It's been a while hasn't it? The end of 2017/beginning of 2018 was pretty chaotic for me, so I guess blogging took a back seat. Does that mean I neglected my lipsticky adventures? Hell nah. I've been smashing colour onto my gob with uncompromised gusto, and as such, have quite a few empties to proudly display. In 2016 I used up four lipsticks. In 2017 I used up a whopping FOURTEEN.
I'll give you a second to recover.
Behold, my spoils of war:
Quite a variety! I got through a good mix of colours, formulae, and price ranges. Some were lovely, others were kind of meh. Are you ready to embark upon a journey of lipstick rambles? Then let us begin.
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| Makeup revolution salvation velvet lip lacquer- black heart |
This £3 vampy liquid matte lipstick from Makeup Revolution isn't that great formula-wise. It looks and feels dry and can get a bit crumbly into wear. I loved it colour-wise though: a super dark almost-black purple that served as a dupe for 'potion' from the ABH Liquid Lips line. I'm too broke for Ananstasia, so satisfied my need for the shade with the cheaper alternative.
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| Avon colortrend lip and cheek blush stick- spark |
On the complete opposite end of the spectrum is this barely-there, ultra-sheer, balmy baby pink multi-use rouge. It's awful as a blush (unless you like having greasy frog cheeks) but dandy when used as a kind of matte lip balm. It's emollient but not shiny, tinted but not obvious, and worked great applied on top of overly-dry liquid matte lipsticks. I found that it barely disturbed the colour or the longevity of the base colour while making it a whole lot more comfortable. So that's why it got used right up. This particular product is now discontinued, but I believe Avon has replaced it with something similar in their new 'Mark' make-up line.
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| MDM Flow liquid matte lipstick- mink |
Oh gosh. This is one of the worst lipsticks I've ever tried. It's SO sticky. The first time I put it on, it glued my lips together. I mean really glued. It took actual effort to prise my lips apart, and the result was a manky patchy mess left clinging to my unfortunate pout. Shudder. So why did I use it up? Because I loved the summery happy colour, and found that slicking some clear gloss on top eradicated the stickiness without budging the lipstick itself. To be fair, reviews say that this particular shade is the worst for stickiness and that the other options are not bad. And apparently MDM Flow are reformulating their lippies anyway. Either way, I'm glad I bought it cheap off Depop and not for the £19 rrp.
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| Avon ultra colour perfectly matte lipstick- red supreme |
Ok, so this was a mini sample, so maybe not so impressive that I used it up. But it's lovely! Both the colour and formula really wowed me- so much so that I bought a full sized tube in a different shade. A comfy matte with impressive colour payoff and a wide shade range. Yup. Not much else to say.
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| Jeffrey Star velour liquid lipstick- I'm nude. |
This is a VERY pale nude. I've worn it a few times with a deeper lipliner, but mostly it served as a mixer shade: to ombre, to lighten, to neutralise. The formula is good in that the finish doesn't look chalky and streaky, and it feels comfortable. I got this in a Depop swap. I wouldn't personally purchase any Jeffree Star's lippies just because I don't support his brand, but I don't hate on people who do.
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| Dose of Colours matte liquid lipstick- brick |
Sigh. I was so sad when I used this one up. I absolutely adored the shade and the formula. This earthy terracotta brown was so flattering against my complexion. If I didn't already have a mountain of lipsticks, I'd definitely repurchase. In fact, I might repurchase anyhow. Argh. Stop me.
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| Velvet 59 matte to the max liquid lipstick- pink cadillac |
Meh. This lipstick is just meh. I don't recommend it. It's very white-based and stark, so I could only make it work with lipliner or gloss or both. And the formula was pretty dry too. In fact, I only really used it up because it ended up in my bag, which rendered it the default for out-and-about lipstick emergencies.
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| L.A. Girl glazed lip paint- coy |
I was always pretty conflicted about this cheap-and-cheerful lacquer. I adored the electric, punky purple shade. It was utterly unique and I didn't have anything like it in my collection. And I quite liked the glossy finish. And I liked the stain it left behind. But I didn't like how minty it was, or the fact that it bled like a bitch unless the services of a clear lipliner were employed. I guess the pros outweighed the cons on balance though, or else I'd still have a full tube.
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| Eccentric Cosmetics liquid matte lipstick- aurora australis |
Another mini sample size, another win. Look at that gorgeous colour! Eccentric Cosmetics is a gem of an indie makeup brand that sells their wares on etsy. Liquid and bullet lipsticks, loose and pressed eyeshadows, eye primers, highlighters, lipglosses- all the fun stuff. Everything I've tried has been high quality, unique, and very fairly priced. I'm a fan. As for the liquid lipstick formula, its wonderfully pigmented and lightweight and transfer-proof. I don't have a bad thing to say.
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| Kiss Australia lipstick- smitten |
I nicked this lipstick off a cousin ages ago and I'm pretty sure the brand doesn't exist anymore. It's basically a lip balm with bells and whistles: translucent pink with shimmer. I mostly used it as a lip topper, often over dry-feeling liquid lipsticks. In the swatch above, it's worn over a nude lipliner.
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| Rimmel apocalips lip lacquer- luna |
I actually hated the Apocalips lippies when I first tried them, mostly because the smell was gag-inducing. I guess the scent must have faded over time because when I returned to my surviving tube, it was tolerable. I think I kept reaching for this because of the shade. I was on a major peach kick and suffered severe fomo thanks to Too Faced and their pricey peachy products from peachville.
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| Nicka K vivid matte lipstick- sea green |
My sister in law snagged this lipstick for me because she knows I dig weird colours. This lipstick is shit. It's weirdly rubbery and draggy and impossible to apply evenly because each stroke removes product as it's applied. The above swatch took a ridiculous amount of time to paint, and it still looks shitty. I tried lip primers, I tried powdering before application, I tried warming up the tube. It just would not co-operate. So why did I persist in applying it to death? Because the first time I put it on, my brother said green lipstick was ugly. So I put it on every day just to spite him. What can I say? I'm a git.
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| Kiko Milano lipstick |
The sticker fell off this now-discontinued Kiko lipstick so I don't know the name or the number, but it's a very pretty sheer orange with subtle shimmer. It accompanied me through a short stay in a mental home (lol) so it got worn out pretty quick.
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| Primark matte lipstick |
Finishing on a high note, I present a stonker of a red. This powder-matte, ultra-pigmented showstopper was from way back when Primark first started doing makeup. It's long been discontinued, but will always have a place in my heart. You have served me well, comrade.
And that's a wrap! Let's see how many lipstick casualties 2018 brings...
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Empty lip gloss tube
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