Cryptic cosmetics liquid matte lipstick- review and swatches

Instagram lipswatch extraordinaire @depechegurl has had her own makeup line, Cryptic Cosmetics, for a while now. I missed out on the 'gore couture' collection but managed to snag one of the shades from the newer 'till death do us part' gang. I got 'ceremony', which is described on the site as follows:

A rosy taupe goth brown named after the last song written by Joy Division. The shade represents the color dead red roses become.

Ooh. Sold to the closeted goth with good taste in music. 

She's a looker! A frosted glass tube with thorny rose patterns in the lid and a cool logo. What's not to like? Full marks on the aesthetic front. 

On opening, I was chuffed to find the applicator was of the teardrop shape variety- my favourite kind for precise application. It's got a little groove in it that holds just the right amount of product in one dip.  

Application was beautiful. Creamy consistency, opaque coverage, perfect drying time. The finish is a matte that feels soft and cushiony and doesn't look or feel the least bit drying. If you avoid liquid to matte lipsticks because you find them dry and tight, check these out. You will be convered. 

SWATCH TIME. 

Cryptic cosmetics- ceremony 

On me, 'ceremony' looks somewhere between plum and brown and dark taupe. It's dark and edgy but not to the point where it's 'scary', if you know what I mean. I can see this shade looking great on all skin tones. 

Overall, I'm very very impressed. It's a £13.54 lippie that's luxurious as heck and performs like a high end product. 

Epic win, amirite? 

2016 empties.. and a confession.

If you haven't already guessed, I have a bit of a thing for lipstick. I hoard lippies like they're going out fashion- and they're doing the opposite, so there's more I end up hoarding. My collection numbers in the hundreds. It is obscene. To be fair, I don't really give a shit about anything else. Bags, shoes, hair products, other makeup, clothes, designer stuff, perfumes... meh. 

I managed to get through four lipsticks in 2016. Ground em right down to the stub (have you any idea how satisfying that is?). Considering I have literally hundreds of lipsticks, to use up FOUR is no small feat. 

They must have been pretty special to get that much usage, right? Wrong. Here they are: 

1) (top left) revlon colorstay moisture stain in 'London posh'- full review here.  

2) (top right) avon pro colour and gloss lip duo in 'berry luscious', now discontinued. 

3) (bottom left) a lipstick from this limited edition tiny boxy palette thing by No7 from boots. It had this colour in a slidey drawer and two lip glosses on the top compartment. No longer available. 

4) (bottom right) Estee lauder pure colour long lasting lipstick in 'tiger eye', reviewed here.  

None of these lipsticks are particularly mindblowing, they just happened to live in my bag or coat pocket and therefore got reached for on the regular. Lambs to the slaughter.  

And they were slaughtered often because I have this weird rule. Okay, so I have ocd. I've had it since childhood and it's manifested in different ways throughout the years, some more harmful than others. This particular thing is more silly than harmful though. I can't touch my bare lips against a cup. 

It started out as a 'ritual' with coffee. Put on lipstick, drink coffee. Then it extended to tea, hot chocolate... even fucking lemsip. And the lipstick thing went from habit to essential. If I'm out and I'm absolutely dying for a coffee, and there's one put in front of me, but I don't have a lipstick handy.... I just can't. I can't drink it. 

This has been a confession.  

Another Primark lipstick review and swatches

New year, new m- ... lol nah, still an emotionally unstable wasteman with an unhealthy dependence on lipstick. So. On to the first review of 2017.

If you're a regular here, you'll know I'm generally a huge fan of Primark's cheap and cheerful makeup. If you're a new visitor, well, er... I'm generally a huge fan of Primark's cheap and cheerful makeup. If you fancy acquainting yourself with a range of their offerings, you can find previous reviews here, here, here and here. Today's ramble, however, will be on the lippies below:

I'll start with the P.S Love matte long last lipstick because it's a tried and tested fave and probably the most widely available throughout Primark stores. The shade is called 'claret' and it costs a mere quid.

Primark p.s love matte long last lipstick- claret

It's pretty damn gorgeous. In real life it's a touch more brown than the maroony shade my camera picked up, and is even deeper and richer. I shit you not. It's deliciously dark with a little building up and matte without feeling dry, and surprisingly non streaky given the colour. I found it wore really well for a traditional bullet lipstick. Not much transfer and none of that dreaded lipstick ring.

If this particular shade is a bit too vampy for your liking, they usually have a few more demure options on offer too.

Primark p.s love metallic liquid lipstick 

Up next is the fussy-but-hella-worth-it metallic matte liquid lipstick. Metallic lippies are (rightly) all the rage these days, so I was stoked to find the humble aisles of Primark proffering a cheap option. This shade is a bright and super reflective gold called 'queen'. In the above swatch, I'm wearing it lightly over Neve Cosmetics pastello lip liner in 'rose'.

And you will need some sort of a base, at least with this shade. Applied alone, it dries quickly to form a touch proof film of colour that whilst being dazzling, also looks tight and dry, exaggerating lip lines in a not so pretty way. It looks great as a lip topper though, and will seal your lippy to make it transfer proof.

Oddly, whilst most liquid to matte lipsticks are broken down by oil, this one is dissolved by water. That's not any kind of problem though, at least not for me. Just something to bear in mind if you have a wet snog scheduled.

MOVING ON.

Primark p.s Pro kiss proof liquid lipstick- nude in private 

This very pretty shade is called 'nude in private'. Which is odd because it's a mauve and not a nude hue. Shrug. It's from the P.S Pro range so is marginally more expensive than the regular P.S Love stuff. I think it was around the £4 mark, but that's still very affordable.

I really liked the P.S Love liquid matte lippy for its powder-like matte finish and bold colour. This one has a very different formula, but it's still a winner. It's entirely opaque, smells like cake batter, and dries to a touch proof matte finish which still feels a little moist. So long as you don't slather on too much, it doesn't look or feel dry at all.

Oh, and the paddle shaped applicator deserves some praise too. It's wide and flat with a curved top, which gets you a fully painted lip in one sweep and easily clean edges. Win.

Primark p.s Pro sheer shine lip crayon- bubblegum pink

Aaaand ending with the only dud of the bunch: the P.S Pro sheer shine lip crayon. It's shit. I can usually appreciate a good old juicy lip crayon, but this ain't that. It's somehow both greasy feeling and matte looking. It's a pain in the left buttock to get an even finish with and even then, it manages to cling to dry patches you could have sworn you didn't have.

Avoid it like it's your manipulative and not even that attractive ex.

Hope that was helpful.

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