L'Oreal Lip Paints Swatches & Review

Provided for review/Contains affiliate links

Thanks so much for all your feedback on my life update post the other week, guys. I'm still not certain what my blogging future holds but I'm emerging from my hibernation slowly, tentatively and resolved to work through some overdue reviews and start incorporating more family and craft stuff. Perhaps regular updates on my Christmas crafting and house reno projects too? We shall see. 

For today, though, I have a selection of Lip Paints from L'Oreal swatched and reviewed for you. These were released a few months back in a broad colour range which is divided into Lacquer and Matte finishes. The Lacquers are pretty self-explanatory but the Mattes are another example of a confusing trend in which 'matte' seems to mean 'not shimmery or patent leather shiny'. Definitely not matte. I wanted to love these from my first whiff; they smell exactly like this old Dior Diorific Plastic Shine liquid lipstick I had circa 2004. It was brick red and glossy with a full-bodied moody floral fragrance, I had no idea what I was doing with it and no doubt looked like a hot mess but I loved it to pieces! Once I got past the nostalgia of the scent, though, I found these to be quite a mixed bag. Keep on reading to see why. 

All of the Lip Paints I tried were vibrant and well pigmented with most applying evenly and without much fuss. The Lacquers were the easiest to apply as the viscosity was consistent: thick but no trouble to spread out, with very little tackiness. I would recommend using a lip liner to outline your lips first for the sake of ease; it is possible to get a neat outline with the applicator included but between the high pigmentation and fluidity of the formula, I found it to be an f-bomb dropping experience!

Now the matte formula, besides not being matte, feels rather bizarre. The pigments are, to varying degrees, clumpy in the tube, yet the lipstick base is oily, so you find yourself trying to smooth out the pigments with the applicator while feeling you have entirely too much product on your lips. Eventually, it settles down but all the fussing can leave the colour prone to streaking and the whole process is a bloody nuisance. That being said, the oiliness makes them incredibly comfortable on the lips. 

*

Gone With The Nude

Gone With The Nude is a warm terracotta nude and is by far and away, my favourite of the Lip Paints I have. It's pretty easy to work with, has that divine aforementioned Dior lipstick scent and it was hydrating during the four hours it lasted on me. Big tick from me!

Darling Pink

Darling Pink is a medium warm pink with a touch of coral in the mix. It came a close second to Gone With The Nude for my favourite pick and it performed similarly, lasting four hours and wearing away evenly. It was comfortable on the lips but not as hydrating as Gone With The Nude. 

Fuchsia Wars

Fuchsia Wars is a vibrant Barbie shade of fuchsia-pink. I love the colour but the vibrancy coupled with the glossy finish heralded the end of my success with this formula. Fuchsia Wars feathered very quickly on me and the colour wore away just as fast, lasting three and a half hours.

Red Fiction

Red Fiction is a bright red with warm undertones. As with Fuchsia Wars, it feathered incredibly quickly which left me pretty bummed out. It's such a gorgeous shade of red! Alas, glossy reds and I rarely get along. Red Fiction lasted four hours in total, leaving some light staining behind.

Dark River

Dark River is a blackened grape purple. Gorgeously vampy from a distance but definitely in need of a lip liner up close! It clung on unenthusiastically for three hours, feathering and shifting around throughout that time.

King Pink

King Pink is a bright candy pink. It felt AWFUL going on, startling my husband with my horrified exclamations during swatching and I was genuinely surprised at how pretty it looked once I'd evened out the pigment clumps. I love the end result but it's not worth the trouble. It lasted four hours, wasn't drying and left faint pink staining.

Apocalypse Red

Apocalypse Red is a classic blue-based red, a few shades darker than Red Fiction. I love the colour but the clumpy pigments were again an issue (you can see some traces that I didn't fully smooth out around the center of my lower lip) and it began feathering within minutes of application. After five hours, I looked distinctly clownish.

Wuthering Purple

Wuthering Purple is a vibrant fuchsia purple, the shade we were all calling 'radiant orchid' a few years ago. It's a colour that I enjoy but Wuthering Purple isn't the best example of it, suffering from the unevenness that plagues many purple lip colours. It looks fine from a normal viewing distance but this close, it bugs the hell out of me! Wuthering Purple also felt thicker and chunkier than the other Mattes, the fussing needed to smooth out the clumps didn't help the unevenness. It lasted five hours and stained my lips hot pink. Hot.

What I liked:

• Well pigmented
• Most shades were hydrating, none of them were drying
• Gone With The Nude, King Pink, Darling Pink, Dark River and Wuthering Purple didn't feather

What I didn't like:

• The mattes were chunky and fussy to even out
• Wuthering Purple and Dark River had uneven colour payoff
• Fuchsia Wars, Red Fiction and Apocalypse Red feathered
• Short wear time - three to five hours max.

Where to buy:

• Selected pharmacies and department stores nationwide (NZ)
• Amazon
• Ebay

Have you tried any of these?

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Lani

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