick on your teeth!”

So have you ever told a stranger they had lipstick on their teeth?

Or are you not brave enough to tell them or feel a little strange telling them?

Do share!

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comments

  • Jenna

    It would depend on the situation for sure and how I felt they would react to it. Somewhat related though, I just had a dream last night where a friend of mine was walking around with me and hadn’t blended in her under eye concealer. In the dream I kept trying to tell her to blend it in but something else always came up before I could tell her. So, if that’s any indication, I would probably try to let a person know! LOL.

  • Littlecreek

    Hells yeah I tell them! Lipstick or food on teeth, toilet paper on shoes, jacket tucked into pants. One time I saw a guy on a date do a breath check so I gave him some gum. Of course I live in the Midwest and people here tend to be nicer. I have no qualms about it and figure if they want to get mad then they can walk around with crap on their teeth. No sweat off my back.

  • daisy

    I’d be glad if someone told me I had lipstick on my teeth. I never had to tell anyone, but I believe I would do so tactfully. I once told a doctor his pants zipper was down and he was so embarrassed. But, I would have felt worse not saying anything and letting him go around like that seeing other people.

    • Isabella Muse

      haha I’ve told a dude about his zipper being down as well. I’ve never seen a guy so grateful! I feel the same way, imagine having the poor guy go around like that all day! :-/

  • Janessa

    Most likely. And being an avid lipstick wearer myself, I would probably make reference to my own and laugh it off. Make light of it as something that comes with the beauty territory 🙂

    • Isabella Muse

      That’s how I approach the situation as I’m a little shy saying “Hey you got something on your teeth!” I kinda dry to make a light jest of it!

  • blee

    Sure, if you tell them that it looks good on them and then share some has gotten on your teeth quietly . Like Janessa said. 🙂

  • Karyn Kirke

    Absolutely tell them! I HATE it when I discover my lipstick is schmeared(0r for me, more likely eyeliner is halfway down my face) and no one bothered to tell me!

  • Autumn

    I would always tell a stranger, because I would always want a stranger to tell me. I’m eternally grateful for strangers that tell you that you have something in your teeth, or toilet paper on your shoe, or girls that grab you as you’re walking out of a bathroom to tell you your skirt is tucked into your underwear.

    Unless they were rude to me for any reason, say if it’s someone I’m dealing with at work and they’re being a real jerk. Then I’d just smile and say nothing and let them walk around like that. That’s one reason I try to be nice to strangers. If you’re rude, they won’t tell you that your face/body/outfit is looking crazy.

    • Isabella Muse

      haha me too! 🙂 Oh I’ve totally had the rude ones. The lady I was talking about in this post was so snarky and snippy. She just came across all kinds of rude but I felt bad not telling her so I did and I kinda gained a friend in the process as she was grateful I told her and totally calmed down a little after that haha!

  • Allie

    I would also tell someone they had lipstick on their chin. I hate going around with red lipstick on my chin without anyone telling me. Stupid red lipstick. Even the red Stila liquid lipstick sticks to my chin. Don’t understand it. Ugh.

    • Isabella Muse

      lol! I’ve def had it on my chin! ;-D going through the day without anyone telling me is a head desk moment!

  • Ashe

    I feel it out and then try to frame it like I might be rude…I told a lady “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but you have a little powder on your nose.” She thanked me and turned out she had a presentation later on! She was grateful, too.

    I read a Dear Abby once where a guy was scared to tell a lady that her skirt was hiked up in the back, he didn’t want to be accused of harassment. He ended up not doing it and feeling guilty! I think he did the right thing for himself, though, but it’s an interesting thought.

    • Isabella Muse

      We live in a highly sensitive society I find so I don’t really blame him for not telling her because I can totally picture someone being like “OMG that’s harassment!” simply because you wanted to be helpful. How sad. But on that thought, at least hearing it from a fellow sister might be a little less weird! I’m always of the mentality people want to know if they look like a dork haha!

  • Eriu

    I love when people tell me! To me, it’s a moment when we see strangers as just like us and there’s a moment of connection and solidarity. I’ve also let others know as well. But I did have one go wrong in all my 17 years of retail. I was ringing up an older woman who had hot pink lipstick all over her teeth. There were other people around and I didn’t want to embarrass her so when I slid her credit card back to her, I started to say her first name quietly to let her know when she snapped out, “How dare you address me by my first name!”. I was so surprised at her reaction and attitude. I let her walk out looking like a demented clown.

    • Isabella Muse

      wow 🙁 how sad…! Jeez. I had that happened to me in college, I was working at a store and I casually said have a good day and mentioned the person’s first name and she totally wigged out at me for addressing her by her first name. I guess I get it on some level but there’s also a way to say nicely, “I prefer not to be called by first name please address me as mrs or mr so and so” but to snark someone out for it, just boggles my mind!

  • Jodi

    Yes, I would. In a public restroom, a stranger told me that my underwear was showing. I’ll be eternally grateful to her.

  • Zovesta

    Oh boy, I don’t know if I’m brave enough to! But I think I might, if they seemed friendly enough… I’ve had people tell me this, and I’ve always been grateful!

  • Littlecreek

    Random thought….I’d love to know what color that lipstick is in the picture.

    • Littlecreek

      …..shade, not color…I have a newborn so I don’t have to make sense. Anyway, if anyone has a clue let me know

      • Devon

        It looks like an old Rimmel package to me. Not sure if they still make them like that!

    • Lorraine. E.R

      No idea buuttt the pigmentation looks like that of a tinted balm that would come in a bullet like a lipstick. To get that shade I would think you’d want either a coral or a nude mauve-y shade. Maybe someone else can get more specific on the color and product suggestions?

    • Lorraine. E.R

      I have never had this exact situation with lipstick but if someone seemed approachable I have told people about food in teeth, super smudged eye makeup & toilet paper on shoes.
      So far so good, no bad reactions.
      One time I had the most polite, tactful senior lady point out that I had some blood on the back of my dress. It was that time of the month and it was obvious where it came from but no one else said anything even though I was running my errands like that 🙁 she waved me over and made sure no one could hear what she said and told me how to get the stain out, suggested using my messenger bag positioned to cover it until I got home. I was extremely thankful for being told and for her tact in doing so!
      I felt so guilty too because she looked homeless and I thought she was going to ask me for $ BC she was in an area where there’s a lot of that and I hesitated to respond when she was trying to get my attention BC I was super short on $. Turns out she was just waiting for her ride and didn’t want anything, was only trying to help and I felt really bad for thinking that.

  • S

    Yes!
    I was doing modeling for a company once and one of the ‘head’ people came during lunch and was talking to me and it wasn’t until our conversation was over that I ran my tongue over my teeth and found some spinach from my lunch there.
    I would hate for anyone else to experience something like that because it is embarrassing at the time.
    When I tell someone though I try to be relatable about it and tell them what I just shared with you 🙂

  • SJanet

    On my sons first day of kindergarten, many years ago, this really sweet lady was taking loads of pictures of her triplets on their first day. She had a dark burgundy lipstick all over her teeth, so I politely told her. She got so panicked that in the process of wiping her teeth, she dropped her $1000 camera. Yes, she broke her $1000 camera. We joke about it now and we have become wonderful friends. But lesson learned.

  • Rose

    One time I was meeting an old now ex friend off the train, her first words to me were ‘you’ve got lipstick on ur teeth’ which was annoying because we were in public, there were no mirrors anywhere nearby and basically I didn’t actually believe her I think she was trying to make me feel self conscious, hence we are no longer friends, so yeah I think it can be a patronising thing to do, if done in that way.

    • Isabella Muse

      awww <3! I think done in the wrong way it can indeed be patronizing!