Back in November as you may recall I was in Bluewater and I managed to get my hands on not one but TWO Glamour UK December issues (featuring the lovely Tanya Burr on the front cover...woop woop for beauty gurus everywhere!!!). That issue came with the possibility of getting either one of four Clinique minis - the Pop Lip Colour and Primer in Nude Pop or Cherry Pop, a High Impact Mascara or the Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion+.
Now, as I'm pretty fond of my current moisturiser and mascara I had my eyes out solely for the two lipsticks. My dad spotted them first on the magazine rack in the John Lewis Food Hall (I've trained him well!), and shortly after they were mine...muaha ha HA HA!!! Coughs...sorry don't know what that was about :P And although any good lipstick collection can be judged by its Nudes and Reds I still wanted to get my hands on a full sized one to compare them to. After much umming and ahhing...so many gorgeous options and quite a hefty price point of £16, I set my heart on what makes or breaks a collection for me...the PLUMS!
As you may or may not know, these lipsticks are the accompaniment to Clinique's very successful Cheek Pop Blushers (of which I've already written a blog post about). They are divided into four different colour categories: Nudes, Pinks, Tawnies/Corals and Violets. And just like its fellow blushers, the packaging is stunning, but more on that later...Swatch time!
Clinique Pop Lip Colour & Primer - 01 Nude Pop (Nude Category)
Nude Pop is a beautiful nude, you can see in the lower right picture that the lipstick bullet has got a bunch of silver micro-shimmer in it. While this may look like it would give the lipstick a "frosty finish" (which is basically the kiss of death for any modern lipstick) in fact it gives the nude a lovely moisturised look to it. A bit like the glow from a highlighter, but on your lips...stunning!
Pigmentation is good, but unfortunately it doesn't cover my white dotted scarring underneath my cupid's bow from previous allergies...itchy little buggers! As a kid I sadly just didn't have the will power not to scratch :( So I would personally wear this one with a lip liner but as I know this would impact the colour, my swatch is just of the lipstick of course!
Clinique Pop Lip Colour & Primer - 08 Cherry Pop (Tawnies/Corals Category)
Cherry Pop is a beautiful blue-toned red. It has the same duality as Essie's Watermelon nail polish (would be a lovely match) though if you're familiar with this polish then you'll know that in some lights it can look like a very VERY dark cherry pink and in others a bright juicy red. Hence the name Cherry Pop suits it perfectly! It has the pinkness of the cherry and the Pop-iness of the bright red...great name, applause for whoever was involved there!
Clinique Pop Lip Colour & Primer - 14 Plum Pop (Violets Category)
Plum Pop is a superb pinky plum which I think is safe to say is in direct competition with my favourite go-to lipstick of all time (for nearly 8 years now...probably) the Rimmel Moisture Renew in Vintage Pink!
Left: Clinique - 14 Plum Pop Right: Rimmel Moisture Renew - 180 Vintage Pink
You can see in the comparison photos above that Plum Pop is ever slightly more of a red-y plum whereas Vintage Pink is more mauve. But as I always apply Vintage Pink over my ever trusty N°7 Precision Lips Pencil in Nude (also very warm toned) the colour I end up with, more or less correlates to Plum Pop on its own...if you like your mauves and plums it's a game changer that's for sure!
DESCRIPTION
Let's get back to the packaging, these lovely lipsticks (like the blushers) come in a nice sleek modern packaging, not in the classic tube shape, but rather a squared rectangle (if that makes no sense, then a picture is worth a 1000 words...the photos say it all). The lid of the lipstick is a lovely metallic mirrored finish whereas the base is the colour of the lipstick inside.
Described on the Clinique website as having a "luxurious yet weightless formula" combining "saturated colour with a smoothing primer" with "a modern-velvet finish". The "colour stays true and keeps lips comfortably moisturised for 8 hours". This is a pretty accurate description except for the 8 hours claim (see: wear below) and the finish I would describe as more of a mixture between a Mac amplified (for pigmentation) and cremesheen (for hydration) formulas. The Clinique formula basically feels exactly like the Rimmel Moisture Renew lipsticks; creamy, pigmented and hydrating...everything you could want in a lipstick! But unlike its drugstore equivalent the Clinique lipsticks are also "100% Fragrance Free", so if that's a thing that bothers you, you now know which one to pick! :)
APPLICATION
Super easy application straight from the bullet (typical pointy shaped lipstick), I would say you wouldn't even need a mirror to apply the Nude Pop, but Cherry Pop and Plum Pop are much darker colours, so mistakes are not as forgiving (apply with mirror for these ones). Your lips can be in any condition for these lipsticks; no prepping required! The hydration is in the lipstick, so even flaky lips will look good with these on. :)
WEAR
If you look at the turn of phrase from Clinique they aren't directly claiming 8 hours of colour but rather of moisture...sneaky :P The lipsticks do need to be topped up every 3-4 hours (without lip liner - I have not yet tested the duration with lip liner) depending on activity (definitely after eating) otherwise they wear off leaving a lip liner shape around the edges of your lips, not so attractive! But that's the price you pay when you have moisturising lipsticks, and I'm not going to fault them on that since the Rimmel ones do the same.
Cherry Pop has quite a bit of a staining quality to it though, whether swatched on the back of your hand or on your lips, removal solely by tissue leaves behind an exquisite reddish stain.
REMOVAL
Simple babywipe or makeup remover wipe does the trick!
CONCLUSION
Gorgeous all-rounder lipsticks! The packaging is awesome (yes I totally do judge books by their covers) and looks beautifully modern on your vanity table. The formula is epic (even with the 3-4 hour top up mark) and the colours options spoil you for choice. The only downfall is the price point £16, but it is Clinique after all so not a cheap brand (you could always try a Rimmel Moisture Renew one to get the feel of the formula).
So there you have it, hope you've enjoyed the review :)
Do you own any of the Clinique Pop Lip Colour & Primer (Lipstick Pop would have been a much catchier name though)? What colour did you go for?
What has been your all-time favourite lipstick formula as of yet, drugstore or high-end?
Do you have a favourite go-to lipstick? Would love to know what (my lipstick collection is clearly not big enough already)
I was thinking of doing a post about my favourite nude lipsticks of the moment since that's pretty much all I've been wearing in January. If you would like to see that, let me know :)
xxxemma