Lip Obsessed: My Quick & Dirty ColourPop Lippie Review

L-R: ColourPop Lippie Stix in Bitchette, Lumiere, Dalia, Leather, Creature, and Brink

L-R: ColourPop Lippie Stix Swatches in Bitchette, Lumiere, Dalia, Leather, Creature, and Brink

L-R: ColourPop Lippie Pencils in Lumiere, Dalia, Leather, Creature, Brink, Brills, and Wet

L-R: ColourPop Lippie Pencil Swatches in Dalia, Leather, Creature, Brills, and Wet (Lumiere and Brink swatches can be found in my previous ColourPop review)

 I stated in my previous review that I hated my ColourPop Lippie Pencils. That was a lie. I hated that they didn't give me my desired nude lip. I enjoy the colours in my birthday haul immensely. My favourite by far is Wet, but that's because it pairs nicely with a lot of the hyped 'greige' lipsticks currently on the market. The formula is creamy, and if applied all over well hydrated and exfoliated lips, beats the look and lasting power of almost every other matte lipstick I've tried. I wore Leather once on drier lips and it was a disaster. The colour settled into all my fine lines and made my mouth look like a shriveled up prune. Not an attractive look for anyone.

My opinion on the Lippie Stix is much different. All the shades I purchased were matte, and all of the them had a very waxy texture. It felt like I was using a crayon rather than a lipstick. The finishes aren't true mattes, and they do have a sheen to them. They're very pretty, but in the end, I couldn't get over the sensation of these on my mouth. I've only worn them for short periods of time so I can't really comment on their staying power or colour transfer. They do come off easily though, and don't leave a stain behind like the NYX lippies did. My final thought on these: Dalia and Creature are basically the same shade, with Dalia just pulling a bit more brown. It's hardly noticeable. I don't know why I thought I needed both.

BONUS Super Shock Shadows & Cheek Swatches: 

ColourPop Holiday Haul

I am not a makeup junkie. My skincare routine is as elaborate as possible to ensure that I don't have to spend hours on makeup. Usually I just slap on a layer of Benefit's Porefessional, some concealer under my eyes and a layer of mascara and I'm good to go. Unfortunately, this doesn't work for the holidays. One is expected to look better than the everyday at parties and other outings.

I did a massive makeup purge earlier in the fall, so I was basically left with nothing to put on my face in December. After securing the basics, I started researching online for the cheapest, but most attractive makeup items to complete my holiday looks. Enter ColourPop. At $5 per shadow, lip liner, and lip stick, how can you go wrong? After putting enough items in your shopping cart, the $14.95 international shipping fee seems almost reasonable.

I decided to purchase the Lip Pencils rather than the Lippie Stix because one of the constant opinions expressed in the online reviews is that the matte Lippie Stix have more of a satin finish. Regardless, I ended up hating these, but that's my own fault. I keep trying to pull off the perfect nude lip and failing. My natural lip colour is almost an exact match to Lumiere, so that was a wash. Brink and Frida made my lips look barely a shade darker and lighter. They're beautiful, just not on me. Maybe I'll take the hint, slap on some lip chap and call it a day on the neutrals. Or maybe I'll forget all about my failure and go back and buy the Brink/Frida/Lumiere Lippie Stix and fool myself into thinking I'll get a different result.

My shopping cart originally had every metallic shade that ColourPop offered, but I managed to reign myself in and just purchase their metallic holiday set, Down With Decorum. Most of their holiday sets are contain limited edition products, but I chose this one because Game Face, Liberty, and Mooning are part of their standard collection and I could repurchase them when I ran out. I love love LOVE these shadows. Even Glitterati, which is significantly less pigmented than the others. ColourPop recommends applying these with your finger to get the best coverage, but I am way too heavy-handed for that. The first time I tried the shadows using my fingers, I ended up looking like I smeared mud all over my eyelid. I now use a stiff shadow brush and achieve the same pigmentation by layering the product. I'm officially obsessed!