Darling Girl Pucker Paints - Dodgy, Spider Cider, Starfish Kiss, Piece of Cake, Vintage Plum and Mistress of Darkness Swatches & Review

Purchased by me with blogger discount/Contains affiliate links

Darling Girl Pucker Paints are my ongoing addiction, the wide colour range, reasonable price and generally awesome quality inspire a Pokemon 'gotta catch 'em all!' mentality in me. Here are my latest six!

Swatched on bare skin under daylight bulbs

Pucker Paints come in a 5ml tube with a regular doefoot applicator and custom artwork adorning the cap. The width of the tube seems to have changed for some of the newer batches/releases as you can see in the top photo of all the tubes that Starfish Kiss is slimmer than the rest. Newer colours/batches have the name of the lipstick on the bottom of the tube (ideal for anyone who stores their lipsticks upside down, like me!) while older ones have it on a sticker on the side of the tube.

Formula overview:
Darling Girl Pucker Paints have lovely colour pay off, with a thin, creamy texture - definitely not as watery as Lime Crime Velvetines, nor as viscous and mousse-like as NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams or Australis Velourlips. It's a very easy to control formula which dries down to a matte finish quickly, while still giving you enough time to outline and fill in your lips without it bunching up on itself.

With most shades, I applied two thin layers, concentrating on creating the lip shape and lightly filling in on the first, before completely filling in and evening out on the second. Be sure to leave a couple of minutes between layers - I like to keep my lips parted until the lipstick has fully set because until then, it retains a slight tackiness that will cause it to grab at itself and pull patches of pigment away if allowed to touch (this is pretty common for these types of formulas). If you're not keen on waiting to layer, this formula also works wonderfully with my friend Teigan's application method - dip into the tube, apply to left half of lower lip, dip again, apply to right half of lower lip, etc (check out her blog, Miss T's Makeup).

The Pucker Paints do not cling to the lips or highlight every crevice the way some liquid matte formulas do and they're only minimally drying towards the end of wear. Some can appear chalky upon first application, or the shimmer can be a bit hidden, in which case lightly rubbing a finger or cotton bud over your lips can remedy that. There's no tackiness at all once dry, just a smooth, powder-soft finish.

The scent for all of the Pucker Paints is being phased from peppermint to buttercream cupcake based on customer feedback (peppermint essential oil can be an irritant for some and just a general deal breaker for others). Because of this I have a mixture of scents across these shades, I assume as a result of the scent changing as each batch is used up and new shades are created. I like both scents and find the peppermint super subtle (as opposed to the minty blast of products like Revlon Colorburst Balms), so no complaints here.

*

Dodgy

Dodgy is a 'bright coral pink' which I initially shied away from as I feared it would be too pastel and chalky. I'm very happy to be wrong though! It has lovely colour pay off and is much pinker and less neon than I expected from the swatches on the website. It lasted for four hours on me and wasn't drying.

*

Spider Cider

Spider Cider is described as a 'peachy caramel with soft pearl finish', which is a pretty apt description! If you love orange but struggle to find a way to wear it, the muted, more neutral tones to Spider Cider make it a great starting point. It has a fantastic formula and wears for five hours. The pearly shimmer comes out to play more as the colour wears away and it is a touch drying.

*

Starfish Kiss

Starfish Kiss is described as 'a pinky coral with golden green iridescence'. This coral is near neon, it's wickedly, gorgeously bright, and the golden green iridescence gives it a beautiful glow. It also lasted six hours without being drying.

Unfortunately I had massive application issues with this one: it streaked and clumped as I tried to apply it and if I tried for a second layer too soon, it was prone to erasing the layer beneath like a whiteboard marker. I've had such great experiences with the Pucker Paint formula previously, so I got in touch with Susan to relay the trouble I'd had with Starfish Kiss and she let me know she was pulling this shade for reformulation due to the application issues. I was also offered a different Pucker Paint to make up for the problems with Starfish Kiss, so I was very happy with that resolution. 

*

Piece of Cake

Piece of Cake is described as a 'dusty orchid with hidden blue sparkle'. It's a warm medium orchid purple which is contrasted with blue sparkles - I really like the interplay of the cool and warm tones here! Piece of Cake is mostly opaque and easy to apply although the sparkles did seem to emphasise some lip flakes. It wore for six and a half hours on me without being drying and left behind a hot pink stain.

*

Vintage Plum

Vintage Plum is 'maroon with copper pearl'. The copper sheen combined with the ultra matte finish gives Vintage Plum a beautiful tarnished effect - I think it would look incredible with a Steampunk costume! It has great opacity, applies easily and lasts for four and a half hours, being minimally drying over the course of wear.

*

Mistress of Darkness

Mistress of Darkness is described as a 'ruby red base loaded with purple pearl'. From the Queens of Horror collection, this Pucker Paint is truly beautiful and a colour worthy of the great Elvira, who features on the tube. I ran into a few application issues with Mistress of Darkness too, although not nearly to the degree of trouble encountered with Starfish Kiss. Mistress of Darkness, like any diva, likes to be treated with the respect, care and adoration she deserves; in the world of lipstick this translates to working in sections (as detailed in the formula overview above) to avoid layering. If layering is required it's best to pat the colour over the desired area rather than use a wiping motion as that can cause it to sheer out. So, not the easiest Pucker Paint, but look at that colour - isn't she worth it? Mistress of Darkness wore for bang on six hours and was not drying.

What I liked:

• Great colour pay off
• Most shades were easy to apply
• Wore between four and six and a half hours
• Mistress of Darkness, Starfish Kiss, Piece of Cake and Dodgy were not drying

What I didn't like:

• Starfish Kiss and Mistress of Darkness are difficult to apply evenly
• Spider Cider and Vintage Plum were drying

Where to buy:

• Darling Girl products can be found on their website, don't forget that you can use my code LANILOVES to save 10% on your order. 

What do you think of these Pucker Paints? Which is your favourite?

X
Lani

Follow me on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest | Bloglovin