Tarte Sugar Rush Sugar Coat Velvet Liquid Lipstick “Cupcake” | Review

Hello friends!

This year, Tarte has come out with a sister brand called Sugar Rush, which appears to be for a younger audience.  The prices are cheaper, and the packaging is a lot more fun and childish-looking compared to a lot of their normal products (depending on which specific collection you look at!).

Color: Cupcake is a my lips but better shade! It’s a medium mauve color with slight warm undertones that look just a touch orange on me.  The color is mostly brown.

Finish: True to it’s name, the finish of this is definitely a velvety matte.  It doesn’t look like a traditional matte lipstick finish, but there’s not any shine to it.

Packaging: I really love the packaging of this!  The entire tube is a soft material that feels slightly NARS-ish, but the color matches the lipstick shade and product information is printed directly on it. It’s very basic otherwise, and the logo is black with that cute diamond symbol that signifies the Sugar Rush collection.  The top of the lid has a golden diamond.

Applicator: The applicator is a doefoot that is a bit larger than normal and is pretty soft.  It’s got the slightest hint of a curve to it that helps shape to the lips a bit better than a standard doefoot applicator would.

Application: I found applying this to be pretty easy. The formula is a mousse consistency that smooths over the lips easily.  The shape of the doefoot does fit my lips well, but when I went outside of my lip lines the formula was easy to just wipe away without leaving a smear of color.

I would say that this color is semi-sheer, and building it up is harder to do because of the slippery feel of the formula.

Transfer: This formula of this is incredibly different in the sense that it never truly dries down, so there’s a lot of transfer.  It transferred onto my coffee mug and my spoon when I was eating breakfast.  Obviously as the lipstick wore it transferred less and less due to the amount of product on my lips being less as well.

Fading: Because this is a my lips but better nude, I couldn’t see any significant fading from a distance. However, I did notice that as I ate or drank, the color would migrate into the lines of my lips slightly; I only saw this when I was standing close to a mirror.  It also did build up a bit to the dry patches on the very inner part of my top lip, which I’m sure could easily be fixed by a lip scrub or just making sure your lips aren’t dry like mine are.

From far away, even as this lipstick wears it has a beautiful blurring effect that makes your lips look like there are no lines in them.  Because I have very textured lips, this is a huge deal for me!  The interesting thing about this product is that because it doesn’t dry down, if you feel like it’s starting to look like it’s sinking into lines, you can push your lips together to help disperse the product.  Note that if you do that, you may have a raised texture up close where it pulled to the top/bottom lip, but this is only visible when you’re standing close to a mirror and probably wouldn’t be noticeable if you weren’t looking for it.

Comfort: This is such a comfortable liquid lipstick formula.  I’ve honestly never worn anything quite like it!  It feels incredibly soft, and almost like an oil, but not oily.  It doesn’t dry down at all, so it never makes my lips feel dry. As it wears, it gets even softer and more comfortable.  I love that it doesn’t feel sticky like a gloss, or heavy like some bullet lipsticks, and it’s not drying like traditional matte liquid lips.  It truly is one of a kind by formulas that I’ve tried.

If you want to reapply it on top of itself, do note that it will feel a bit heavier than it did before, but it’s not uncomfortable or really noticeable by any means!

Overall: I absolutely adore this formula of lipstick.  The color looked beautiful on me, it gives a really gorgeous matte finish without being uncomfortable in the slightest, and it actually blurred my lip lines, of which I have many.  I really hope that more colors that I would like are released because I know that I would love a red shade or bright pink that would look blurred and feel comfortable.

I’d be a bit hesitant to try this formula with a shade that is lighter than my lips or would require building up due to the formula being so emollient.  I would definitely suggest testing the shades in store first just to make sure that you’re comfortable with the level of color you’d get.

Price Point: These lipsticks are $15 each, which I think is very reasonable for a mid-range product.  If you’re interested in picking this up, you can find it at Ulta or on the Tarte website under the “sugar rush” heading!

Have you ever tried an emollient liquid lipstick before?