I consider myself a lover of the majority of lip product formulas out there; glosses, velvety matte lipsticks, liquid lipsticks, the list goes on really! One that I'll always be partial toward though is the sheer, glossy lipstick! I've been gravitating toward them lately as I get into the groove of a minimal, everyday makeup look for uni, which of course justifies my buying more right? :P A few new additions to the stash are the Topshop Sheer Lips in the shades Alibi and Play With Fire. I managed to pick these up on sale so let's see how they performed, what with so many similar formulas out there!
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| L-R: Alibi, Play With Fire |
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| Top-Bottom: Play With Fire, Alibi |
The packaging is very nice, like most of Topshop's packaging really! They come in sleek, matte black tubes with a cute star pattern. The closure is secure and they really feel quite lovely! I love that the name label on the bottom is the colour of the lipstick as well.
Onto the actual formula, these are actually quite unique! I find the lipstick itself to be quite firm. It's really not super balmy or melty which I actually don't mind because that can often mean the product is too creamy, and too much gets on the lips. They do live up to their name though, these guys are sheer. It took quite a few passes over the lips to get the swatches above, and even then they aren't too pigmented. I have no qualms with this though since you do get colour payoff! It just makes them easier to apply and they certainly are buildable. In saying that, they don't have the glossiest finish which I don't mind. They don't slip and slide over the lips, though they also don't really moisturise/hydrate the lips, but they don't dry them out. If you have any dry patches or flakes on your lips, these lipsticks will show them, though not to an outrageous degree. Lasting power is fairly typical with your sheer, glossy formulas; 2 or so hours tops without eating. They fade well though and reapplication is super easy!
Play With Fire is a pretty typical 'me' shade. It's a peachy coral shade that is actually surprisingly bright; it's got that watered down/translucent neon feel to it which I quite enjoy. It's still super wearable and a great way to inject a little bit of brightness into a look without going for a full blown bold lip!
I was attracted to Alibi because of its pretty, pale pinky-peach look when swatched, but as you can see, it registers more pink and slightly chalky on my lips. Sigh. Will I ever learn that these shades just don't suit me? I thought that maybe because of its sheerness it would let more of my natural lip colour through, but alas, the pink comes through. It's still completely wearable though, I just need to play up the eyes more. I find it works well over a nude lip liner as well though!
While these aren't terribly special, they do make a lovely addition to my collection of 'everyday lip colours (not that I needed more...). It doesn't seem like my love for sheer lippies is going anywhere, they're just so darn easy to use and wear! An great handbag option indeed!
What are your thoughts on sheer lipsticks?
