Reviews and Other Stuff

Giorgio Armani Rouge D’Armani Matte Lipstick

Huda Beauty Power Bullet Matte Lipstick Review + Swatches

Huda Beauty Power Bullet Matte Lipstick swatch

 

Hello All. Needing a new matte lipstick this Fall? Here’s a lipstick I couldn’t wait to review. The Huda Beauty Power Bullet Matte Lipstick (25 USD) is a deeply pigmented matte lipstick with a magnetic square packaging and a diamond-shaped tip. It has a slight coconut scent and it comes in different shade collections: The Icon collection, The Rose Collection, and the Throwback Collection. Most of the shades are mostly named after a woman’s or anybody’s important period/stages in life, which are very interesting and totally relatable.

 

Huda Beauty Power Bullet Matte Lipstick

 

At first glance, this lipstick slightly reminded me of the Giorgio Armani Rouge D’Armani Matte (reviewed and swatched HERE) especially texture-wise, but I will tell you later whether this really is on par with the amazing Rouge D’armani Matte. What I can tell you is that this particular lipstick glides on the lips easily and it feels light. Once applied, it almost has no shine and it’s completely matte. It is probably one of the most insanely pigmented matte lipsticks I’ve ever tried, and the range of colors available “seem” to be quite diverse. Let’s take a look.

 

Here are 6 shades taken from all three collections.

 

Huda Beauty Power Bullet Matte Lipstick

 

First Kiss – deep rose mauve, very similar to Wedding Day, but has a more rosy tone.

 

Graduation Day – very deep brown-mauve, appears dark brown in most lighting. On my skin tone, this looks too ashy and ghastly.

 

Interview – medium rose nude, looks like this could work in almost all skin tone. On my skin, this looks like an everyday nude.

 

Huda Beauty Power Bullet Matte Lipstick in first kiss, interview, graduation day

 

Pay Day – very deep mauve, think purple+magenta mix.

 

Rendezvous – muted pink rose with a coral tone. On my skin, this looks too coral/neon-ish.

 

Wedding Day – also a deep rose mauve, very similar to First Kiss, but has a more mauve tone.

 

Huda Beauty Power Bullet Matte Lipstick swatches

This lipstick is giving me mixed feelings. I had high hopes about it at first, but then there are a few things about this that I didn’t quite like. First of all, the colors are quite difficult to photograph because some of them look very similar to each other, and they do change tones depending on your natural lip color. What I noticed is that this also changes shade once it warms up on the skin. Second thing, if you twist the lipstick all the way up, you’ll notice that there’s not really much product in its matte tube. It looks like you’re only getting half a lipstick when compared to most full-sized ones. It’s just housed in a large square packaging. Third, the swatches online are quite different when compared to the shades in real life. In reality, the colors appear darker, extremely pigmented, and most of them are on the deep brown and purple spectrum. I had a hard time finding the right shades for my light-medium skin tone, and if you have a fair to light complexion, there may not be enough shades that could match you. But, if you’re medium to deep, then you will most probably love this lipstick line. I also would like to think that this lipstick and its shades are probably meant for Fall, so that might be it.

In comparison to the Rouge D’Armani Matte, I find this lipstick to be quite drying as opposed to the lightweight moisturizing feel of the D’Armani Matte. If you ask me what are some of my favorite matte lipsticks out there, I can tell you that apart from the Armani ones, you can look into the Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet (seen HERE) or the Velvet Extreme (reviewed HERE). I also love the Shiseido Modern Matte Powder Lipstickย for its very lightweight feel and outstanding pigment (HERE).

So, overall, though this lipstick doesn’t feel heavy, this does feel quite drying on the lips. However, I don’t have a problem with its lasting power or its quality at all. It lasts about 4-6 hours plus on me, and though it transfers, the color still stays on the lips. My beef with this is the color scheme, which is kind of a bummer because I had really high hopes of this lipstick. I do hope that there will be lighter/brighter color options in the future for this particular lip product, and also, I hope that this will even be comfier on the lips.

 

Huda Beauty Power Bullet Matte Lipstick review and swatches

 

The Huda Beauty Power Bullet Matte Lipstick is currently available at Sephora andย Selfridges

 

Have you already tried this lipstick? What’s your take on it?

 

SHOP THIS POST

 

 

*notepad is from Brittany Fuson Paper

 

 

YSL Rouge Pur Couture The Slim Matte Lipstick Review & Swatches

Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Pur Couture The Slim Matte Lipstick

 

Kung Hei Fat Choy everyone! How’s your Astrology this year? ๐Ÿ™‚ Mine? It’s forecasted that there will be more lipstick hoarding this year, LOL. Speaking of lipsticks, here goes another Yves Saint Laurent lip product to love, the YSL Rouge Pure Couture The Slim Matte Lipstick ($39). When I first saw this product both online and in-store, I was like “Nooooo, please stay away from me, in heaven’s name….” Haha! Oh well, fast forward, a couple of weeks later, I’ve been fangirling this lipstick a lot and I think, this should definitely be included in the list of lipsticks that sparked joy for me this Winter (see the list HERE).ย 

 

ysl the slim matte lipstick review

 

You guys know that I’m a big fan of YSL lipsticks and I review them a lot here in the blog,ย Whenever I see a new YSL lipstick, I get weak in the knees, LOL. They’re pretty much my Achilles heel, and with the new Slim Matte, I feel like I found another matte lipstick to obsess about. Lord help my soul… ๐Ÿ™‚

 

YSL Rouge Pur Couture The Slim Matte Lipstick

 

The new YSL The Slim Matte lipstick as the name says is a slim square/diamond-shaped lipstick with a true-matte texture. It is extremely pigmented on the lips with just one swipe and it has a nice soft cushiony feel. It pretty much feels like nothing on the lips, totally weightless and super comfortable. I never noticed my lips feeling dry whenever I wear it. I find that the color stays on my lips for almost the whole day and it still remains on my lips after eating and drinking. I only noticed a very minimal to almost zero transfer and this lipstick doesn’t bleed or feather. I find the slim design to be really easy to toss inside one of my mini bags and it looks luxe, minimalist, and sleek. However, that same design may be tricky to apply on the lips at first because of its many angles, but once you get the hang of it (tip: use one of the angles to line your lips) then you’d find that this lipstick does and has it all.

 

ysl the slim matte lipstick

 

I love all the shades available in this lipstick, but I decided on a few nudes since they’re super saturated. I think I spotted a nice wine-red color (my fave) but I skipped on that one because I have too many of those shades already. I did see a lot of bold colors in the lineup, like deep reds, saturated plums and different variations of pinks and corals.

 

Yves Saint Laurent YSL Rouge Pur Couture The Slim Matte Lipstick in 11 ambiguous beige, 12 nu incongru, 17 nude antonym

11 Ambiguous Beige – nude coral rose

12 Nu Incongru – nude antique rose

17 Nude Antonym – nude rose mauve, my most favorite among the three. Will be wearing this a lot from now on. I think it’s a perfect universal nude for everybody.

 

YSL Rouge Pur Couture The Slim Matte Lipstick in 11 ambiguous beige, 12 nu incongru, 17 nude antonym

 

The YSL Slim Matte Lipstick still has the same mango-ish scent/flavor that you’d come to know with most YSL lip products. When comparing it to some other similar matte lipsticks that have been released recently, two products came to mind. One is the Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet Extreme Lipstick (reviewed HERE) and the other one is the Rouge d’Armani Matte Lipstick (swatched HERE). The Chanel Velvet Extreme feels a bit drier than the YSL Slim Matte, while the Rouge d’Armani Matte may be just a tad drier as well since the YSL Slim Matte has a bit more cushion it, but it’s almost hard to tell the difference between the two. I feel like they’re so neck and neck with each other, although the YSL Slim Matte (I think) has better color range in the lineup since you’ll find more wearable nudes and reds, but the Rouge d’Armani Matte is only limited to 102 Androgino as its universally flattering nude shade, and some of its shades look totally different when applied on the lips, read the review HERE.

 

Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Pur Couture The Slim Matte Lipstick

 

Now, you’re probably wondering, how is this lipstick different at least formula-wise with the original YSL Rouge Pur Couture The Mats Lipstick? (reviewed HERE). The YSL “The Mats” have a bit of shine to it compared to this YSL The Slim lipstick which is totally just plain matte.

 

Overall, I find this lipstick to be one of the best matte lipsticks I’ve ever tried. It’s right on point with its wear time, it looks beautiful, luxurious, easy to store/carry, and the shades are absolutely beautiful.

 

Have you tried this already?

 

The YSL Rouge Pur Couture The Slim Matte Lipstick is currently available at Sephora, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Barneys New York, Bloomingdale’s, Harrods, Lord & Taylor, Neiman Marcus, and yslbeautyus.com

 

Stila Matte’ificent Lipstick Review And Swatches

stila matte'ificent lipstick

 

A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to my cousin and couldn’t help but compliment her alluring lip color. Just like me, she’s a makeup junkie and she mentioned that the Stila Matte’ificent Lipstick is her favorite matte lipstick of the moment and possibly one of her faves ever. She told me that she’s so in love with this particular lipstick that she keeps repurchasing them to keep in her stash. Her favorite shades from this lipstick are the darker tones like Framboise and Bordeaux. Meanwhile, I, her perpetual partner in making silly jokes, listened to her attentively and paid attention to her suggestion of me trying this lipstick. I’ve seen and heard about this Stila lipstick before and I’m a big fan of their products, especially their cult-favorite liquid eyeliners and of course their Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick which I reviewed HERE on the blog. However, for some reason, this Stila Matte’ificent lipstick had slipped through the cracks of my radar and I had simply forgotten to test it.

 

stila matte'ificent lipstick review

 

Thanks to my cousin, my love for Stila lipsticks have been renewed and boy, I’m so impressed with this lipstick so far. The Stila Matte’ificent is a comfortable lightweight matte lipstick with strong pigments that can last up to 5 or 6 hours on me sans reapplication. Contrary to some reviews, it isn’t drying on me and it has no annoying scent, just a regular buttery hint that you’d find typical in most lipsticks. It is slimmer than most lipsticks which is great since it allows for a precise application and speaking of how it applies, it does glide easily on the lips and it doesn’t emphasize the lips’ fine lines that much.

 

Here are my top four favorite shades

 

stila matte'ificent lipstick swatch

 

Bonbon – terracotta nude, this looks really great on my light-medium skin tone.

Brulee – caramel nude but looks greige on me

Framboise – dark raspberry, almost dark wine red

Mon Ami – rose nude, looks bright nude pink on me

stila matteificent lipstick swatches in mon ami, brulee, bonbon and framboise

Just like my cousin’s rec, I too am now in love with this lipstick. I find the shades to be very flattering and they wear very well on me. Unfortunately, for some reason, it looks like Stila might discontinue this lipstick soon (God, I hope not) since it’s getting harder and harder to find this lipstick everywhere. So far, it’s no longer available at Ulta or Sephora, but Stilacosmetics.com still carries some shades of this particular lipstick line and it’s on sale for $8.00. Nordys has some of the shades too.

Not really sure what the fuss is all about, heard an issue about this lipstick’s packaging, but so far, I haven’t had any, so I hope Stila would reissue this lipstick soon with more shades because, for me, this is a very good reliable matte lipstick and one that I highly recommend.

 

stila matte lipstick review

 

The Stila Matte’ificent Lipstick is currently available at Stilacosmetics.com, Nordstrom, Nordstrom Rack, Amazon, and Dermstore.