For the longest time, I heard beauty gurus sing the praise of these liquid lipsticks and I really wanted to try them out for myself. However, living in Belgium with zero Sephoras and no immediate travelling plans to the US or even my neighbouring France, what was I to do?
Well this is where my amazing distant relative (my cousin once removed) that lives in America comes in. She generously took the time to ferret these out for me and send them, along with a "US exclusive" blusher from Clinique, but more on that in a future post ;)
Was it worth it...I hear you ask? Absolutely, these things are truly amazing, definitely worth trying out for yourself; hopefully your access to these beauties is a lot easier than mine :P
P.S. All colours have been corrected in photoshop to give you the most accurate idea of what the swatches looked like on the lips in daylight as opposed to what the camera sometimes picks up.
Sephora Cream Lip Stain - 14 Blackberry Sorbet
One of the darkest of the collection, I thought this would be perfect for the Autumn & Winter seasons. The slight blue sheen you see on the bottom lip of the bottom right swatch was just the effect of the flash. This colour really doesn't have such a sheen in real life, the top right picture is the most accurate in that respect (I really didn't know how to photoshop out that sheen unfortunately, otherwise I would have)
APPLICATION
Slightly finicky. You can see that the product sort of collected at the edge of my top lip, but if you wipe that line off using a tissue and sort of dab the sponge applicator, you should be ok.
Sephora Cream Lip Stain - 13 Marvelous Mauve
This is the "your lips but better" one of the collection (does anyone else roll their eyes when they say this or hear someone else say it?). Apart from the weird fluorescent pink outline I got with this at the end of the day (see further on in WEAR) this is one of my favourites of the four purchased. A very easy daily pink to wear.
APPLICATION
Very easy to apply; the description of the general application process is below.
Sephora Cream Lip Stain - 09 Watermelon Slice
The unusual one of the bunch, this one is strictly reserved for the Summer! Slightly more orangey/coral than I was expecting, it's a lovely colour nonetheless. However, word of caution when wearing such an orangey based red, your teeth will look yellow! So unless you happen to live in the US with easy access to whitening strips, maybe avoid smiling with your teeth with this one, but you do you boo!
Sephora Cream Lip Stain - 03 Strawberry Kissed
The most gorgeous red I've ever owned! I had my eye on the M.A.C. Relentlessly Red lipstick colour for a while now (it's also a pinky red) but never got round to buying it (I'm not the world's greatest fan of M.A.C. lipsticks; controversial, I know!). But this colour just hits the spot, it's a gorgeous pinky red, that keeps you guessing; is it a red? A dark pink? Heaven in a bottle is what it is! The author is not responsible for slight over-exaggerations, that may lead to false expectations. :P But it really is gorgeous!
DESCRIPTION
These lip stains are described on the Sephora website as a high coverage lip products containing avocado oil. Said to apply via a creamy texture then dry to a silky, lightweight stain. With two finishes in the range: satin & matte.
I would, however, completely disagree on the whole "silky, lightweight stain" spiel. It really isn't a stain and more a liquid lipstick as I'm sure many of you have already heard them being referred to as. The only "staining" quality I could think of, is that once on your lips and having dried, these bad boys are not going anywhere (think M.A.C. Ruby Woo but not as drying)! But if you're like me and you associate "stain" as a tinting of your lips (you know like you've just engulfed a bucket load of blackberries), then this is not it!
These lippies also have a lovely vanilla-y taste and scent to them, that wears off a bit once dried but is quite distinct on first application, so if that's not your thing; avoid! Personally, I love the vanilla taste/scent as I'm sure you've gathered from my previous perfume post :P
APLLICATION
I found that these were super easy to apply, and correct if necessary, using a baby wipe (correct before dried though because then it's impossible). Mind you 14 Blackberry Sorbet was a bit finicky but that's just because it's the darkest colour of the lot, and it's to be expected.
The tiniest amount of product is needed; this is not a lip-gloss people! I wipe off half the product that comes out on the end of the sponge tip applicator (which by the way; is super precise) on the edge of the tube: do my bottom lip. Then pick up the other half and do my top lip. You really don't need much or need to re-dip your applicator in the bottle, one dip is enough for the whole lip!
WEAR
So far I've only worn 13 Marvelous Mauve for a whole day. You can definitely feel it on the lips (not lightweight) but I didn't find it too drying. Although some of the photos may look like these lippies weren't doing me any favours, my lips weren't in the world's greatest condition at the time. I feel you could still pull these off with slightly dry/damaged lips; just as long as you don't intend on a major camera zoom-in like me, you should be good to go! Just don't expect major moisturisation from these "creams", they do have a matte finish after all (the ones I bought anyway), and that finish has always been drying; am I right ladies?!
But back to 13 Marvelous Mauve, it did something very weird that has never happened to me with a liquid lipstick before...at the end of the day (6 hours wear) I ended up with a weird fluorescent pink outline on my lips (the rest of the lips was still the same colour I had applied earlier in the day; that you see in the photo). Now it wasn't too obvious, definitely not going to put me off wearing the colour again, but maybe something that could be corrected using a lipliner, I'm not sure. I have just used them directly on the lips so far.
REMOVAL
This is maybe where the "staining" quality comes in. Once these babies have dried from their creamy texture (that bit is true) to their matte one, baby wipes no longer provide easy removal (unless you fancy giving your lips an extreme exfoliation). You have to entrust a waterproof remover; my weapon of choice is the Lancôme Bi-Facil (it's magic in a bottle, does the job with no fuss or scrubbing and I got it free with my mascara, so what's not to love). But once removed there is no stain on the lips, so it really is a matter of interpretation when it come to the "stain" description.
CONCLUSION
Don't expect the world's creamiest liquid lipstick from these (I've only tried out the mattes) they are mattes after all, with all that that implies! Super easy to apply and very long-lasting, these are definitely worth it! Just remember to have a good waterproof remover on hand and these are a dream (you could eventually just scrub it off with a baby wipe if you really wanted to though).
Which is your favourite colour?
Do you own any must-haves from the range and if so which ones?
Would love to hear your thoughts on these, since so many people love them :)
xxxemma