We try before you buy! Dose.ca editors are playing guinea pigs to get the 411 on the latest beauty products. This week, we're testing five popular brands of lipstick that promise a long-lasting perfect pout.
L'Oreal Infallible with topcoat – Celeb Collection (Retail: $12.49 at Shoppers Drug Mart)
"Hey, I’d love to rock the bold, red lips as well as Gwen Stefani does. Unfortunately, my pale skin isn’t so much ivory and flawless than it is pink and blotchy, so the bright crimson just wasn’t for me. After picking a shade more suited to my skin tone, however, I was pleasantly surprised; it was easy to apply and stayed on until I washed my face for bed. The lip colour packaging is gorgeous; I felt like I was a sexy lady from the future applying sexy future makeup. The only downsides: it’s easy to splash some of the lipcolour when you’re opening the tube, and the moisturizing stick is too small. Rating: 4/5." – Kat Angus, TV editor, Dose.ca
"Diane Kruger wears my lipstick? OK, whatever. But I'm impressed by just about everything else about this product. The compact, mirrored package is perfect for on-the-go application -- not that you'll need to touch up anything but the candy-scented gloss. It applies smoothly and I can personally attest to it withstanding 12 hours, four beers and late-night eats. My faith in Hollywood glamour is hereby restored. Rating: 4.5/5" – Leah Collins, music editor, Dose.ca
"This is my daily, go-to brand of lipstick. It’s long-lasting, doesn’t dry out my lips and is really easy to apply. My favourite thing about this product (besides the fact that it lasts about six hours and stands up through drinking and eating), is the packaging: it’s tiny enough to easily fit in my purse, and its reflective back doubles as a mirror. One caveat: light colours are really, really light. I used Eva Longoria’s shade (sadly, I didn’t suddenly have the urge to catfight with my neighbors), and it was so light that it required multiple coats. Rating: 5/5." – Jen McDonnell, managing editor, Dose.ca
"Admittedly, I'm a sucker for shiny things, so when this packaged duo arrived on my desk, I was certain that it would be ‘all that’ -- and it was. Sure, it took me a little over five minutes to figure out how to work the darn thing, but those five minutes was well worth it when my Beyonce-hued lips were near perfection for all eight hours of my work day. The base coat felt like I was putting clay on my lips, which had me scared at first, but after applying the silky smooth gloss, my pout was picture perfect. The only downside was that I eventually grew tired of applying the gloss and towards the end of the evening; my lips felt dry and looked as though I had only applied lip liner. Rating: 4/5." – Miranda Furtado, style and social networking editor, Dose.ca
"This lip wear was the best of the products I tested. It held the colour for hours, left my lips feeling soft and is available in an array of beautiful colours. The product did not bleed or feather, which was surprising for the length of time it stayed on my lips. L'Oreal Infallible definitely lived up to its claims and I look forward to wearing other colors in this line. Rating : 4/5." –Malaika Reynolds, intern
---
L’Oreal Infallible lipstick Collection (Retail: $12.99 at Shoppers Drug Mart)
"Somehow, the new L’Oreal Infallible lipstick managed to be worse than the Infallible Celeb Collection; although the colour looked great, it took much longer to set and I still experienced it rubbing off throughout the day. The weirdest part? The Infallible lipstick is actually more expensive than its celebrity counterpart. Thanks, but no thanks. Rating: 2/5." – KA
"As a common drugstore lipstick, this one scores marks for rich colour and creamy-smooth application. Is it long-lasting, though? My coffee cup would disagree. Rating: 3/5." – LC
"Compared to drugstore lipsticks, this one definitely lasted a long time (about 2 hours). But it couldn’t compare to the long-lasting Infallible with topcoat. Rating: 2/5." –JM
"While this tube boasts the same name as the one above, do not get the two confused. This was my least favourite of the testers. I found it hard to put on, hard to take off and my lips were dry the entire time because it was the only one that didn’t come with a gloss. Rating: 2/5." -MF
---
CoverGirl Outlast Collection (Retail: $13.49 at Shoppers Drug Mart)
"This is my go-to lipstick – the applicator makes the colour easy to put on and the moisturizing topcoat doesn’t leave my lips feeling dry or flaky. My only problem: I have a habit of rubbing my lips together throughout the day, which meant the moisturizing topcoat wore off fairly quickly and I had to keep reapplying before I started rubbing off the lip colour itself. This means that the tube of colour lasts much longer than the balm – luckily, CoverGirl also sells the moisture stick separately, and considering the low price, replacing it doesn’t hurt my wallet. Rating: 4.5/5" – KA
"In terms of results, CoverGirl Outlast impressed me as much as L'Oreal Infallible's Celeb Collection. If only they'd put the same care into the packaging. With these one-two long-lasting lipsticks, the included moisture gloss is key. (They look and feel extremely dry and matte without it.) Packaged as two separate tubes -- instead of as a single product like the L'Oreal and Maybelline lipsticks -- I can only see this one causing hassle, however slight, when I'm trying to locate the gloss in my purse. Feel free to tell me to get over it. Rating: 4/5." –LC
"Much like Infallible, this is a great product to use daily. It’s easy to apply and lasts a long time. I don’t love the way it fades (it results in the dreaded lip liner look). My biggest complaint, however, is that every time I’ve bought this product, the top coat has run out way before the colour. Rating: 4/5." – JM
"The CoverGirl Outlast would have been my second favourite, if both the colour and the gloss were packaged together into one unit. Let's face it: finding something in my purse is harder than finding Waldo with both eyes closed. There is no way that I would be able to find both tubes (colour and gloss) in time to smile at the cute guy across the street. Rating: 3.5/5." -MF
---
Maybelline 24 Collection (Retail: $12.99 at Shoppers Drug Mart)
"As far as the final look is concerned, there wasn’t much difference between the Maybelline 24 and the CoverGirl outlast – and just like before, I went through the topcoat very quickly. But unlike the CoverGirl Outlast, the Maybelline 24 packages the lip colour and the moisturizing stick in a single tube, so if I run out of balm, I have to buy and entirely new tube of colour, too. The Maybelline 24 lip colour might be slightly less expensive than the CoverGirl outlast, but it’s not worth buying an entirely new package of lip colour just because I ran out of the topcoat. Rating: 3/5." – KA
"Straight out of the bottle, the consistency of this liquid lipstick is streaky and translucent, so expect to apply several coats. Once it's on, though it's on -- for at least 12 hours. My real trouble with it, however, is that it's not always on where you want it. When put to (multiple) sandwich tests --i.e. my eating several sandwiches while wearing Maybelline 24 -- this product eventually left me with lip liner-face. You know the condition: no colour on the lips, but a tell-tale ring outlining the mouth. It's a typical problem with regular lipstick, but you can't just wipe errant long-lasting lipstick off with a tissue smudge. Unless you're packing oil-based make-up remover -- or don't mind scouring your lips for five minutes -- you're stuck. Rating: 3.5/5" – LC
"I found this one the most difficult to apply; the wand was too large and the consistency of the product a little goopy. On the plus side, once it was on and the top coat was applied, this stuff didn’t budge for a full eight hours. Once it started to fade, however, it came off really unevenly. I ended up looking like I was just wearing lip liner, which is only acceptable if you’re in the Real Housewives cast. And because it requires makeup remover to take off, I was stuck with that look for hours. Rating: 3/5." –JM
"The Maybelline Super Stay 24 was the winner in my books. It was a close race for me but based on packaging alone -- this one beat out the other colourful contestants. It was easy to use, lasted throughout the day (and evening) and even made it through numerous beverages and snacks. Rating: 4.5/5." –MF
"I was really psyched about Maybelline 24, as I have used Maybelline products before and their brand has generally impressed me with its commitment to quality. So it pains me to say that I was really disappointed with this lip colour. First off, although its a brand new product, nothing really differentiates the product from its competitors. Its features are identical to L'Oreal and CoverGirl, but the texture of the lipstick is worse; the formulation was way too drying for my lips. I had to constantly reapply the ultra-conditioning balm, just so my lips wouldn't feel painfully chapped. The only advantage of this lip wear is that the formula stays put for a long time. But for practically $13, you’re best advised to spend your money elsewhere. This was my least favourite product. Rating: 2.5/5." -MR
---
CoverGirl Lip Perfection Collection (Retail: $8.99 at Shoppers Drug Mart)
"For me, the subtler the lip colour the better, so with Lip Perfection, I carefully chose the shade closest to that I use most. Unfortunately, even the almost-nude colour looked bizarre, as though I had used actual glossy paint on my lips. I’ll hand it to the Lip Perfection, though: it was impossible to get off. In this case, though, that was a negative; I wanted it off ASAP. The CoverGirl Lip Perfection is the least expensive of all the lipsticks I tested, and it certainly made me look cheap. Rating: 1/5." – KA
“Since the only shade left to test was a ridiculously neon red, I ended up with a look that was quickly dubbed by my coworkers ‘Hooker Clown.’ On the plus side (for the product, at least), it was impossible to remove, so I ended up wearing that charming look to a meeting. I’m expecting a call from human resources any minute now… Rating: 3/5” –JM
© Copyright (c) dose.ca
