lip stain – Beauty Playbox

A loud title for a very diminutive post: I only own three Milani lip products. Thing is, the brand does not retail here, neither officially nor on the grey market. All the products I own came to me via my Lip Monthly subscription of yesteryear. I happened to love every single Milani lipstick I received.

Milani Lip Intense Liquid Color in Violet Addict 04

The brightest of the three, Milani Lip Intense Liquid Color is a full-on shiny vinyl lip colour. The applicator is a sturdier doe-foot, which makes it really easy to apply the product evenly. The formula is good, very comfortable on the lips. Does not feather. Smells a bit weird in the container, but once applied, you don’t feel it. Wears off well. If you drink or eat something light, it would lose some lustre, but most of the colour will remain. Eventually it would look as a tint. Despite being very bright, it doesn’t stain the lips.

As you can see in the photo above, the lettering on the packaging has worn off already. This is a tiny-tiny minus for a person who enjoys it when their makeup products look pristine throughout. (Read: Me.)

Here’s Milani Lip Intense Liquid Color in Violet Addict on the lips on my Instagram (follow me there, follow me there!!):

All dolled up on day 3 of #selfieseptember. Lipstick is Milani Lip Intense in Violet Addict. 💋 💄 👠

A photo posted by Alexandra (@armrwrpnt) on Sep 3, 2016 at 7:46am PDT

There’s also one more swatch of it on my arm below.

Milani Power Lip in Pink Lemonade 04

Next is a product I’ve opened only recently. It is described by Milani as a lasting and moisturising gloss and stain 2-in-1. I had thought that this would be more like a balm/ gloss type of thing, and I’d also thought for some reason that it would be sticky and uncomfortable to wear. In all of these points I was wrong – although it is reminiscent of a gloss, it’s still a colour-heavy one. The stickiness is minimal. The wear of Milani Power Lip causes no discomfort at all. The colour also suits me really well, Pink Lemonade is a pinkish red colour that looks great against my skintone.

Milani Power Lip in Pink Lemonade wears off amazingly. Seriously. For that thing only I want to shower it with affection. It would of course lose its lustre after a meal, but your lips would still retain a hint of colour throughout. This particular shade looks like a very natural tint. As it gradually wears off, it makes your lips look like you’ve just been kissed for a particularly long time, which is a great look on any woman, if you ask me.

If you’re after a contoured lip look, then Milani Power Lip in Pink Lemonade is not for you. The application is easy and in no way messy, but the lip line will not be pristine. To me, that is the beauty of Milani Power Lip. It is very reminiscent of the lip looks that were quite popular on the runway a couple of seasons ago.

My only gripe with this product is its packaging – it has a built-in brush and a screw-type mechanism that dispenses the product into the brush. It took me a few tries to figure out the amount of clicks I’d need to hear to get the right amount of product out.

You can see Milani Power Lip on my lips in the photo below, and on the arm further down the post:

Milani Brilliant Shine Gloss in Nude Touch 11

And now we’re onto the true lip gloss of the bunch. Milani Brilliant Shine Gloss in Nude Touch is a transparent vanilla-scented gloss with champagne sparkles. Oddly looks well enough on its own, giving a wet lips effect. This is actually how I prefer to use Milani Brilliant Shine Gloss in Nude Touch, because when I use a lipstick and a lip gloss together, I end up feeling tacky. Applied over lipstick it also works well. Out of my lip glosses, this is probably one of the more ‘long wear’ ones, but despite that, it’s not extremely sticky. Milani Brilliant Shine Gloss also feels moisturising.

So far, my acquaintance with Milani lip lines has been really good – there’s not a single dud in these products! I really wish the brand would retail here. Quality affordable make-up is still hard to come by, and Milani would have been a great alternative to the maybellines and the l’oreals.

Swatched, top to bottom:

Milani Power Lip in Pink Lemonade
Milani Lip Intense Liquid Color in Violet Addict
Milani Brilliant Shine Gloss in Nude Touch

Let’s skip the part where I lament how late I am with these (there’s a reason for it this time around) and get to the products.

be a … bombshell Lipgloss in hooked

The coverage is amazing. It’s more of a liquid lipstick than a gloss, really, except that it’s glossy and doesn’t last very long. Loved the colour. I can’t think of a single occasion where this one would be out of place, at least with my colouring. I find myself quite … hooked. *ba-dam tss*

Cargo Cosmetics Eye Shadow in Green Bay

A lovely, lovely metallic eye shadow. The camera picked up more gold tones, but it’s more of a warmer light green with gold undertones, if that makes sense. For some reason I haven’t really worn it since swatching and trying it out once, so I can’t properly comment on longevity. The pigmentation is good, and the application felt smooth enough. I also love the packaging.

So Susan Lip Dome Plumping Lip Tint in black currant

Mmm, lip crayons. I’m obsessed with these and want to own them in abominable quantities. This is a wine-coloured balm-like crayon. It feels good on the lips, and the stay power is pretty decent. Not drying. A touch on the sheer side, but gives enough colour as it is and can be layered a bit. Retractable. Cruelty-free.

So Susan jelly pong pong Supermodel Stain lip & cheek pomade

Let me just say how cute the thing is. I love these tiny palettes. The brush is safe to discard as it’s low-quality. The colours are sheer and are more of a tint. I haven’t tried them on the cheeks, because cream products and my face don’t get along. I’m in love with every single colour, but my product has dried a little bit. It still works, though, and it’s a great everyday palette. Small enough to carry around with you. It’s not drying, but it’s not moisturising either, so it’s best to use a tiny bit of a sheer balm under. Cruelty-fee.

Eye shadow, lip dome, and lip gloss swatched. See how the lip gloss (above) is less sheer than the lip crayon? Amazeballz. The shadow is a touch layered in the intersection, which immediately improves the colour payoff, but since it’s so light and bright, I see no problem with one layer either. Looks great with my brown eyes.

This has been one of the best Lip Monthly boxes for me. Every colour worked, and every product was quality. I wish this trend stuck, but alackaday and fuck my luck.

I’ll be writing about the March one next.

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