Maybelline Color Sensational The Mattes Lipstick [970 - Daring Ruby] Review
By Maychiri's Thoughts - April 19, 2023
Hello!
The more intense of the two lipsticks for today, this is the
Maybelline Color Sensational The Mattes Lipstick, shade 970/Daring Ruby.
I was at DM one day because I saw a Maybelline lipstick at
Müller that had a Russian name, err, I mean, it was written in Cyrillic! And
that lipstick was clinging to the back of my mind, sticky like honey. While I
was looking for it, I found this lipstick in the clearance bin, at a hefty
discount! I couldn’t pass on the opportunity, like, it’s Maybelline we’re
talking about! For less than 3€! Never mind the fact that was like 4 years old at
the time I bought it, I didn’t yet know there was a website where I could check
that, then. If I knew that I probably wouldn’t buy it. But anyways, such a
gorgeous, classic red that is supposed to be matte? Sign me up! So obviously I
was hyped to try this lipstick out, but was that hype warranted? Let’s see!
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Packaging: very minimalistic, just a frosted plastic cap
inside which is a silver lipstick tube. It’s not really a very pretty design,
but it is modern in its simplicity. It looks way cheaper than you’d think when
you think of Maybelline lipsticks. However, the retracting mechanism is just
fine, not at all loose or wobbly. So, it’s not that this is a low quality
design, it just looks cheap.
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Ingredients: sesame (Sesamum indicum) seed oil, vitamin E,
honey (Mel) for nourishment. No parabens. Look at that! Honey! And it’s not at
the very end of the list, so there is at least a fair bit of it in this
lipstick. Surely it will help, honey always does! The scent is not too intense,
and it smells pretty much like most Maybelline lip products, that is, like
vanilla. It’s quite a sweet scent, with a hint of honey in it, as well. If you've
used Maybelline lipsticks before you'll know this scent very well. The
expiration date is 24 months after opening.
Colour: like the name implies, a vibrant ruby red. This is a
true red with a tiny bit more orange than blue undertones. It looks almost like
fresh blood, too. Just a very classy, timeless red. Indeed, it is quite retro!
It’s a beautiful colour that should fit any skintone. Of course, if you are as
pale as me it will look extremely intense and sexy. Gorgeous colour!
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The pigmentation is absolutely insane! It’s extremely
pigmented with even the slightest touch, so one layer gives you the perfect red
lip. As much as that is a good thing, it is also a bad thing in a way. You see,
when it’s this extremely pigmented, and it’s also creamy, that makes it very
difficult to work with, especially if you make a mistake. I will touch on that
more in a bit! It’s a big issue! So yeah, it’s not at all buildable, one swipe
and you get maximum pigmentation.
The formula is super soft and quite creamy but it’s also
very difficult to work with. You’d think that such a creamy formula would be to
die for, but it’s actually really annoying. Sure, it glides across lips without
any tugging at all, and it doesn’t even collect in the small creases of the
lips. But since it’s so creamy it’s really bloody hard to make sharply defined
lips. You’ll definitely need a lip liner under to give you definition. On its
own this lipstick is smudgy by nature, and it never really dries completely, so
it transfers bloody everywhere! Which makes fixing it and trying to refine the
edges torture. The slightest touch and you’ll have ruined the shape, and then,
because it’s so creamy, you can’t draw a clear cupid’s bow, just a smudgy,
grungy cupid’s bow, which isn’t my cup of tea. I literally spent ages trying to
get sharply defined lips, yet every time I tried to wipe off a miniature amount
of lipstick a ton of it just smudged and transferred all over the place. So you
better get it right the first time or you’ll make your life living hell trying
to fix it. I would highly recommend using a lipstick brush with this lipstick,
the formula is just way too messy to be applied straight from the bullet. The
texture of the lipstick is waxy matte, and by that I mean that there is some
shine, but it still looks soft matte. It’s not truly matte, though.
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This lipstick is super comfortable to wear, given the super
creamy, but not too heavy or waxy formula. You can definitely feel it on the
lips; it is heavy enough to be felt on the lips but not that heavy that it
feels like a heavy cast. And it stays very comfortable for hours, only becoming
slightly drier, but still pretty creamy. It doesn’t seem to dry out my lips; in
fact, they seem to be more nourished now that I have removed the lipstick after
almost 8 hours. It’s got a ton of emollients and nourishing ingredients so I
shouldn’t act all surprised.
It’s surprisingly long-lasting, to be honest. I though it
would start smudging and fading very soon but it remained in pretty good
condition even 7 hours later. The lipstick stays comfortable and soft even this
long after applying it, and it doesn’t pile up on my lower lip. It’s fairly
resistant to food, although greasy food does damage it, eventually. Although it
still looks very good, there is some fading and it’s definitely smudged and feathered a bit on the edges. Not that it had sharp definition to start with,
but it’s more feathered on the edges now, definitely. At least the durability
is good!
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Removal: thankfully, it is easy to remove. Whether you use
micellar water or a specialised remover you will have no trouble removing this
lipstick. And it doesn’t leave any stains. It’s not uncommon for red lipsticks
to leave a stain, so that fact that this one doesn’t is great!
All in all, I really don’t know what to think. Something
about this lipstick just bugs me to no end. I want to love it, because it’s a
really beautiful red colour, totally classic, that goes with everything. And
alright, it is quite long-lasting, staying just as red for hours, albeit with
some feathering and smudging. Smudging! That’s, like, the middle name of this
lipstick! And it’s all because of the wonderfully (sarcasm, a little bit)
creamy formula! The formula is so smooth and creamy that it becomes impractical
to use, making it impossible to sharply line lips. It all ends up being smudgy,
especially the cupid’s bow. So just fix it!, you might say. Well, easier said
than done; the more you try to fix it the smudgier it ends up being. A lip
liner under it is a must! And that annoyingly difficult application makes it
hard to really enjoy this lipstick for what it is: a wonderfully soft, creamy,
comfortable, and even nourishing classic red lippy. Like, if I have to spend
literally half an hour just trying to get it to look decent (not a skill issue;
I don’t have this problem with other lipsticks!), then I stop caring about whether
it is long-lasting or food-resistant or whatever. Such a shame! I just don’t
like it, it annoys me far too much. So I won’t recommend it. There are other,
just as beautiful red lipsticks that aren’t such a chore to apply.
Rating: 6.5/10
Would buy again? NO
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