ahhhhh! i love lipstick. Hard Times, but Your Lips Look Great Natasha Calzatti for The New York Times Cristina Bartolucci, creative director of DuWop Cosmetics, has introduced Prime Venom, a lip plumper, to take advantage of these uncertain times. LAST month, Betsy Stein made a beeline for Bloomingdale’s to buy a shirt, but the Nanette Lepore top she found was $280. Ms. Stein, 33, a business manager for a classical music composer in Manhattan, told herself that in the current economic climate, she shouldn’t charge it. Annie Tritt for The New York Times Ann Feather bought a $22 Vincent Longo lip gloss instead of an $855 Ralph Lauren dress. “With the scare of the downturn,” she said, “I decided to cut back on my shopaholic problem and exercise some restraint.” But the next day at Sephora, she made a substitute purchase. “I could buy one or two lipsticks for about $40,” she said. “That’s far less than $280.” Ms. Stein’s rationale for buying lipstick echoes a theory once proposed b...