Liquid Lipstick Comparison: the Round-Up Post

Liquid lipstick is certainly the trend nowadays, and I’m surprised by how many budget friendly options have appeared! As someone who loves lipstick but hates constantly reapplying after leaving the big red “Zovesta Has Been Here” sign on every glass, liquid lipsticks are something I thought I’d dig. Not so much at first, after sampling a few different formulas. Now? It’s safe to say they’ve taken over my lipstick wardrobe.

Liquid lipsticks are, in short, lipstick you apply like a gloss that dries down to a budge-proof, or mostly budge-proof finish, and are normally matte. Personally, I’d like to see a liquid lipstick that has a glossy finish and is budge-proof, but that’s probably just a little impossible! Nevertheless, the matte finish is only too fashionable nowadays anyway (one of these days, the frosty lips trend will come back, and when that day comes, I’ll be waiting…).

So, seeing as how much I love this new trend and comparison posts, here’s a round-up of every liquid lipstick I own, and a comparison between them!

Wet n Wild Megalast Liquid Lip Colour $3

If you’ve been here for a bit (five minutes), you’ll know that these are my babies. After having tried a few different liquid lipstick formulas that all cracked and flaked on me, meeting these guys was a blessing. Now, having tried several more formulas, well… they’re still great, just not perfect.

Out of the eight shades that I own, only one gives me issues, Raisin the Roof. It’s considerably tackier than the others, and is more or less just sheer colour with glitter. The other seven were fully opaque and dried down much better. These come with a flat paddle applicator, and do seem to take about two to three minutes to completely dry down for me. While that seems a bit excessive, it does give you time to work with these, as the paddle doesn’t pick up enough product for me to evenly coat my relatively small lips, and this formula doesn’t play nicely with two coats.

Top to bottom: I Can Bare It, Rose to the Occasion, and Pink Perfection

Once dry, these do have a matte finish, but aren’t completely budgeproof. They do transfer slightly when eating/drinking/kissing/etc, but on the whole they’re pretty good about staying put.

I Can Bare It

Rose to the Occasion

Pink Perfection

Left to right: I Can Bare It, Rose to the Occasion, and Pink Perfection.

These do have a slightly unpleasant taste and fragrance to them. To top it off, I found that these were fairly drying and yet did accentuate my lip lines a touch, although nowhere near as much as ColourPop’s. Still, I think these are a pretty good buy.

Opacity: 4/5

Lasting power/budge-proof: 3/5

Drying: 3/5

Price: 6.8mL for $3 = $0.44 per ml. 4/5

Overall: 3.5/5

NYX Soft Matte Lip Creme $6

Man, I’m so late to the game here. Everyone and their grandma has blogged about these, and it took me almost a full year to finally cave and get one (after reorganizing the entire CVS makeup section because it was chaos). The shade I got in particular is Istanbul, a sweet midtone nudey pink.

The Soft Matte Lip Cremes are liquid lipsticks, but not exactly the kind that are so big nowadays. They don’t dry down to a budge proof finish whatsoever, and they aren’t exactly matte (at least not on me!). Rather, it’s more of a moussey lip gloss. These are not transfer-proof whatsoever and will smear just as easily as any cream lipstick… it is very pretty, though! These do come with typical doefoot applicators, although do be careful when pulling it out, as I always seem to get clumps along the rim.

I didn’t find this to be particularly drying, and could comfortably wear it all day. However, I suspect because I got a fairly light shade, it did settle into my liplines a tad. For those of you sensitive, there is a definite flavour to this… kind of hard for me to say what exactly, but if I had to guess, I’d say “tootie fruity”. It was still a bit noticeable half an hour later.

Wearing both Istanbul and a classic “deer caught in the headlights” expression.

Opacity: 3/5

Lasting power/budge-proof: 1/5

Drying: 4/5

Price: 8mL for $6 = $0.75 per mL. 4/5

Overall: 3/5

ColourPop Ultra Matte Lip $6

These hit, and hit big, a month or two back (or thereabouts – my perception of time is all outta whack). While I didn’t order these immediately, I did eventually cave and got two, and I’m pretty glad I did, because these are worth the hype! The two shades I got are 1st Base, a medium rosey pink, and Mars, a hyper bright fuchsia pink. Both shades are extremely opaque for me, and are 100% transfer and budge proof after they dry. However…

1st Base

Mars

These do dry quickly. Quickly! While you’re applying it. I didn’t have a problem with it drying mid-application, but apparently some people did, so if you’re the sort to take your time when applying lipstick, watch out. While waiting for these to finish, keep your mouth open and smile to help keep the formula from crumbling at the inner corners of your mouth and from settling in your lip lines.

Left to right: 1st Base, Mars

Because this finish is matte-matte-paper-flat-matte, these are very drying and accentuate lip lines like a son of a gun. In addition, they tend to make my lips look smaller.

These come in a tall tube with a doefoot applicator, and I didn’t notice any smell or taste to them. Replace the applicator in the tube a bit slowly though, as I noticed these had a tendency to explode.

Opacity: 5/5

Lasting power/budge-proof: 5/5

Drying: 1/5

Price: 3.2mL for $6 = $1.86 per mL. 1/5

Overall: 3/5

NYX Liquid Suede $7

After the success of the Soft Matte Lip Cremes, NYX whipping up a budget-friendly, budge-proof, and creamy liquid lipstick seemed to be the next logical step. And yet, nada. From the lone shade I have, Kitten Heels, a classic blue-based red, I can say that these have a pretty dense, creamy formula with a flat paddle applicator. Personally, I like the paddle pretty well, as it can work decently as a liner before filling in with the flat side, although I can certainly see how some people were upset with not getting the traditional doe-foot.

Kitten Heels only needed a single swipe to be at full opacity for me. Unfortunately, these are far from budge-proof, and had considerable tackiness long after I applied it. No, I daresay these never go fully dry, and it still transferred heavily on me when I tried to have a drink – frankly, it seemed to transfer as much as a regular lipstick!

Kitten Heels doesn’t have a completely matte finish, either. It’s a slightly satiny finish, and doesn’t accentuate dryness and lip lines as much as some of the others. It did feel drying after awhile, but in all was less so than ColourPop’s. Finally, I didn’t notice any flavour or scent with these.

Opacity: 5/5

Lasting power/budge-proof: 1/5

Drying: 2/5

Price: 4mL for $7 = $1.75 per mL. 1/5

Overall: 2/5

Milani Amore Matte Lip Creme $9

Warning: Heavily biased review to come. These were a limited time dealio, and were hard as heck to get a hold of, but I eventually snagged two shades: Adore and Lust. Thankfully, Milani’s going to make these permanent in the Spring, and I’m sure glad, because I love these babies! First of all, they smell amazing, like birthday cake ice cream. I could probably eat these. The smell does go away pretty quickly, so if you aren’t a fan of food-scented lip products, you’re in luck.

02 Adore

03 Lust

Left: 02 Adore, Right: 03 Lust

The pigmentation is great, and these seem to have a perfect dry down time: long enough that you can work with them, short enough that you aren’t left holding your mouth open for five minutes like an ignoramus.

02 Adore

03 Lust

Left: 02 Adore, Right: 03 Lust

These feel soft and cushiony on the lips, and are completely budge and transfer proof on me. My only problem is that they do tend to settle into my lip lines and exaggerate the dryness of my lips (even though these don’t feel very drying at all). I’m sure the lightness of the colours doesn’t help: Adore is a peachy tan nude, and Lust is a mauvey MLBB pink. One thing that bothers me is that on everyone else, Adore looks noticeable pale on the lips, like a ganguro girl –

-and on me it’s half a shade darker than my skin tone, a la Brigitte Bardot.

(Although if there was something I’d like from Bardot, it’s the waistline, not the lipstick) Not that I’m complaining…

Opacity: 4/5

Lasting power/budge-proof: 5/5

Drying: 4/5

Price: 6mL for $9 = $1.50 per mL. 2/5

Overall: 3.5/5

Makeup Academy Liquid Lipstick $9

Impulse buy? Impulse buy. I saw this at CVS while in Texas and snatched it up. I’m not sure how glad I am of that! I have the shade Bright Red, and it’s yet another classic blue-based red, although a very bright version. The pigmentation is excellent, the slanted paddle applicator is easy to use (although I need two dips to cover my lips), it turns completely transfer and budge proof once it dries, it isn’t overly drying, and it doesn’t accentuate my lip lines. Sounds perfect! The downside?

It BURNS. Not spicy hot burn, but that cool, wintergreen mint kind of burning. It plumps my lips up very slightly, which is pretty nice, but something I wish I had known when buying it. Unfortunately, the burning doesn’t seem to go away until after I remove it. I’m not too sensitive when it comes to lip plumpers, and yet it is irritating to me. Buyer beware, you’re in for a scare. Otherwise, this is pretty perfect!

Opacity: 5/5

Lasting power/budge-proof: 5/5

Drying: 5/5

Price: 6.2mL for $9 = $1.45 per mL. 2/5

Overall: 4/5

theBalm Meet Matt(e) Hughes $17

Ah, yes. The most expensive of the bunch. For this price, it better be liquid gold. In all honesty, after using it, I can’t say I’m completely sold on the quality here. Although at this point, my lips have been through hell and back, but at least they are completely exfoliated.

These come with a doefoot applicator, and the shade I have is Loyal, yet another blue based red except – aha, this one is a bit darker than the others. These have the same exploding issue as ColourPop’s, but other than that, application is pretty easy. It took two dips for me to fully cover my lips, though. These have a classic matte finish, that is to say, it’s not quite a cream or a matte finish. It’s very flattering, and doesn’t feel at all drying. It’s fairly transfer and budge proof, but I did notice a slight red stain on my glass after I had this on.

The downside is the exact same as MUA’s; these have a peppermint flavour and scent, and burn and tingle my lips terribly. I’ve always hated peppermint flavoured anything because it’s always been terribly uncomfortable to me, and my strong reaction to these worries me slightly. Almost have to wonder if I’m experiencing a slight allergic reaction, whoops. Anyway, adorable packaging or no, the price and the burning are keeping me far away from these.

Opacity: 4/5

Lasting power/budge-proof: 4/5

Drying: 5/5

Price: 7.4mL for $17 = $2.29 per mL. 0/5

Overall: 3/5

In all, my favourites are Milani’s, ColourPop’s, and Wet n Wild’s. How has your experience with these been? Have a favourite formula? What do you think of the liquid lipstick trend as of late?