After my brown lipstick incident in 1999 (I wore the muddy shade religiously, although it didn’t look so hot), I was ready to write off anything but sheer lipgloss, and remained true to that till 2010. However, since lipstick has come back in such a tempting way (with tons of awesome formulas and shades), that I’ve become a lipstick hoarder. That’s why, any chance to avoid doubling up on chapstick and colour has been a blessing, so I was excited to try a product that seemed to straddle the best of both worlds “ and yes, I even returned to brown.
What it is:
Cover Girl Lip Perfection Lipstick is enriched with a trademark Silk Therapy Complex formula that works to create softer and smoother lips in a week (vs. bare lips).
Colour:
With over 40 shades to choose from, Cover Girl Lip Perfection Lipstick has lived up to its name by providing every possible colour from cotton candy pink to corals to (yes, even) brown. And not only have they been designed by makeup superstar Pat McGrath (a bona fide shade connoisseur), the Cover Girl website boasts ColorMatched: a handy tool for determining which tones flatter your skin best based on hair colour, eye colour and shades you normally wear. (If only 14-year-old Anne knew about this.)
The Performance:
Because lipsticks usually have the tendency to dry out lips and offer nothing of moisture after the first five minutes of putting them on, I was happy to realize that not only did my lipstick go on smoothly, it stayed feeling that way until I needed to re-apply.
That being said, I didn’t need to re-apply too often. Staying true to Perfection aspect, the lipstick didn’t disappear after sipping a drink or essentially living my life “ sure, it needed to be touched up every so often, but it faded subtly like a gloss as opposed to smearing like Courtney Love’s makeup after . . . well, being Courtney Love. No, Lip Perfection Lipstick isn’t all-day wear, but who really wants that? I’d rather take moisture than the feeling I’m wearing a thin coat of paint.
The Verdict:
Finally: I no longer need to continue my lipstick off, balm on, lipstick off hourly regimen. Sure, I need to reapply it every so often, but considering it feels like a moisture balm, I’m essentially grateful to apply it after being outside for anything more than 15 minutes.
And of course, the colour is great. Channeling my circa 1999-year-old self, I may have dipped back into the matte lipstick aesthetic, but instead of using a product that dried out my lips and looked cakey, I found a shade that channeled my favourite decade, but looked smooth and modern. The days of smeared, uneven lip tones are over, friends: moisture and grease-free lipstick have become one.
