Review: Catrice Color Infusion Longlasting Lipstain (020 Rose Wood Avenue)

dm: €3-4

http://www.catrice.eu/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

L: Sheer R: Built up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With this lip stain, Catrice promises “longer lasting color” and “semi-permanent definition” that is supposed to “pamper” your lips with “moisturizing ingredients”. Rose Wood Avenue is a darker version of a your-lips-but-better color, it is very pretty and an easy color to wear.

 

Ingredients:

AQUA (WATER), GLYCERIN, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, SORBITOL, POLYSORBATE 80, PEG-150, POTASSIUM SORBATE, PVP, ACACIA SENEGAL GUM, AMMONIUM GLYCYRRHIZATE, SODIUM SACCHARIN, SODIUM HYALURONATE, AROMA (FLAVOR), PHENOXYETHANOL MAY CONTAIN: CI 15985 (YELLOW 6), CI 17200 (RED 33), CI 19140 (YELLOW 5), CI 42090 (BLUE 1).

 

Like the ELF Studio Lip Stain, I like this color but not much else. Despite all its moisturizing claims, this product is not forgiving to dry lips: it dries them out further and gathers in the flakes. As it wears, it wears faster from the center of your lips outwards, so you end up with a fetching ring around your lips. This stain also gives the stinging feeling the ELF one had.

OK, Lilla, you say. What about the packaging? Well, I’m glad you asked. The packaging is deceptive. It has a marker tip, which instantly made me think “Ooh! Easy application!”. Wrong. To get the product out you have to shake the tube a bunch, go over your lips like 50 times, then shake some more. Repeat about 5 times until you have built up a decent amount of color. Yeah, not so convenient. This hasn’t happened yet, but I can imagine that this will dry up sometime in the near future.

OK, as it is a stain, I think it is necessary to talk about staying power. Unfortunately, there is really not that much to tell. It sucked. As I mentioned before, the product wore off in a not-so-attractive way, and it did that mere hours after application. Also, this does not last through drinking or eating. I have lipsticks that last through meals!!! What does that tell you, huh, Catrice?

 

There’s not that much I can say for this product. It just did not really perform well, except for giving a pretty color. Although I only got that for like an hour, tops, and after 10 minutes at the cost of my arm. OK, my arms are pretty weak and flabby, but still. It was tiring. This was pretty much a no-go for me.

 

Rating: C-

 

 

 

Review: ELF Studio Lip Stain (Fashionista)

Eyeslipsface.com: $3

Eyeslipsface.co.uk: £3.75/€4.50

Can also be found at Target

www.eyeslipsface.com

www.eyeslipsface.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

L: Built up R: Sheered out

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ELF describes this product as a long-lasting, “full-coverage” lip color. It is formulated with vitamins A and E that apparently keep your lips soft all day. It is double ended, with the stain on one end and the gloss on the other. The idea is that if you want a matte look, you apply the stain alone, but if you want a glossy look, you wait for the stain to dry and then apply the gloss.

Ingredients:

Isododecance, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Silica, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Triacontanyl PVP, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Retinyl Palmitate, Tocopherol. 
Gloss: Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Paraffinium Liquidum (Mineral Oil), Methylparaben, Propylparaben.
May Contain: Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides (CI 77491 , CI 77492 , CI 77499), Manganese Violet (CI 77742), Red No.7 Lake (CI 15850), Red No.27 Lake (CI 45410), Red No.6 Lake (CI 15850), Blue No.1 Lake (CI 42090), Yellow No.5 Lake (CI 19140), Yellow No.6 Lake (CI 15985).

Let me start with what this stain has going for it. It has a gorgeous color, for starters. It is an amazing bright pink-lemonade pink (I’m sorry, that is the only way I can describe the color), and the pigmentation is good, so you can make the color on your lips look like the color on the tube, but you can also wear this color really sheer and it looks great. By the way, the color on the ELF website is misleading, the color in person looks much more similar to the picture of First Date on the site. The packaging is quite good as well. They’ve managed to make everything pretty compact, which is not always a feature in the packaging of other ELF products. Exhibit A: the Studio Cream Blushes. The packaging is also very professional looking, which I like. Another bonus is that you can see what the actual product looks like, which is very good for choosing colors.

Now lets get into the not-so-great stuff. The first thing you notice about the stain is how it applies. The color does not distribute evenly, so you end up with patches of really thick color and then places with hardly anything. This is annoying as hell. Then, the texture. It has the weirdest consistency EVER. When you put it on at first it feels really slick, and then it dries to what I can only describe as a powder finish. It almost feels as if you put a cream-to-powder blush on your lips. Having put an ELF Studio Cream on my lips before (don’t ask me why, I have no clue), I can testify that the experience is very similar. And it really isn’t a feeling you really want on your lips… The product also tends to settle in any flaky skin you have on your lips, as well as drying them out. Not cute. When you put it on, I also experienced a slight tingling feeling. Not like a plumping gloss feeling, either. Like an I-think-I-am-having-an-allergic-reaction feeling. I didn’t seem to have any sort of reaction to it, but the feeling was unpleasant nonetheless. I don’t have much to say about the gloss, I hardly ever used it because I am not a gloss person. However, when I did try it, I formed the impression that it was terrible. I do not have a lot of experience with lip gloss because I personally do not enjoy them , but this one seemed to be more on the thin side and felt almost gritty after the initial glossiness wore off. So like 2 seconds after application.

And to sum this review up, I shall talk about the staying power. Despite having a weird texture and less than stellar application, did the product actually perform in terms of longetivity? The answer, ladies and gentlemen, is no. Not only did it wear off quite quickly, but it wore off in unevenly, contributing to that lovely patchy effect.

To sum up, despite its absolutely gorgeous color and good packaging, this product failed in pretty much every respect. In short, it sucked. Which really is a bummer because I really want a good stain!

Rating: C-