Category Archives: Liquid Lipstick

Dior Addict Fluid Stick in 869 Vie d’Enfer: First Impression & Swatches

Dior Addict Fluid Stick

Dior has recently released a new product, the Dior Addict Fluid Sticks (is it just me or is that a really terrible name?). They’re advertised having “the high-impact colour and long wear of a lipstick, combined with the shine of a gloss.” Texturewise, they remind me of the Maybelline Color Elixirs (reviewed) and L’oreal Extraordinares (reviewed), which are both supposed to be gloss-balm-liquid lipstick hybrid. The packaging of the Fluid Sticks is somewhat reminiscent of the Maybellines as well; both have a lipstick-shaped cavity for the product, and if you weren’t paying attention, you might mistake the product for a traditional lipstick with a clear lid. Continue reading →

OCC Rollergirl, Pool Boy, Mannequin Lip Tar Swatches

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Pool Boy //Mannequin // Rollergirl

I received a few OCC items at The Makeup Show, and today I have swatches of three lip tars from the new Plastic Passion collection. You can see all of the Plastic Passion lip tars at here on Sephora.com. For beautiful swatches of all six shades, check out Portrait of Mai’s post here.

Lip Tars, as you are probably aware, are an intensely pigmented liquid lipstick. I find that they work best when I apply the thinnest layer possible. I don’t generally experience bleeding with lip tars, but if you do, a clear lip liner or lip primer will help. Continue reading →

Essence Stay Matt Lip Cream Review & Swatches

Purchased – Affiliate Links

Good morning (or whatever time it is for you)! Today I have some quick lip swatches of Essence’s Stay Matt[e] Lip Creams ($2.99 at Ulta) – I have all three of the shades that are available in the US. I’m short on time today, so instead of a wordy review, I just have a few bullet points:

Silky Red & Smooth Berry have beautiful, opaque pigmentation
Velvet Rose is a bit patchy
All three are initially satiny and dry down to a velvety matte finish
I find them neither drying nor hydrating
They have a very strong, very sweet carmelized sugar scent that I hate.

Velvet Rose

Smooth Berry

Silky Red

And here’s a full face photo with Smooth Berry, which is my (surprising!) favorite.

Lip: Essence Smooth Berry

*I purchased the product(s) featured in this post. This post contains one or more affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

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Rimmel Show Off Lip Lacquer (US Apocalips) Swatches & Quick Review

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I’ve been hearing about Rimmel’s liquid lipstick, Apocalips, for months – it’s been available in the UK since January or so – and hoping Rimmel would bring it to the US. And, it’s finally arrived, under the name Show Off Lip Laquer! I believe the formulas are identical, but I can’t find the UK ingredients to confirm (the US ingredients are listed on Drugstore.com, here – you can also puchase all the shades there, though most are out of stock at the moment).

Continue reading →

Ellis Faas Ellis Red (L101) Creamy Lips Review & Swatches

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One of the brands I was excited to check out at The Makeup Show was Ellis Faas; I had heard so much about this brand (and it’s somewhat controversial applicators), but hadn’t tried any of its products. I’ve already reviewed the concealer I purchased (which I love!). In that review, I mentioned that I also received another Ellis Faas product to try out, and that’s what I have for you today: Creamy Lips in the brand’s signature shade, Ellis Red.

For general thoughts on the bullet packaging / applicator system, please see my prior post. Instead of a brush, the Creamy Lips applicator is a sort of hard sponge tip; it’s covered in a soft material, but it’s firm and not dentable. I find that the applicator works quite well with the texture of this specific product – I can apply the lipstick straight from the applicator if needed. However, I prefer a crisper line on my upper lip than I can achieve with the applicator, so I’ve been using a lip brush most of the time.

Ellis Faas Creamy Lips Applicator

The Creamy Lips product feels to me like a lightweight lip cream rather than a traditional lipstick. I keep wanting to repeat the word lightweight – I can barely feel it on my lips once applied. The texture just disappears into my lips, and (aside from the vivid color), it almost looks like I don’t have on any lip product at all; the texture of my lips is just the texture of my lips.

L101 Ellis Red

Part of Ellis Faas’s premise is that all of its products are “human colors” — colors that naturally exist in the human body. The shade of Creamy Lips I have is L101, Ellis Red, and is described as a blood red. On me, it’s a neutral medium red; not too dark, not too bright – very wearable and classic. I’ve heard that some people find the wear time of Cream Lips to be fantastic, but I found it to be fairly average – if you’ve tried these products, how was it for you?

L101 Ellis Red

Overall, this is a really lovely product, but I’m not sure I would pay full price for it. Don’t get me wrong – it’s a high quality product, I’d just rather choose something else to splurge on. The applicator works, but I prefer a regular lipstick or a tube-style liquid lipstick. The color is really lovely – a great neutral red – but not unique. I do really love the texture, and if it were a bit longer lasting on me, I would be quite tempted to pick up another shade.

Creamy Lips retails for $35 and is available at Ellisfaas.com or Sephora.com; if you’re in Los Angeles, none of the Sephora stores carry the line, but Nigel Beauty (in North Hollywood) sells it in-store.

*I received the featured product for free courtesy of Ellis Faas and The Makeup Show. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

OCC Power Plant Lip Tar Review, Swatches, and Mixing!

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At first glance, OCC’s brand new lip tar, Power Plant, does not look even remotely wearable. A shimmery pale green? What am I going to do with that? However, after playing with it, I am very happy to have it in my stash; not to wear alone, but to mix.

Although I’ve tried – and swatched – many of OCC’s creme-finish lip tars, Power Plant was my first experience with OCC’s new metallic lip tar formula. Like the creme finish lip tars, it has a peppermint scent (but no uncomfortable tingle on the lips), and like the creme finish lip tars, only a tiny amount should be used, or else the lip tar will feather and/or smear.

From a skin swatch, I had no idea what it would look like on the lips:

It turns out that alone, it looks – well – pretty bad. Not really wearable or flattering at all, even for most people who like nonstandard colors. It looks frosty and cancels out some of my natural lip color for a very unflattering look. I can imagine it being used quite effectively for an editorial look, however!

OCC Power Plant

But, then I tried mixing it. First, I grabbed the nearest lip tar, which happened to be Radiate – perhaps my favorite of the lip tars I own.

OCC Radiate

I mixed them, and was surprised to find that almost-neon coral red plus metallic green makes a not-shimmery, dimensional rosy neutral.

Radiate // Radiate + Power Plant // Power Plant

The mixture here has a little bit too much Power Plant, so you can see a bit of a green highlight, but you get the idea.

Radiate + Power Plant = Surprise!

I was astonished by this gorgeous result; I guess I don’t understand color theory very well!

Here are some other creations using Power Plant lip tar:

Sleek Pinkini // Pinkini + Power Plant // OCC Power Plant

I believe Sleek Pinkini Pout Paint is somewhat similar to OCC Anime Lip Tar.

Sleek Pin Up // Pin Up + Power Plant // OCC Power Plant

I believe Sleek Pin Up is very similar to OCC NSFW Lip Tar.

Power Plant lip tar, as well as the matching Power Plant nail polish (which I swatched here) are supposed to be exclusive to Sephora.com; however, I’ve heard that the lip tar has been spotted in-store at Sephora.

*I received Power Plant lip tar courtesy of OCC and The Makeup Show. I purchased the other products in this post. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

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