THE CULLING: Liquid Lipstick and Lip Gloss Edition

My name is Jen and I'm a lipstick hoarder.

Every now and then I have to go through my FOUR DRAWERS worth of lip products to make room for new lip products. I need to slow-down my consumerist ways. Nobody needs 673 lip products. I keep an excel sheet of all of my makeup and I have 673 products listed in the lip category. Now, I have been keeping this data base for years, so there have been previous cullings so I do not have 673 lip products in my current possession. I probably do have half of that though.

In my excel sheet, those products that are tossed get a strike through their name (for example: Jessie's Girl Matte Finish Lip Color in Angelic) and a brief explanation as to why it was tossed and if I'd repurchase it (example: dried out, no repurchase.) There have been many, many times where I wish I had photos of swatches because sometimes my note-keeping is non-existent. This is why I started this blog, to keep photographic receipts of what I have and what I think about the stuff I've used.

The chopping block: you're all gettin' it.

The first product is also the oldest of these products. I'm looking at you, Too Faced Glamour Gloss in the color Flirt. I remember Too Faced back in day when they had a limited product line and I loved everything I tried from them. This "antique" was my favorite lip gloss. It smelled like red licorice and gave a beautiful high shine to my lips. The packaging was extra too with a gem stone on the end (Too Faced always has had cute packaging). This gloss now smells like Play-doh so it's time to go-go. I am sad to see it go. It can't be repurchased, but I still have samples of this gloss that are new are still usable. 

Too Faced Glamour Gloss in Flirt. Buh-bye, old friend.

I hate the next product. It is Revlon's Ultra HD Matte Lipcolor [sic] in Devotion. It was never actually matte. It was messy and ended up on my teeth and face while I wore it. The color is pretty though. It now smells like sangria, a sure sign that it has expired. I had this less than a year, kept it in a stable temperature environment and it still expired quickly. I will never repurchase. 

Revlon's Ultra HD Matte Lipcolor in Devotion: good riddance. 

I have heard so much controversy about Lime Crime. Some swear by the quality of their products and overlook the poor judgement L.C.'s owner has used, other people will never forgive her. When I received this liquid lipstick from Ipsy it was my first L.C. product and I was excited to try it out. The color I was sent is Cashmere. It looks terrible on me to the point of being unwearable. It looks like it would be perfect for my skintone, but I just looked like a zombie instead. There is no reason to keep it. The packaging is adorable. I wouldn't repurchase this color. Would I repurchase any other color in this formula? I haven't yet and have no plans to do so.

Lime Crime's liquid lipstick in Cashmere: I hardly knew thee.

The next product is from a nail polish brand that I like, but this product was meh. I received Trust Fund Beauty's Lipgasm lip gloss in the color "Method To The Madness" in an Ipsy Glambag. I infrequently wear lip gloss and when I do I use it as a lip topper in the center of my lip. This gloss is a sheer, no sparkle gloss with little pigment. The product is usable, but boring. What kept me from popping this into my purse to use on my puss for those emergency lacking-lip product days was the smell. This product smells like chemicals. It has had the same smell since I received it, so I don't think it's expired. It reminds me of acrylic paint or gesso. I can't. I just can't put this near my face. 

Trust Fund Beauty's Lipgasm Lip Gloss in Method to the Madness: smell ya later.

Instagram loves the next brand. YouTube loves the next brand. ColourPop has taken the beauty community by storm with their drug store pricing, quality and quantity of their products.  I have no bad feelings about this brand, but I'm still tossing some of their lippies. What feels like a hundred years ago (but was actually a year ago), I ordered an assorted deluxe sample kit of their Ultra Matte Lip (a liquid lipstick) and some of the colors have never worked on me. These three colors are from the Foxy set, their names are Beeper, Tulle and More Better. I am keeping Clueless and Creeper from this set.

ColourPop's Ultra Matte Lip in Beeper (lightest), Tulle (middle), More Better (dark berry) before they dried down to matte.

All of these shades, Beeper, Tulle and More Better, are really dark on me. I don't normally go vampy so these look out of place on me when I wear them. Liquid lipsticks always seem to dry down to super-unwearably dark on me. These ColourPop lipsticks also stain which most of time isn't a problem until it is. 

After the dry down; (left to right) More Better, Tulle, Beeper.

The staining is real.

I would buy more of ColourPop Ultra Matte Lips despite the dry down and the staining. I don't hate the formula and it is inexpensive. I feeling like choosing colors online is hit or miss though. Perhaps when the brand is in Sephora this will be a non-issue.

The next product is Giorgio Armani's Lip Maestro in 400. It is a deluxe sample. This has good reviews on the Sephora website, but I didn't like the formula at all. The website says it is a stain, but it doesn't stain anywhere near as much as the ColourPop lippies listed above. This color, 400, is a blue-toned red that is beautiful but I find it ends up on my teeth and chin. This is not a product I would purchase.

Giorgio Armani's Lip Maestro in 400: this maestro has lost its beat. Also, notice the staining from the ColourPop lippies under the product tube. My hand is at an odd angle to balance the Giorgio Armani over the previous staining.

The next product is Marc Jacobs Lust For Lacquer in the color Kissability. This product soured. It now smells waxy and like a fruity alcoholic drink. I can't remember what it smelled like before. The color is nice. It is a strawberry pink with golden sparkles. I am sad to see it go as I like the color. This product isn't available any more as Marc Jacobs has reformulated his lip glosses and they are now called Enamored Hi-Shine Lip Lacquer Lipgloss and there is no color called Kissability. I had a sample sized tube. 

Marc Jacobs Lust For Lacquer Lip Gloss in Kissibility: no longer kissable.

BONUS:

I probably go through at least 6 eye pencils a year. This next product is the latest eyeliner casualty. It is Cargo's Swimmables Eyeliner in Pebble Beach. It's brown. I love brown eyeliner. I have no bad feelings and I would repurchase it.

Cargo's Swimmables Eyeliner in Pebble Beach: Rest in pieces. You are too small to sharpen.