There’s a lot of hype surrounding the Colourpop Ultra Satin Lips that I have been dying to get my hands on them for some time. That time came a couple of weeks ago and as I’m currently living in Sydney, I can get my hands on them a lot easier (and cheaper) than when I was in the UK! Like with all lipstick purchases, deciding on which shade to go for when you don’t have the luxury of swatching them prior can make an indecisive girl go a little doolally. After probably a few hours of browsing over the space of a week, not to mention adding and removing shades from my shopping basket numerous times, I finally settled on three shades; Magic Wand, Echo Park and Frick & Frack. If you’re familiar with these shades at all then you know very well I played it safe and opted for the more neutral tones.
It was the appearance of a matte lip in a liquid formula (just like it’s liquid lipstick counterpart, the Ultra Matte Lip) but without the dryness of that often comes with it, that caught my attention. I like the idea of a liquid lipstick, (you can tell from the number I have bought and reviewed on here over the past year or two) but I’m not always in love (some are alright/fairly good, some are bad, but very few, if any, are perfect) with the execution. Rarely. The compromise with the Ultra Satin Lip is that it’s not quite as long wearing as a liquid lipstick, as its not transfer proof nor does it claim to be, but still lasts relatively well when compared to your standard matte lipstick. To be honest, I’d rather have a more comfortable formula that allows for easy touch ups when needed than a formula that felt tight and dry on the lips and where you have to completely remove it to reapply for a nice, even coat.
The packaging is very similar, if not the same, to the Ultra Matte Lip. Housed in a clear tube with a silver top, it does the job. The doe foot wand is your bog standard, nothing to shout about. The formula is rather watery and if I remember correctly, it’s similar to the Ultra Matte Lip (I used to own the shade ‘Solow” but found the formula one of the most drying and, not to mention, the most unflattering when it started to flake and fade away). It’s easy to go quite heavy handed though and one application should be enough for both top and bottom lips, even with the lighter shades which are renowned for being streaky.
You don’t need to apply a lip liner prior for you to achieve a precise application, although it does help. I find the easiest way to achieve an even coverage and a perfect outline is to line the lips with a lip pencil, then apply the Ultra Satin Lip around the outline, starting with the top lip, and filling the lips inwards toward the centre before pursing the lips together to transfer the colour onto your bottom lip. Then finally, filling in any remaining gaps with excess product on the wand. The formula dries down fairly quick but it doesn’t dry down to a dry or powdery matte. It drys down to a very slight, tacky finish with an equally slight hint of a sheen initially but wears down to a matte the longer you wear it (but is still very much transferable). I don’t know whether it’s down to the intensity of the pigment that keeps the colour around relatively long considering that as soon as you take a sip of drink or a bite to eat, it leaves behind an imprint of your lips.
Down to the shade selection. Magic Wand is described as a ‘light nude’, and initially, I thought it might be too light but I took the plunge and ordered it anyway. It’s a warm nude with a hint of peach which makes it rather flattering on my warm, yellow-based skin tone. There’s definitely enough peach to it that it doesn’t make me look washed out or like my lips have totally disappeared into my face.
Echo Park is described as a warm, peachy nude and I actually think it looks brighter on camera than it does in real life. I’d say it’s more of a pinky peach rather than a traditional nude and this is the sort of shade that would work really well on many different skin tones. Also the perfect shade for spring and summer.
Frick and Frack was a gamble as I didn’t know just how dark it would be. I’d seen dark swatches but I’d also seen lighter swatches and it was the lighter swatches the made me do a double take. Described as a ‘rosy terracotta’, it’s a shade with a lot of brown to it but without being too intimidating to wear. I actually found that I liked this colour much more than I thought I would. It has a very 90’s vibe to it (spoiler alert…watch out for my next tutorial) and would be the perfect autumnal shade.
Overall, I absolutely love the formula of the Ultra Satin Lips as it’s very pigmented, easy to apply, sits comfortably and lasts an absolute age on the lips. It doesn’t fade awkwardly nor crust up around the inner parts of the lips and reapplying it is as easy as it’s initial application. Available in more than 20 shades, I am very pleased with the neutral colours I picked up. The Colourpop Ultra Satin Lips are available on the Colourpop website for $6USD.