I don’t always like lipstick that makes me feel aware that I’m wearing lipstick. In fact, 99 percent of the time I actively dislike it, the exception being those fairly rare occasions when you’re wearing a lot of makeup and like the feel of it. (Does that even make sense? I mean when you’re glammed up and don’t mind being reminded of the fact.)
I tend to avoid liquid lipsticks for this reason—my assumption is always that they’re never going to let me forget they’re on, either because they’re glossy and therefore off-puttingly slippery and/or lightly sticky, or because they’re of the indelible-stain variety, which I don’t really like either because no matter what they promise, they usually end up feeling drying after a few hours. I think on an older person they can make your mouth look quite caved in by the end of the night, which is really not at all the idea.
So Sephora Collection Soft Matte & Easy Smooth Matte Lip Color wouldn’t be something I would pick up during one of my forays, but a friend had recommended it after I had admired hers and asked what she was wearing, so I thought I’d try it. It’s fantastic, plus it comes in beautiful, really well thought-out colors (15 of them).
I tend to avoid liquid lipsticks.
I bought shade No. 3, a discreet (on me, but my lips are naturally quite dark) pinky-brown accurately called Simple As That, and shade No. 11, Je Ne Sais Quoi, a punchier browny-red. These lipsticks are completely ungloopy and blissfully matte. The best way I can describe them is a cross between something that feels nourishing and a stain, but not the sort of stain that, as above, makes your mouth look slightly desiccated after a while, usually because some of the color migrates to the center but some also stays around the lip edge, making you look like you’re wearing really bad lip liner and not much else.
The applicator here is just the right size—another peeve is that liquid lipsticks often have applicators that are too big or small, meaning you either go over the outline of your lips and make a mess or have to do more than one pass, therefore adding unwanted layers. The lipstick goes on slightly lustrous but give it a second and it dries down to matte.
Now, the issue with matte—who would have thought that lipsticks were such a minefield?—is usually that you can feel the matteness: matte lipsticks feel heavier on the mouth. But this one (which is water-based) is unbelievably comfortable—you absolutely forget it’s there. What I like best about it, though, is the natural effect it gives. It makes your mouth look soft and, therefore, lovely—it’s like it imparts a lip-specific soft focus. It’s the most wearable lipstick I’ve tried in ages, and a snip at $15.
India Knight is a U.K.-based journalist and the author of India Knight’s Beauty Edit: What Works When You’re Older
