I went to Sephora a couple weekends ago to check out several new products in person, and was remarkably restrained – the only thing I bought was one of the new Sephora Collection Rouge Infusion Lip Stains. There are 12 colors (oddly, they’re numbered No. 1 – 13 with no No. 2), and they sell for $14.
I swatched all but one in-store (the tester was missing). Here are the swatches – as you can see, the pigmentation level varies significantly between shades, with the lighter shades having medium intensity and the darker shades being EXTREMELY pigmented. None have any shimmer or sparkle.
The numbers in my photo correspond to the product numbers; there isn’t a No. 2 and the No. 10 Red Essence tester was missing. You can see all the product names & numbers on Sephora.com.
They definitely stain the skin – this is after wiping with makeup remover. It took oil based remover and a lot of scrubbing to completely remove the swatches.
I bought Shade 06, Coral Extract, a medium-intensity pink-coral. It’s a great color, but (as you can see from the above photo), it stains less than most of them, which means that it doesn’t last that long on my lips – I get a couple hours, depending on what I eat. The texture reminds me of the Wet n Wild Vicious Varnish Gloss Stains – both are slightly watery. However, the Wet n Wild stains are glossier.
Note that the arm swatch photo above is a touch lighter & brigher than the lip swatch photo below. When applied to the lips, the stain is slightly darker than the color of the gloss itself – this would be fine, except that the slightly lighter gloss tends to settle in the lip lines, as you can see below. In order to avoid this, I’ve been leaving the gloss on for about five minutes to make sure my lips are stained; then, I blot off any excess, which leaves me with an even stain.
When I posted some swatches on Instagram, someone commented that these have a strong tingle and almost burn on her lips. I only notice a very, very mild tingle – but if you tend to have lips that are sensitive, you might want to skip these.
Overall, Coral Extract is mediocre – the lasting power I expect from a stain just isn’t there. I still might try one of the darker colors – perhaps 12 Cherry Nectar, which had the deepest stain.
Have you tried the Sephora Lip Stains? How did they work out for you?
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