Read ALL about my review process including how I take swatches, photos, and more here.
Welcome to the second TSABD Edit! If you missed the first one, check it out here. TSABD Edit is the new way I’ll be doing product reviews—you can follow all TSAD Edit posts here and SUBSCRIBE to the blog here so you don’t miss ANY updates.
So of course lip paints like the ones I’m swatching and reviewing in this post are not a new concept. Lip paints have been around forever—one of the most popular brands to do the concept in recent years is Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics. You can see swatches and reviews from OCC here.
What exactly is a lip paint and why might you want to try one? A lip paint is essentially a super concentrated lip color typically in a highly opaque gloss form that can be mixed with other lip paints to create custom lip colors. Yes, you can mix other lip color forms (i.e. lipsticks, glosses, lip creams) together to create your own lip colors, but these might be appealing since they’re in a super opaque gloss formula. After you apply them, lip paints typically keep a very creamy finish that crosses between a very creamy lipstick and a very opaque gloss.
L’Oreal Infallible Paints
Official description and info:
High Impact Color. Saturated Pigments. Designer Applicator.
Lacquer up lips in high impact liquid color and make a bold statement with NEW Infallible Paints Lipcolor. In one stroke, the designer applicator precisely diffuses vibrant full coverage color to lips for intense color payoff. The Lip Paints offer comfortable wear and available in 14 high impact colors, from nude to bold.
To use:
Outline the lips using the pointed lip.
Fill in lips with full bold color.
Pro-tip: “My favorite look to create with the Infallible Paints Lipcolor is to take two shades and apply one to the top lip and one to the bottom lip. Take two similar shades–like a light pink and a magenta–then “smack” your lips together for the coolest PB&J-effect lips.” Sir John, L’Oreal Paris Celebrity Makeup Artist.
These felt like a professional product—very nice pigmentation, the applicator worked very well, and the lip colors are long-lasting. Understand these are NOT liquid lipsticks. Again, understand these are NOT liquid lipsticks. They are not designed to dry down matte—they will have a very creamy and somewhat glossy texture.
I was given six shades by the brand for review consideration (there are 14 shades in total) and was very impressed with the performance. These aren’t all colors I’d personally wear on their own—a majority of the ones sent to me aren’t my personal style (perhaps there are colors out of what I didn’t get that I’d like—I haven’t seen them so I don’t know). But one thing to note is that these are going to be shades in their “purest” form that can be manipulated to create any shade and any nuance in shades by mixing them together.
Color preference aside, there’s no denying that these are great performing products. The only thing that might make this different from the Make Up For Ever Artist Acrylip (aside from ingredients and color selection) is that L’Oreal Infallible Paints have a doe-foot applicator which can make it a little messy if you wanted to mix the shades either on the back of your hand or on a palette (meaning you can “taint” the colors once that applicator goes back in the tube and even if you mix the shades with another tool, it’s still not as easy to get the product out of the tube as it would with the MUFE below). With these I think the easiest way to mix the colors is the way Sir John explained in the quote above which gives a very cool ombre effect. But yes, you can still wind up tainting the colors because of the applicators.
I think this is an awesome product that performs well, but you’ll only *NEED* it if you need it. Basically if you already have a very big lip color stash, you probably don’t need to add these to it. Still a great product though.
L’Oreal Infallible Paints are about $9.99 at drugstores nationwide—go to lorealparisusa.com for more info.
Make Up For Ever Artist Acrylip
Official description:
What it is:
An innovative and versatile, liquid lip formula that’s packed with color, yet light on lips.
What it does:
Artist Acrylip allows you to customize your lip with buildable color intensity and shine. Inspired by the versatility and high pigment of acrylic paint, these colors glide on with the ease of a gloss and lasting wear of a lipstick. The buildable color intensity is versatile and customizable—from a natural-looking, soft wash of color, to an intense layered look. The non-sticky, non-drying formula feels completely weightless on lips for ultimate comfort throughout the day. It has an innovative, cushion applicator that allows for easy application and ultimate control, allowing you to customize exactly how much or how little product you want to apply. Available in 10 bright, must-have shades, pair Artist Acrylip with a lip liner for unstoppable wear, and try Aqua Lip or Lip Line Perfector for a perfect match.
Like L’Oreal Infallible Paints, Make Up For Ever Artist Acrylip is a very pigmented, highly opaque lip pigment that can be easily mixed with other colors to create unique shades. L’Oreal Infallible Paints are very pigmented and bold, but Make Up For Ever Artist Acrylip are even more so if you can even imagine. They stain the lips very easily so if you put a shade on and then change your mind, you better break out some cleansing oil or an oil-based makeup remover to get the stain out.
I prefer the applicator of Make Up For Ever Artist Acrylip because it allows you to squeeze the product easily out of the container which makes it a cinch for mixing the colors as opposed to L’Oreal Infallible Paints doe-foot applicator. Things can still get a little messy with Make Up For Ever Artist Acrylip if you don’t clean the excess product off the tip before putting the cap back on.
Make Up For Ever Artist Acrylip performs extremely well and like I mentioned with L’Oreal Infallible Paints, I want to stress that these are NOT liquid lipsticks. They won’t dry down matte—they have a very creamy and opaque consistency and finish. You could of course manipulate the finish by mixing in a medium that might make it more matte, but on their own they won’t dry down matte.
Make Up For Ever Artist Acrylip is also a great performing product, but like I mentioned with L’Oreal Infallible Paints, you’ll only *NEED* it if you need it. Basically if you already have a very big lip color stash, you probably don’t need to add these to it. Still a great product though.
Make Up For Ever Artist Acrylip is $24 each at Sephora (plus 4% cash back when you use eBates), Make Up For Ever boutiques, and makeupforever.com.
Nice lip Colors..And seems to be very opaque…I think these are really Good for dark lips ladies too :*