The first Monday in May transforms the internet into a fashion Hunger Games. It is the global spiritual sporting event for people who care deeply about whether someone can successfully pull off a latex corset while climbing stairs. It is fashion's Super Bowl, Eurovision and Oscars rolled into one giant meme-able spectacle, and every year I tell myself I am just going to casually scroll through the looks before inevitably becoming emotionally invested in a stranger's lipstick.
Somewhere between the Swarovski crystals, gowns and inevitable "what was the theme again?" discourse, Ashley Graham appeared looking so impossibly glossy and radiant that I temporarily forgot about every other celebrity in attendance. Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today. And while her custom gown deserved its own standing ovation, it was her soft pink lip that sent me spiralling into a full beauty investigation worthy of the FBI.
Ashley Graham proving soft pink lips will never go out of style. Credit: Instagram. Ashley Graham has always had this quality where she somehow exists in the impossible space between supermodel glamour and the woman you would actually want sitting next to you at brunch discussing reality TV and body image politics. She has spent years kicking open doors in fashion that should have been opened decades earlier, forcing the industry to rethink who gets labelled aspirational, sexy and high fashion.
As someone who grew up consuming magazines where beauty standards felt about as attainable as owning a private island, Ashley's cultural impact matters. She did not just become successful within the system; she shifted it. There is a whole generation of women who saw themselves reflected back differently because of her. So naturally, when her Met Gala beauty look appeared on my Instagram feed, I zoomed directly into her lips like I was conducting a forensic investigation.
Be the first to know: Add 7NEWS as your preferred news source on Google. The glossy pink lip was perfection, soft, juicy, expensive-looking lips with that elusive "I drink green juice in Tribeca" energy. Then came the revelation. Ashley Graham's glossy Met Gala lip sparked my latest beauty obsession. Credit: Instagram. It was Revlon. Even better, it was the exact Revlon PhotoReady Instant Plump Serum Gloss in "003 Magically Inflated" paired with the PhotoReady Instant Blur Liner in "004 Lazy". And in what can only be described as a beauty editor miracle, I already had the gloss sitting on my desk.
The $17 Revlon gloss giving rich supermodel energy without the luxury price tag. Credit: 7You. Reader, I nearly levitated. It is deeply thrilling to discover a Met Gala beauty product that costs less than my lunch and does not require a waitlist, a celebrity facialist or access to a Beverly Hills dermatologist. One minute, Ashley Graham is walking the Met steps looking like a renaissance painting brought to life, the next I am aggressively applying the same gloss at my work desk under fluorescent office lighting.
One swipe later and suddenly I understood the power of a good lip gloss. Credit: 7You. Buy Revlon PhotoReady Instant Plump Serum Gloss Magically Inflated, was $29, now $17.40 from Priceline Pharmacy. The gloss itself deserves the hype. It goes on with that silky serum texture that makes your lips look instantly smoother and fuller without crossing into painfully spicy lip plumper territory. There is a soft minty tingle that immediately transported me back to the Marc Jacobs Enamored Hi-shine Lip Gloss I was too emotionally attached to before the beauty line disappeared.
Beauty nostalgia is powerful. One whiff of mint gloss and suddenly I am mentally back in 2016, wearing a leather jacket indoors for no reason. The Revlon colour is what really sold me, though. "Magically Inflated" is the perfect barely-there pink with a subtle just-bitten flush that somehow makes you look healthier, fresher and significantly more expensive than you actually are. It has that effortless off-duty supermodel vibe that beauty brands spend millions trying to bottle.
Revlon says the formula is enriched with hyaluronic acid to hydrate, while the RealRush Heat + Ice Complex gently tingles and plumps lips instantly. All I know is my lips looked glossy, smooth and suspiciously photogenic after one swipe. Ashley Graham's glossy pink Met Gala lip led me straight to Revlon's new PhotoReady gloss and now I refuse to leave home without it. Credit: Instagram. Ashley even shared the look with her 20.7 million Instagram followers, writing: "Checkmate ♟️?: The glam strategy this Met: my @revlon PhotoReady Instant Plump Serum."
Needless to say, the gloss is no longer living on my desk. It has officially graduated to permanent handbag status. And at $17.40 at Priceline Pharmacy, down from $29, this may be the closest I will ever come to having a Met Gala glam squad in my everyday life.
