Best lip stuff ever. But don’t just take my word for it.

About five years ago I was standing in a very long line at the Clinique counter during one of their ‘free gift with purchase’ deals.

I was nearly at the front when I heard a man’s voice, clearly in distress, pleading “Excuse me ladies, I need to get through. It’s an emergency.”

Every woman in line was riveted. After all, this is not something you witness at the Clinique counter every day. Just who was this man with the audacity to cut in line?

And even more mystifying — what could possibly constitute a beauty ’emergency’?

The woman at the front of the line — apparently a lot nicer than I — let him in. While the salesperson filled his order, he explained his dire situation. He was a makeup artist in the middle of a commercial photo shoot and the model’s cracked and bleeding lips were ruining the whole shebang.

So there it is.

Cracked and bleeding lips = official beauty emergency.

He then held up a small box and said with almost reverent sincerity, “This is the best thing I’ve ever found for lips. And trust me, I’ve tried them all.” (Or something like that. It was five years ago.)

So just what was this cosmetic superhero?

Clinique Superbalm.Perhaps it was all just part of a genius marketing ploy, but I’m pretty sure every woman in line that day bought at least one Superbalm. And I’ve been using it ever since. It single-handedly saved my lips during my honeymoon in Aspen.

At 12 bucks a pop it’s not the cheapest stuff out there, but one tube lasts me almost an entire year. And to me $1 per month is a small price to pay for avoiding a trip to the makeup emergency room.

Shopping tip: Two Superbalms plus one $1 eye/lip pencil sharpener equals exactly enough to score the bonus gift. And the open disdain of the salesperson.