Maychiri's Thoughts: May 2023

Wet n Wild Star Lux Lip Gloss [1111958 - You Matter] Review

May 26, 2023

And now, the last of the Star Lux lip glosses: this is the Wet n Wild Star Lux Lip Gloss, shade 1111958/You Matter (I agree, you do matter!).

This shade was bought months after the other three; I found it in the clearance bin in BIPA, so I, naturally, thought it would be 50% off. I was wrong. It was full price still. Which upset me a little when I noticed it, but hey, at least now I have all the Star Lux shades. I mostly bought it because it looked nice, red and pigmented, and at 50%, or even 30% off, it’s a good deal. So, yeah, another impulsive purchase! Oops! Anyways, how does it compare to the other Star Lux lip glosses? And is it good on its own? Let’s see!

Packaging: just a clear plastic tube. Although, look at the cap! It’s peachy brownish, with white astronomy themed symbols. Look at the cute stars! Look at the adorable crescent Moon! Oh, there’s even Ursa Major/the Big Dipper! Perfect for such a space themed collection! And it is so cute at the same time! The cap closes very tightly and does not rattle. I love the white text on the ruby red colour of the gloss, it really stands out! And looks chic and modern! I like the design, it’s quite cute yet still simple.

Ingredients: passion fruit/maracuja (Passiflora edulis) seed oil, argan (Argania spinosa) kernel oil, vitamin E, mongongo tree (Schinziophyton rautanenii) kernel oil, macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia) seed oil, jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) seed oil, coconut (Cocos nucifera) oil for nourishment. Also, soy (Glycine soja) oil. No parabens. You want oils? It’s got oils, baby! Like, literally, it’s got the whole fricking alphabet of oils! Ha, I love it! It must be nourishing with such a composition, no? The scent is pleasant, albeit somewhat bitter and weirdly tart in the background. It smells like vanilla cake dough, which is honestly really yummy! The expiration date is 18 months after opening.

Hmm, this lip gloss has an interesting colour. Even though it looks ruby red in the tube, it is much more rusty on lips. It’s got a lot of rusty orange-red pigments; the ruby red is actually the colour of the shimmer. It mostly stays rusty unless you apply like 5 or 6 layers, then it becomes slightly more reddish. It’s still not the colour I was expecting. It’s also not the most flattering colour for me, I feel. It’s not bad or ugly or anything, I was just expecting it to be more ruby red than rusty. As for the shimmer, there is a huge amount of it in the tube, but it really isn’t too visible on lips. You can only notice it if you shine a bright light at the gloss, in normal lighting condition you really won’t see it. And even under harsh light, it’s not all that sparkly, it does sparkle, but because of its colour, it’s more subdued compared to, say, Comet Me Bro.

The shimmer is a mix of pink and some golden and purple colours, with the pink shimmer dominating. And that’s exactly why it isn’t as sparkly as the others; the shimmer is too similar in colour to the base. The shimmer is also super fine, more like dust than actual particles. I like that; such small shimmer usually looks more natural and just better in general. I wish the shimmer was more visible, it would help mask other problems this lip gloss has, I will come back to that in a minute.

Now, the formula is pretty much the same as with the other Star Lux lip glosses: it’s super creamy and rich and thick, but still very comfortable. It really feels like a luxurious lip balm more than your typical lip gloss! It is very greasy and oily (at least at first), which adds to the feeling of being nourishing. Given all the oils in this lip gloss, it is really no surprise it would be this rich, and I really love it! It’s so good! And, again due to all the oils, this lip gloss is not one bit tacky while it’s fresh (that does change a little bit after awhile, but I will get to that, I promise).

This lip gloss is super comfortable to wear, even for hours on end. But the formula changes after about an hour. It becomes more dry and heavy, and slightly tacky, so it is more waxy than creamy like it used to be. This new formula is still just as nourishing, or at least feels that way, but it isn’t quite as comfortable as the freshly applied formula is. I don’t particularly mind this change, but it is worth mentioning. In fact, I like how rich it feels after an hour, idk, it just feels good.

I cannot feel the shimmer most of the time; only very rarely I feel a very slightly gravelly feeling. But it is much smoother compared to the other shades. The texture is highly glossy, like polished glass! It’s also slightly wet looking, not gelly like the other shades. The gloss has more clarity than the other shades. Since the shimmer blends into the base due to being too similar in colour, this lip gloss doesn’t look sparkly and magical like the others. It’s mostly just glossy. And that’s a shame with a collection themed around stars.

I had a good bit of trouble applying this lip gloss. See, unlike Comet Me Bro, which, too, is pigmented, this shade ends up looking so uneven and reapply just patchy. I know that pigmented lip glosses can be a bit of a pain to apply sometimes, but, as we’ve seen with this collection already, it is possible to make a pigmented lip gloss that applies perfectly evenly in seconds. I don’t know why this one is such a hassle to use; like, the more I try to blend it, the more patchy it starts looking, which means that I then have to apply another layer... it’s a never-ending cycle. And it’s also pretty difficult to precisely line the lips without having an obvious line. The formula is so patchy that I literally need about 7 layers before it starts looking fine. Not great, just fine.

So you really have to take your time with this lip gloss and be precise and pedantic with it. Expect it to take a lot longer to apply than other lip glosses. Definitely not a lip gloss I’d use while I am in a hurry. It’s just annoying. Fortunately, the formula is so creamy that it glides across lips without any tugging, so at least that makes it manageable.

Longevity is, like with most lip glosses, rather poor. However, this being a pigmented lip gloss, it ends up looking even more patchy and uneven after an hour or two. It fades unevenly, even if you don’t move your lips at all. Let alone if you talk, or lick your lips, or do anything with them. Of course, the more you rub your lips together, the worse it gets, becoming more and more sheer. The only solution is to, of course, apply a couple more layers. Remember how annoying the application was! Also not surprising is that food destroys this gloss. No matter what kind of food or drinks, as long as you are eating or drinking, this lip gloss will fade almost completely. After only two hours this gloss already looks sheer and uneven; it still manages to look alright, but it’s definitely not ideal. So if you want to keep the rusty colour, you’ll have to keep reapplying it again and again throughout the day. Even for a lip gloss, this is a bit annoying. At least it doesn’t dry out my lips.

This lip gloss is very easy to remove. Although, just like with the other Star Lux lip glosses, the shimmer will go everywhere. In this particular shade, the shimmer doesn’t cause as much of a mess. Still, be careful how you remove it. It doesn’t leave any stains.

The applicator is flat and quite thin. This allows it to be incredibly precise, making it at least a little bit easier to apply the lip gloss. It was easy to line the lips precisely, even with this wonky, uneven formula. I couldn’t prevent it from looking at least slightly uneven, but at least I had defined lips. Even my cupid’s bow is defined nicely. All thanks to this applicator, which is really good. What makes it even better is how soft it is! It’s like a plushie! I love that! It also picks up more pigment than you think; I got enough to cover both of my lips. Again, it was uneven, so I needed like 6 more layers, but, point is, I had enough gloss to cover both my upper and lower lip, which is good. This applicator helps mask some of the flaws that this gloss has, but it can only do so much!

All in all, definitely the worst of the bunch, sadly. It looked like it would be the most striking one, just looking at the tube. But looks can be deceiving, as this gloss looks nothing like the tube implies. It’s not at all ruby red, and the shimmer is barely noticeable. In fact, it is much more rust coloured with some pink/red tones with some magenta shimmer that practically matches the colour of the base. So it ends up looking glossy rather than sparkly and glossy. Bummer. I was really hoping it would sparkle like the others. The formula is again wonderful, super creamy and thick and it really feels nourishing. It feels more like a luxurious lip balm than your usual lip gloss! Thanks to that creamy, wonderful formula it is also non-sticky, adding to the luxurious feel! While it does feel really comfortable, it does change and becomes more waxy and a bit drier after an hour. It’s still comfortable, don’t get me wrong, but I prefer the original, creamy, oily formula. Although, like most lip glosses, it has poor longevity, only lasting like 2 hours, maybe, before it starts disappearing. And yep, you guessed it, food utterly destroys it. At least there isn’t as much exploded shimmer all over my face with this shade. So that is one good thing. I don’t know, I just feel really let down by this lip gloss, especially when I compare it to the other Star Lux lip glosses. It looks much worse than the others, and that can’t be because of the intense pigmentation because Comet Me Bro is also very pigmented and has none of the issues this shade has. I guess I will wear it over lipsticks, because it is far too uneven to be worn on its own. Sigh. Such a shame. It could have been so marvellous. This is the only one I am not going to recommend, it saddens me to say.

Rating: 5/10

Would buy again? NO (really disappointed me...)