I visited a beautiful photo exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art a few weekends ago. You can read about it here, if you’re interested. While I was wandering, I decided to pop into the gift shop. With a 20% off coupon in a museum gift shop, magical things can happen. And they did!

I have (what others might describe as) a problem with silk scarves. I collect them like they’re going out of style. In reality, it seems less like they’re going out of style, and more like they haven’t been in style for decades. I’m inclined to think this because they fill the thrift stores I frequent in my hometown, along with racks full of ugly Christmas sweaters. But can something that remains a permanent feature of the Hermès line, not to mention an item that was frequently and fabulously worn by Grace Kelly, ever really be out of style? Maybe silk scarves aren’t popular, but they’ll always be classically stylish in my book.

In the gift shop, I was instantly drawn to a basket overflowing with colorful silk. That’s when I spotted this beauty:

The image of Salvador Dalí’s lobster phone instantly brought back memories of the centennial retrospective exhibit of his work that was shown here in Philly in 2005. My parents gave me an amazing gift by taking me to that exhibition. I was 12 years old, and I had never seen art like that before. I can’t pretend to be educated when it comes to surrealism, but I feel Dalí’s strong vision when I look at his work. It’s strange and arresting and inspiring. It takes my mind to places my own thoughts never could. It was great to take home a small memento in the form of this beautiful scarf.

When I was getting ready the next morning, I had a surreal burst of inspiration. Because I still experience pure, childlike excitement about showing off my new things, I got dressed in neutral basics to create a simple backdrop for the scarf. Then, I thought: I’m going to wear bright orange lips today. The color of that lobster is just so brilliant that I had to do something a little more daring than usual.

I could have gone for something like my usual, everyday makeup and paired it with orange lipstick. I was envisioning a more vivid, impactful statement, however. Instead, I went for a no-fuss, perfected base and created a little bit of structure by running some Anastasia Beverly Hills Tinted Brow Gel in auburn through my brows. I chose to forego any color or definition elsewhere.

I knew exactly what I needed when it was time for the lips, but it was a bit of a process to create the end result. First, I evened-out my lip shape with the Rimmel London Exaggerate Full Colour Lip Liner in Innocent. (Fantastic lip liner, by the way.) Then, I applied two coats of Rimmel London Moisture Renew Lipstick in the shade In Love With Ginger, blotting between layers. At this point, the color was bright and bold, but a little bit one-dimensional. So, I cracked out my Revlon ColorStay Moisture Stain in Shanghai Sizzle. It was just what I needed to deepen the color ever so slightly, redden it a bit, and add a good amount of shine.

The only thing that remained was to channel my inner Grace Kelly for the camera.