Bad Impulse: Milani Color Statement Moisture Matte Lipstick in Matte Luxe

My local CVS had all of its Milani lip products marked down to $2.99 the other day. I'd hear good things about their matte lipsticks (including that they lack the nauseating watermelon stench of the regular lipsticks), but the selection remaining on the rack was pretty skimpy. Nevertheless, I was in a Just Buy Something, Anything sort of mood, and also still regretting that I hadn't picked up Urban Decay's orange Revolution Lipstick in Tilt when it was marked down, so I grabbed Matte Luxe on impulse.

Bad impulse. It's terrible. I returned it to get my precious 3 bucks back--which is why the photos here are so bad. I had to take them indoors on a gloomy day before I took it back.

It's not just the true orange lipstick looks terrible on me and I should know that by now. The formula of this stuff is abysmal. It's as though it doesn't adhere to the surface of the lips at all, but only gets caught up in lines and dry patches. My lips were not even particularly dry the day I took this photo, but this lipstick will find any flake it can.

I think the blurriness of the photo is actually making it look better than it did in person. You can't really see the completely bare patches that were left in between the streaks.

And yes, I can't wear oranges that lean too far yellow rather than pink or red. I should stick to red-oranges or corals. In my defense, it looked redder in the store lighting. This shade drains all the color out of my face--and that, combined with the awful texture, makes me look like I've contracted some particularly strange disease.

Here's a comparison with some red-orange and coral lipsticks, which I can actually wear:

Left to right: Milani Matte Luxe, Wet N Wild Purty Persimmon, BareMinerals Light It Up, and NYX Butter Lipstick in Little Susie.

The experience just reinforces my general rule banning impulse purchases of products that I haven't seen reviewed. And also that just because some shades in a range are beloved and positively reviewed doesn't mean that the quality is consistent for the rest of them. Of course. I guess the fact that this shade was left behind and most of the nudes and pinks were gone was a sign.

Quest for Coral, the Sequel (and my first Korean makeup purchase)

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My original quest for a wearable, affordable, bright coral lip-something failed, and I was ready to admit defeat, though I had made some interesting discoveries along the way. Then I got so many helpful recommendations that I felt compelled to give it another go. In the end, I kind of (sort of) took a couple of the suggestions I got, and I am pleased with my success. I've compiled all the recommendations I got in the comments of the post, on Instagram, and on Tumblr, at the bottom of this post for any others who undertake a similar journey. Thanks, everyone!

That sounds a bit dramatic when we're talking about lipstick, but whatever.

I actually ended up buying two things that no one suggested, but they worked out very well. The first is a Wet N Wild MegaSlicks Balm Stain Moisturizing Lip Color (insert obligatory complaint about the long name here) in Coral of the Story. I bought this without very high expectations, but I needed a new tube of my favorite Wet N Wild eyeshadow primer, after the two other primers I had left proved practically useless, and CVS had a BOGO sale on WNW. So I grabbed this bright coral-pink crayon, which otherwise would have cost $3.

Wet N Wild MegaSlicks Balm Stain in Coral of the Story

This stuff is surprisingly great! It is indeed both moisturizing and a stain. It feels like a balm, is quite opaque, and yet isn't patchy or smeary like a lot of other corals. It's exactly the color I was looking for - a coral that's a bit closer to pink than orange or red. Victory on all counts. I can't really think of anything to complain about, and you know how much I like complaining.

Here it is on my lips. The color really brightens up my face. I forgot to take a full face shot, but I'll post one on Instagram soon and link it here. There's also an arm swatch later in the post, if you prefer that.

Lip swatch of Wet N Wild MegaSlicks Balm Stain in Coral of the Story

At the same time, I had my last round of Birchbox points to use up, and I decided to spend them on something weird and fun. I redeemed them for two things: an expensive lipstick that I will review soon, and Peripera Peri's Tint Water in Mandarin (#4, since I've seen multiple names for this shade out there). By buying this stuff, I was partially taking two suggestions I had been given when I wrote about my omgstruggles with coral before: to try mixing orange and pink lip products and to try Benefit Cha Cha Tint. Of course, the idea of mixing was to make do with things I already had, not to buy more shit, and Cha Cha Tint is already coral, not orange, so I pretty much violated the spirit of both suggestions. But they inspired me nonetheless.

I generally avoid buying beauty products on the basis of pretty packaging, and therefore I avoid photographing the packaging for the most part. But since I wanted this Tint Water anyway and I was photographing it anyway and it happens to be adorable in the typical Korean beauty fashion anyway . . . please enjoy this packaging photo:

Peripera Peri's Tint Water in Mandarin #4

In which I wear orange lipstick and don't look like a clown corpse

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There were two truths that I once thought I knew about myself: I don't really like lipstick, and I can't wear orange makeup. I look okay in orange clothing, so I've always felt like I should be able to wear orange on my face, but it always goes horribly wrong somehow. Orange eyeshadow = fresh zombie. Orange blush = consumption victim. Orange lipstick = clown recently murdered by jealous competitor. I've given orange lip products that look dreadful on me to my sister, and she looks great in them - despite the fact that looking at us, you would think we had very similar coloring, and we've even been mistaken for twins (although I am 4 years older, haha, sucka). Even coral on the orange side has been a disaster.

I've eased up a bit on the lipstick hate lately, though I still prefer a stain or a gloss or a balm, etc. But I'm still not completely sure what compelled me to spend my precious Ipsy points (shout out to whomever used my invite link!) on an orange lipstick. In the photos and swatches that I found online, bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie lipstick in Light It Up looks pretty bright fucking orange. Exactly the kind of thing I've never been able to wear, and yet I ordered it. Morbid curiosity?

When I got it and opened up the tube . . . yeah, it still looks pretty fucking orange. An orangey coral, but definitely orangey. As I should have expected. Yikes.

bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie lipstick in Light It Up

By the way, I find the locking mechanism on the tube somewhat annoying. I guess it would help to prevent it from coming open in your purse or whatever, but this way you have to flip it upside down, slide the little knob, then flip it back over and pull the lipstick out. It's 5 seconds, but it seems unnecessarily gimmicky. I'd prefer a regular lid that just clicks into place.

Since I already spoiled the end of this fascinating drama in the title of the post, I'll get to the results, where - surprise! - this lipstick actually doesn't look terrible on me.

bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie lipstick in Light It Up

When it's on my face, it looks like it has a lot more pink in it than it does in the bullet. Its definitely a coral shade, not a pure orange. Quite bright, and yet there's something about this one that does not turn the rest of my face the color of death! I don't know what it is. Needs more research.

The formula of the lipstick is pretty nice. It's creamy and goes on opaque. The best way to apply it is to put on one coat, blot the fuck out of it, and then add another coat. If you just do a single layer, it will show lines and dryness much worse. Two layers evens most of that out. Because it's very creamy, it will settle into lines slightly as time passes, but honestly, I am pretty damned picky about that sort of thing, and I don't think it's noticeable unless you look extremely closely. The creaminess also means that it will transfer easily. This is definitely not a long-wear lipstick, but nevertheless, the color lasts several hours (I'd say 5+ even if you drink a cup of coffee and eat a snack or something), and the creaminess means you can press your lips together and keep it spread around as the day goes on. It wears off pretty nicely, not patchy. Because of the texture, it feels great on my lips and isn't drying, which I appreciate. The lipstick has a light vanilla-mint scent, kind of like mint-flavored white chocolate, but it's very subtle and dissipates quickly.