lip products, liquid lipstick

Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick “Caramello” | Review

Hello friends!

I know, there’s a lot of shocking things happening right now! First – a new review, two weeks in a row?! Second – a product that’s actually still available for purchase??! I know, wild times, but I am feeling quite the rush of motivation to keep working through my makeup collection and sharing my thoughts with you all!

Color: Caramello is described on the Stila website as a “neutral nude”. This seems somewhat accurate, but looking at it on myself I actually consider it a cool-toned peach. It looks pretty grey on me, but still has an almost peachy color to it. It’s so hard to explain, but spoiler alert: I love it!

Finish: If you guessed that the finish of this product is matte, you’d be correct! It goes on shiny but dries down in about a minute to its flat matte finish.

Packaging: The packaging of this liquid lipstick is a traditional acrylic tube, but with a satin gold cap. The Stila logo is printed on the tube along with other product information, and the bottom has a sticker with the color name.

Applicator: The doefoot for this product looks pretty standard, but is a bit longer than a normal paddle and doesn’t have any flair.

Continue reading “Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick “Caramello” | Review”
lip products, liquid lipstick

Wet n’ Wild Liquid Catsuit Matte Lipstick “Rebel Rose” | Review

Hello friends!

I apologize for my long absence! I think we can all agree in saying 2020 was a year of… well, who knows exactly what it was. That being said, I’m ready to move into the new year and get back into reviewing my vast amount of makeup starting with this product!

Color: Rebel Rose is a cool-toned pink nude. It’s the same depth as a traditional rose color, but with very purple undertones.

Finish: This liquid lipstick dries down to a completely matte finish.

Packaging: The packaging is a short, clear acrylic tube with a shiny black cap. The label is a sticker. If you’ve seen my review of the shiny version of this liquid lipstick they came out with, it’s identical, but with a different colored top!

Applicator: The applicator is one of the chair shaped ones, with a dip in the center that both holds product and creates an ease of application through better fitting the shape of the lips. I find these applicators to be easier to use than a traditional flat doefoot.

Application: Application was pretty easy for me! With the shape of the applicator, it was easy to cover one of my lips in the product without needing to do any cleanup afterwards due to going outside of the lines. I did need to dip back into the tube to get enough product to cover my top lip as well.

Transfer: Aside from the typical small bit of excess product that comes off at first, I found that the transfer of this lipstick was practically nonexistent. I didn’t see anything come off on my straw while drinking and nothing on my food or silverware while eating.

Fading: There was minimal to no fading that I noticed. Granted, this color is pretty close to my own natural lips, so there’s a chance I just didn’t see it like I would with another color. Still, after 8 hours I felt like my lipstick still looked good!

I did notice that the lipstick seemed to emphasize lines in my lips a bit, so if you’re like me and have pretty textured lips, exfoliate beforehand! If it’s something that really bothers you, I’d suggest skipping over this formula.

Comfort: As with the majority of matte liquid lipsticks, there is a slight bit of discomfort after 8 hours of wearing this. For the first eight, I barely noticed I had anything on my lips. Around the 9-10 hour mark, I was feeling like my lips were tight and I wanted the product to come off. This isn’t unique to this particular formula – I feel that way with most matte liquid lipsticks (I never prep my lips quite right!). If you were to ensure they were moisturized before putting on the lipstick (but being sure to remove the balm beforehand to not affect wear time), and exfoliated, I imagine you’d be able to comfortably go 12+ hours, as wear isn’t the concern.

Overall: I really enjoy this lipstick! The color is very me – I’m always up for a cool toned nudey pink since warm tones pull orange on me. The formula is great for those days you need something to last, without even considering the price in that. Add that you can get it for incredibly cheap, and this is a formula that I’ll be returning to for different colors as well.

Price Point: Wet n Wild boasts affordable makeup, and this product is no exception! At full price, the lipsticks are $5.49 each. Very frequently, you can find their products on sale on their website, Ulta, Target, Walmart, and other drugstores as well, so anticipate spending under $5 for a lipstick that I personally think is well worth it!

lip products, liquid lipstick

Smashbox Always On Matte Liquid Lipstick “Babe Alert” | Review

Hello friends!

Aside from primers, one product that really worked for Smashbox was their liquid lipsticks! So many people discussed them when they first came out, and even years later I still hear people talk about these being a favorite formula.

Color: Babe Alert is a corally-pink nude. It’s got a warm undertone, and is mostly pink but feels more wearable than what I’d consider a “true pink”. Sephora and Ulta both describe this as a “nude rose” – I’d say more rose than nude.

Finish: This lipstick dries down to a completely flat matte finish. Even upon initial application the actual appearance of the dry down was pretty quick; there wasn’t any period of shine.

Packaging: The lipstick that I have is a sample size, but the packaging is similar between the full size and sample size. It is a large square acrylic tube with a black cap. The label is printed directly on the tube and doesn’t appear to be a sticker.

Applicator: The applicator on this lip product is a tear drop shape with a hole (also known as a well) in the center that holds extra product. It’s got a bit of a fuzzy texture to it but I didn’t find that there was any problems with that making the edges less crisp.

Application: Applying this lipstick is very easy. The teardrop shape made getting a sharp line simple, and the well holds enough product to cover both lips without having to dip back in.

I did feel like even with applying the normal amount that comes on the applicator, the product felt thick going on. This, in turn, played in to the amount of time that it took for the product to dry & I believe also played into how it looked later on.

Continue reading “Smashbox Always On Matte Liquid Lipstick “Babe Alert” | Review”

lip products, liquid lipstick

Physician’s Formula The Healthy Lip Velvet Finish “Berry Healthy” | Review

Hello friends!

I was unbelievably lucky and found a bunch of these Healthy Lips on clearance at Walmart – I couldn’t help but snag some because I’ve heard people rave about them.  Spoiler alert: for good reason, too!

Color: Berry Healthy is a neutral, deep pink that leans slightly cool, but could mostly be considered a neutral pink-berry.  The neutral-ness of the shade tends to make it look less berry than what one would traditionally think – there’s very little purple in it. I personally would consider this a pink nude in my own collection.

Finish: As most liquid lipsticks do, this formula dries down to a matte finish.  The packaging states that this is a velvet finish, but to me there isn’t much shine, and what little there is definitely goes away as the product wears.

Physician’s Formula The Healthy Lip Velvet Finish “Berry Healthy” | Review - A Midwest Belle

Packaging: The packaging on this lipstick is definitely unique to other liquid lipstick tubes! It’s square and acrylic with the silver cap.  This definitely feels weighty and more luxurious than a typical drugstore liquid lipstick.  The only complaint I have is that it’s unnecessarily bulky – there easily could have been less acrylic on the outside of the product and still kept the aesthetic.

Physician’s Formula The Healthy Lip Velvet Finish “Berry Healthy” | Review - A Midwest Belle

Applicator: I adore the teardrop applicator with a well on the inside. The shape lends well to application – it’s easy to get a crisp line with the pointed tip.  The well ensures that you don’t have to dip into the tube a second time as it holds enough product for both lips.

Application: I found application of this to be strange at first, until I got more comfortable with the formula.  It’s not actually fully opaque; it’s semi-opaque, but with this particular shade that actually worked in its favor.  The product is thicker than you would expect – not a mousse, but also not thin like a standard liquid lipstick.

There were some issues with evenness on application, especially on the edges of my lips.  You could definitely tell that some spots were more pigmented than others, however it was incredibly easy to just use my finger and dot off the excess.

Physician’s Formula The Healthy Lip Velvet Finish “Berry Healthy” | Review - A Midwest Belle

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lip products, liquid lipstick

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.

Tarte Sugar Rush Sugar Coat Velvet Liquid Lipstick "Cupcake" | Review - A Midwest Belle

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.

Tarte Sugar Rush Sugar Coat Velvet Liquid Lipstick "Cupcake" | Review - A Midwest Belle

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.

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

lip products, liquid lipstick

Colourpop Ultra Matte Lip “Viper” | Review

Hello friends!

A while back, I made a giant Colourpop order, and part of the reason was for the free lipsticks you would get for spending a certain amount!  This was one of the lipsticks that I was excited to get for free.

Color: Viper is described on the Colourpop website as a “true dusty rose”, which is mostly accurate!  I’d add that there’s a definite purple appearance to it when it dries down completely, whereas I would consider rose to be a more pink shade.  It’s also darker than how it looks in the tube, which is a bit deceiving, so be aware!

Colourpop Ultra Matte Lip "Viper" | Review - A Midwest Belle

Finish: True to its name, Viper is definitely a matte lip.  It’s got the very traditional, completely flat matte appearance which ends up clinging to every single crevice in my lips.

Colourpop Ultra Matte Lip "Viper" | Review - A Midwest Belle

Packaging: The packaging of this is very basic; just a plain tube, silver chrome accents, and shiny writing for the label.  I’ve had this lipstick for long enough that the writing has actually completely faded off – you can still see where it was, but there’s no actual indication from a quick glance anymore.

The stopper in this particular shade seems to be defective.  There’s a ton of excess product that appears to almost be leaking out despite the fact that I always keep my Coloupop lips upright.  I’m assuming that it’s just from me having to wipe the extra product from the doefoot off and it staying at the top of the tube.  My wand is also really messy looking and overall I’m not super pleased with it.

Continue reading “Colourpop Ultra Matte Lip “Viper” | Review”

lip products, liquid lipstick

Huda Beauty Matte Liquid Lipstick “Trendsetter” | Review

Hello friends!

I’ve owned the Huda Beauty liquid lips for a while now, but for some reason I’ve never actually made it a point to test them.  I’ve heard a lot of good things, so I figured it was finally time for me to share my own thoughts!

Color: The color I’m testing today is Trendsetter!  Sephora describes it as a “stylish brown nude”, which is almost spot on.  I think that calling it a brown makes it sound somewhat intimidating, and it’s more of a neutral midtone nude. It’s darker and more neutral than what some people may consider a “nude”, but I personally don’t think it’s what people traditionally think of as brown.  It’s all in your own preferences!

Huda Beauty Liquid Lipstick "Trendsetter" | Review - A Midwest Belle

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lip products, liquid lipstick

Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipstick “Ashton” | Review

Hello friends!

One brand that comes to mind as the pioneer of the matte liquid lipstick trend is Anastasia Beverly Hills! Way back in the day when liquid lipsticks were just becoming a thing, this was one of the original formulas you could find.  Today I wanted to share with you whether I feel like they’ve stood the test of time, or have fallen flat compared to other formulas!

Anastasia Beverly Hills liquid lipstick "Ashton" Review - A Midwest Belle

Color: Ashton is described as a “midtone yellow-brown”.  While I find this color really pretty, if you don’t love browns you probably want to skip on this and go for a different color instead.  The yellow undertone might be something that doesn’t work well with other skin tones, so this is definitely a color I’d suggest swatching first!

Packaging: I love how sleek the packaging looks!  The silver tube has ABH’s symbol on the top in black, so it matches the tube and makes it easy to identify among other liquid lipsticks.  I also really enjoy the gold detailing on the top of the tube as well!

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lip products, liquid lipstick

NYX Lip Lingerie “Satin Ribbon” | Review

Hello friends!

When I went into this review, I thought for sure that I wouldn’t love this color and that I would pass it on afterwards because most of the time these shades don’t look good on me, but I was pleasantly surprised!  Because I have such pigmented lips, I’ve always found that pale colors look extremely patchy and weird on my lips, and I’ve always gotten rid of them.  However, I think I’ve found a winner!

Color: Satin Ribbon is an incredibly pale peach nude color that is probably the lightest lip color I own. This is definitely not a color for everyone, because it’s so peachy and pale and could potentially give the look of concealer lips.

Applicator: The applicator is very long compared to most standard liquid lipsticks, as you can see.  This holds enough product to cover both my bottom and top lips with just one side, which is saying a lot!  I’ve found that with most other liquid lipsticks, I have to either dip again or flip sides.  However, since there’s no point at the end of the applicator it’s hard to get a fine line. I personally didn’t have any issue getting a nice application, but it might be difficult for others.

Continue reading “NYX Lip Lingerie “Satin Ribbon” | Review”

lip products, liquid lipstick

Revlon Ultra HD Matte Lip Color “Devotion” | Review

Hi friends!

Today I wanted to let you all know my thoughts on the other Revlon Matte Lip Color I own!  In an effort to see if maybe the formula was inconsistent between colors, I wanted to share my experience with another shade.  You can see the original review for Obsession here.

Color: Devotion is a nude pink with slightly yellow undertones.  It’s a color that I think also looks very flattering on me.  However, once again the formula disappointed me.

Applicator: The triangular shaped applicator is definitely one of my favorites, and it made applying easy and quick.  There’s enough product on both sides to get my entire lips without having to dip the wand in for more product.

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