For centuries, poets and men with an agenda, have been writing peons of praise to the loveliness of female lips. Most of them however, admired from afar and didn"t have to deal with the lipstick of today. Now, a compliment is as likely to get a gentleman an enthusiastic hug, and an imprint of those incomparable lips on his shirt collar.

The first thing to do, is return the enthusiasm and forget the stain! You can"t do much about it until you get home, although you can try blotting it wit water to make sure it doesn"t set any deeper. Don"t rub though, or it will become a real mess, instead of a charming imprint.

Take care of it as soon as you get home. Lipstick is a grease-based product, and most good grease pre-treatments will do the job. Spray the spot, or blot if necessary with a white cloth and the pre-treatment. Let sit for 15 minutes. Rinse with warm water. If the stain is still there, turn the fabric over so you are working at the stain from the back, and work in some liquid dish detergent with an old toothbrush. Let sit 15 minutes, then launder.

An alternative is to dab the stain with rubbing alcohol. Do not rub, or you"ll spread the mark. Turn the fabric over and work in dish detergent from the back, with a toothbrush. Let sit for 15 minutes and launder. If there is any mark remaining, re-treat with a pre-soak.

Other choices include dabbing off what you can with a water dampened cloth, then blotting the stain with a bit of ammonia, and laundering as usual. Or, you can try wetting the spot with hairspray, wiping the spot gently, and laundering.