Review Detail
3.7 1 0.5
Overall rating
3.7
Price
4.0
Quality
3.0
Effectiveness
4.0
This is the first lip stain I have ever bought. I bought this mainly because I was sick of having to reapply lipstick while out or at work. I hadn't ever applied a lip stain before and was quite surprised to see how runny the stain is, but if you brush off a little of the product off the wand back into the tube you can get a good coverage without it running off your lips.
As a lip stain it works reasonably well but I don't think it is terribly good. The stain can be built up nicely or left as a slight natural stain on the lips or cheeks (which is what I prefer). I apply one light coat, let it dry then apply a second coat. After applying the stain I dust a little bit of powder over it and I find it does help to set the colour a bit more.
I put it through 2 serious tests - I know this is going to sound funny but I really wanted to test just how good it is. Test 1: Before getting into a sauna I applied it to my lips and cheeks, building it up to a dark cherry red on my lips and cheeks. I went into the sauna for 40 minutes and when I came out the lip stain had faded quite a bit but was still holding steady on my lips. It had faded to a more subtle natural colour which I actually like, but those that want it dark wouldn't be too impressed. My cheeks still had a good red glow to them (this was after I had cooled down and lost my natural flushed colour from the heat in the sauna). Another test I did was to apply it and then had a cup of coffee (I am a terrible lip licker when I have coffee so believe me this was a good test to put it though) it once again it faded quite a bit but was still a nice colour on my lips. I think this is best suited as a base to lipstick. It'll give the lipstick more depth of colour and when the lipstick fades the lip stain will still provide a bit of colour. So as a lip stain I give it 2/5
On your cheeks - this is where it redeems itself. Applied to the cheeks under base or powder it creates the look of naturally glowing cheeks and stays put for most of the day. You just have to becareful how you apply it. You can't just use the wand....as I discovered :P I dab a little on the side of my hand and then use a brush to pick up some stain and apply it to my cheeks (the stain can easily be removed with a wet wipe - I keep baby wipes in my makeup drawer for cleaning brushes and mistakes). I also experimented with the stain mixed into a little amount of moisturiser and it worked pretty well. The fingertips work just as well for blending the colour into your skin. As a cheek stain it gets 4/5 for quality.
Because of it's versatility I give it a 4 for effectiveness because it is one of those things you can throw into your makeup purse and have it serve 2 purposes - if not 3. I've used it as an eye shadow as well to make my pinks pop more.
The stain cost R99, because I haven't looked at the price of other stains (I've seen Revlon's lip stain is also R99) I don't know if it's reasonably priced or not but it's definitely not badly priced considering that it's multi-purposed.
As a lip stain it works reasonably well but I don't think it is terribly good. The stain can be built up nicely or left as a slight natural stain on the lips or cheeks (which is what I prefer). I apply one light coat, let it dry then apply a second coat. After applying the stain I dust a little bit of powder over it and I find it does help to set the colour a bit more.
I put it through 2 serious tests - I know this is going to sound funny but I really wanted to test just how good it is. Test 1: Before getting into a sauna I applied it to my lips and cheeks, building it up to a dark cherry red on my lips and cheeks. I went into the sauna for 40 minutes and when I came out the lip stain had faded quite a bit but was still holding steady on my lips. It had faded to a more subtle natural colour which I actually like, but those that want it dark wouldn't be too impressed. My cheeks still had a good red glow to them (this was after I had cooled down and lost my natural flushed colour from the heat in the sauna). Another test I did was to apply it and then had a cup of coffee (I am a terrible lip licker when I have coffee so believe me this was a good test to put it though) it once again it faded quite a bit but was still a nice colour on my lips. I think this is best suited as a base to lipstick. It'll give the lipstick more depth of colour and when the lipstick fades the lip stain will still provide a bit of colour. So as a lip stain I give it 2/5
On your cheeks - this is where it redeems itself. Applied to the cheeks under base or powder it creates the look of naturally glowing cheeks and stays put for most of the day. You just have to becareful how you apply it. You can't just use the wand....as I discovered :P I dab a little on the side of my hand and then use a brush to pick up some stain and apply it to my cheeks (the stain can easily be removed with a wet wipe - I keep baby wipes in my makeup drawer for cleaning brushes and mistakes). I also experimented with the stain mixed into a little amount of moisturiser and it worked pretty well. The fingertips work just as well for blending the colour into your skin. As a cheek stain it gets 4/5 for quality.
Because of it's versatility I give it a 4 for effectiveness because it is one of those things you can throw into your makeup purse and have it serve 2 purposes - if not 3. I've used it as an eye shadow as well to make my pinks pop more.
The stain cost R99, because I haven't looked at the price of other stains (I've seen Revlon's lip stain is also R99) I don't know if it's reasonably priced or not but it's definitely not badly priced considering that it's multi-purposed.
S