I LOVE my makeup - and unfortunately, the natural cosmetics industry is renowned for being a little slow to catch up with its commercial counterpart.
One thing I've been excited to try on the not-so-natural side of the cosmetic counter is the new range of long-wearing lip stains that are flooding the market.
To begin, I decided to try out CoverGirl's 'Outlast' Lip Stain. I chose shade 420 (Sassy Mauve).
When I swatched it on my hand in-store, it looked like a subtle, slightly-pink nude shade. The other nudes in the collection were a little orange-y, so I went with this one.
I'm just going to get straight to the point here. I'm disappointed.
Despite the swatches on my hand still there after around 3 days and nights (and lots of hand washing), the lasting power of this product on the lips doesn't even come close.
To demonstrate, I took a picture of my lips right after applying the stain this morning, and then again around an hour later, after I'd had a cup of tea and a few bites of muffin.
As you can see,... it's all but disappeared. Long-lasting, this is not. The idea of long wearing colour is that it is, as the adverts quip, 'smudge-proof, drink-proof, kiss-proof' colour - nothing a cup of tea and a muffin should be able to remove. Let alone a lusty pash!
I've been using this product for a full 3 days now, observing its staying power with and without eating and drinking - and it just hasn't impressed me. I have to reapply so often that I may as well be wearing an every-day, run of the mill lipstick - at least that would be creamier and more flattering.
Which brings me to my next complaint. (Sorry, CoverGirl!). These lip stains seem to 'settle' into the fine lines on the lips. I'm in my early 20s, so I don't have much in the way of fine lines - but somehow, this lip stain manages to find them. And, I should add, I applied a lip primer before swiping on the stain this morning - so there's no excuse for the product settling into lines.
Lastly, the felt-tip stain itself seems to 'dry out' extremely quickly. Like I said, I've only had this product for 3 days, and already it's looking like an over-used texta pen. I'm not too confident it'll last me much longer.
On the positive side, these stains come in a variety of colours (personally I think Sassy Mauve is a gorgeous one), and are very easy to use - and they're a fantastic concept. I just wish they lasted a little longer and lived up to their 'Outlast'-ing claims!
** Update **
Since writing this post, I've swatched Max Factor's new 'Lipfinity' Lip Stains (just on my hand in-store), and compared them with some CoverGirl Outlast swatches I applied at the same time.
The Max Factor ones seem to last much longer on the skin - I can't speak for their effectiveness on the lips, but once I get my hands on one I'll let you know!
... Until next time....
B xx
