Thursday, October 20, 2016

Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick in Poe: I'm not too old for this?

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Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick in Poe

Ok, I know I just posted a review of a metallic silvery-lavender lipstick and complained that it made me feel old, and now I'm posting a photo of myself wearing navy blue lipstick and feeling fine. Well guess what? Fuck consistency.

I bought this set from Sephora, and it contains a mini Formula X nail polish and a mini Kat Von D Studded Kiss lipstick, both in the shade Poe. They've been on sale for $7.50 for a while now and going in and out of stock, so you might have to keep an eye on the page if you want to order online.

When I applied the lipstick at home for the first time, I immediately regretted buying it. I mean, I should have known better, because I've read a lot of pretty negative reviews of Poe, but for some reason I bought it anyway. I was curious. It's not easy to apply this shit evenly and opaquely. Just do a Google image search for it and look at all the iffy lip swatches--consider the worst ones the most accurate. The most annoying part was that, while it looked okay immediately after applying it, as soon as I so much as touched my lips together, all the color completely disappeared from the inner part. Blah.

I decided to give it another shot the next morning, however, and this time I applied it over top of Too Faced's lip primer (reviewed here). Surprisingly, the primer made a noticeable difference, despite the fact that I have tried it with many lipsticks in the past and it never helped. It does help with gloss, however, so this slippery-as-fuck lipstick must have something in common with lip gloss. I applied a layer of Poe, blotted, and added another layer. Then to clean up the edges, I used Tarina Tarantino eyeliner in Cute Robot, which is almost a perfect match, as you can see here:

Swatches of Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick in Poe and Tarina Tarantino eyeliner in Cute Robot

These are the results, which aren't perfect, but at least it's not complete garbage anymore:

Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick in Poe

I actually liked how this color looked on my face. It wasn't as jarring and weird as I'd expected. (Excuse my sad-puppy expression. I know people object to the term Resting Bitch Face, but there has to be a reasonable substitute--Resting Grump Face? Nothing's Wrong That's Just My Face?)


It's interesting that both the lipstick and the nail polish really look purple in the tube/bottle, but they are definitely navy blue when you apply them. I think it must be the iridescent/multichrome shimmer, which shifts between a bunch of colors: purple-pink-orange-gold-green. The lipstick contains the same shimmer as the polish, which you can see in the bullet, but it doesn't show up much on my lips other than to add some extra dimension.

Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick in Poe

I posted a nail swatch on Instagram earlier this week. The nail polish is very opaque and pretty, in keeping with the generally good results I've had from Sephora's Formula X polishes, though it chipped slightly within 24 hours (not unusual for me).

So in the end, I don't think this set, at $7.50, was a waste of money, because the nail polish is nice and I managed to get the lipstick to work. On the other hand, I can't really recommend the full size lipstick at its regular price of $21, since I had to use two other products with it to get it to work. When Poe first came out, it was difficult to get your hands on blue lipstick, so it might have been worth the hassle--but now even Maybelline offers very similar options.

I don't know if I will wear this out of the house. I should. We'll see.

11 comments:

  1. I think Poe looks great on you, especially with your eyes! I wish navy were considered a neutral for lipstick as well as for clothes. And yeah, I had the same experience with Poe when I tried it on in Sephora. I'm not sure a non-patchy navy lipstick exists yet. Mercy's formula is slightly better (still need to review it...), but it does need a lip liner.

    I love that eyeliner, by the way. AND the name. I aspire to be a cute robot all the time.

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    1. I could handle just having to use a lip liner, but this really is an unwearable mess without the primer. I probably should have taken a photo, but I was just like . . . barf.

      I really like Cute Robot too! I stopped wearing eyeliner for a while, for reasons, I don't totally understand, but I am into again, and this is a great option.

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    2. And yes to navy as a neutral! I am on board with that. It's no less natural on me than brown, really, and it looks a lot more harmonious, somehow, than a lots of pink/purple/reds I've tried in the past.

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  2. I actually really like that! Having to use other products is a drag, sure, but that is an incredibly flattering blue on you! I'm pretty sure I've read meh reviews on the Maybelline blues, too, and I'm not sure the tone and shade would work as well for your coloring.

    You might also try filling in your lips with the liner, then patting Poe on top. The liner should help with longevity, and keep it from slipping as much. I have a MAC black creamsheen (I can't remember the name, but I think it might have been holiday), and it's terrible on its own, but fucking fantastic on top of UD perversion liner.

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    1. Yes, I won't try to replace this with another navy lipstick since I know the color works on me. But if I didn't have it and I were looking for a navy, I probably wouldn't go for this one first, knowing how tricky it is.

      Thanks, I don't know why I didn't think of a full base of liner! I guess I was just so surprised that the primer actually helped (and a lot). I'll do that, since it could still use some improved opacity. Hopefully the liner helps some of the slipperiness. I've never had a lipstick completely disappear from 50% of my lips in less than a minute before.

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  3. I'm impressed that you got Poe to look so nice - I've only ever heard bad things about the formula. I really like it on you, as well. Navy blue seems to be surprisingly wearable as a lipstick colour for a lot of people.

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    1. It's really one of the worse lipsticks I've used, but the color is surprisingly excellent, I agree.

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  4. Wow, that lipstick sounds pretty intolerable.

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  5. Wow, that looks great on you! I expected it to look costumey (which is cool too of course) but it looks really everyday, in the best way. I remember when non-red/pink/pink/purple nail polish was considered out-there - I always argued that if true red was a 'neutral' color on nails then royal blue should be as well - so hopefully the trend will continue into lipsticks!

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    1. Yes, no one has naturally red nails! But at least lips are in the pink-red-beige family, at least. Still, I agree--I was shocked by how not "weird" it looks on me. Nothing wrong with weird, but it's what I was expecting.

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