Avon

Avon Mark 2-in-1 Lip Tattoo [Lasting Impression] Review

By Maychiri's Thoughts - December 22, 2023

The only other (non-tester) product for today: the Avon Mark 2-in-1 Lip Tattoo, in shade Lasting Impression!

So... this lip ‘tattoo’ piqued my interest precisely because of that name. The idea of having something that is as long-lasting as tattoos and easy to wash off (supposedly) was too tantalising! And it’s got two sides so that you can truly perfect the shape and fill it in easily! Just, I’m not too huge of a fan of brick lipsticks... and this seems to lean towards being pretty brick-like. Well, they didn’t have any other colours, so whatever – I’ll just order this one, I’m sure it will look good! I’m excited to try out this innovative product, let’s see how good it truly is!
 

Packaging: as many Avon product do, this lip duo arrived in non-descript black cardboard packaging. The only detail is the name, and even it is kinda boring because it’s just white text with a fairly standard font. Pretty boring and uninspiring. 
 
 
The lip stain itself is only slightly more interesting because it has a coloured band on one side that kinda matches the colour of the lip stain; like, it’s not really a perfect match, but it is close. Besides that it is, again, a boring black pen with white text. Although, the choice of font looks better here! Both caps close very tightly – essential when the formula is liquid! 
 

Ingredients: Aloe barbadensis leaf juice, glycerine, panthenol/provitamin B5, vitamin E for nourishment. No parabens. Would you look at that, aloe juice at the very start! This should help this lip stain be hydrating, no? Oh dear, the scent is horrible! It smells horribly tart and almost mouldy; maybe this is just how the felt material the tips are made of smells like, but it is seriously disgusting. It’s much more noticeable on the wider side. Fortunately, it doesn’t taste like this – if it did I fear I might have vomited! Ugh, why cannot it at least smell like nothing at all, instead of this vile smell?? The expiration date is 12 months after opening.
 

There’s two sides to this lip liner: a fine and a blunt one. Both are felt-tip applicators. Honestly, I think felt-tip is a good choice here! The tips are porous enough to let the liquid formula through them but they are definitely way too rigid and hard. They don’t seem to easily dry, though, which is good.
 

So, this lip duo is pretty easy to apply, but it differs on the two sides. The precise, line side is extremely precise thanks to the super fine tip. However, it doesn’t really deposit pigment too evenly, it will usually be slightly patchy, which can be very difficult to fix. But for the purpose of lining the lips and getting the perfect shape, it’s excellent, despite this flaw. It’s especially fantastic for the cupid's bow! The felt tip is a bit sharp and not the most comfortable to use. I wish it was more flexible, honestly. It’s just too rigid I think. 
 
The thicker, fill side is definitely less precise because the tip isn’t sharply pointed but has a blunt tip. Although, even so, you could use it to line the lips, it will just be harder, particularly on the cupid’s bow. This side also seems to struggle to apply pigment evenly at first, but it becomes much better after like a minute. Then it deposits pigment evenly and pretty richly. I still like to go over my lips multiple times because I am never sure that I got it right with this formula; it’s a bit tricky to use, but I will get to that on a minute. This tip is just as rigid and hard as the fine side, but it is not quite as uncomfortable because it isn’t so pointy. 
 
So, yeah, you do need to spend some time perfecting how this lip duo looks because it’s always somewhat patchy until you layer on like 3 layers, which I’ll chalk up to being a flaw of the liquid formula. Not the best or easiest experience.

What it should look like (picture from the Avon catalogue)

Colour: alright, so on me it doesn’t look at all like in the catalogue. It’s supposed to be a medium red with a fair amount of orange pigments so that it looks kinda like a brick-red. However, on me it looks much more like a rosewood or pale wine colour; a red that’s got more purple pigments than orange, so it looks moody and muted. That’s a far cry from the intense, vivacious red that was shown! But you know what? I don’t mind it, I think I actually prefer it like this. I like the cool tone and the wine-like colour is very fancy! It’s also perfect for winter! Although, the fact that it is so different to the one shown in the catalogue is not at all a good thing – you want the comfort of knowing that what you order (without being able to try it out beforehand, mind you!) is going to look at least very similar to what is shown, if not exactly the same.

What it looks like on my skin

The pigmentation is alright; it could be much better, honestly. You need a couple of layers to get it to looks fairly pigmented, but even then it is kind of pale and looks soft. Idk, I expected it to be, you know, vibrant like a fresh tattoo, not faded like a 20-year-old tattoo...
 

The formula is liquid! This is actually a lip stain, with all the benefits and drawbacks of a lip stain. The formula is feather-light, but it is problematic to apply evenly because it always seems slightly patchy. However, as you’ll see, it doesn’t stay this liquid for long. This doesn’t mean that you gotta work fast, feel free to take your time applying this, it won’t look any worse if you take your sweet time. It also layers very well, additional layers don’t make it look any more cakey.  
 
 
Quite an easy formula on its own, but due to other elements here it’s actually not the easiest to apply. The texture is extremely matte. It’s only got a tiny bit of a velvety sheen in certain angles, but otherwise it looks very dry and very, very matte. At first it looks almost like velvet, only a fair bit drier, but this finish doesn’t hold up a few hours later. See, the longer you wear this, the drier it’ll look! This, combined with the patchy application is not a good sign at all! Some 6 hours later it looks almost cakey dry; it is most egregious on the lower lip where it actually collects and ends up looking even drier. 
 
Look, I’m all for ultra-matte lippies but this is just way too matte. It looks unflatteringly dry. But I’ll give them credit, it certainly looks like a tattoo! Tattoos are ultra matte after they dry, so it only makes sense this would be like that, too. No matter how much I dislike it. 
 

Alright, so this is like bone-dry. Or at least, that’s what it feels like. It’s not at all comfortable to wear because it just feels like it is totally drying out my lips. At least it is weightless like they claim... I couldn’t imagine just how uncomfortable it would be if it was a thick, waxy formula! It definitely does fuse with the lips, as you’ll see in the next section! It really makes me laugh that they claim this is super hydrating – this couldn’t be further from the truth! In reality, it dries out my lips significantly, especially the lower lip! 
 
I feel a constant need to lick my lower lip where the lip stain collected, not good. Gosh... I’ll need a super moisturising lip balm after this. How in the hell can this be so dry when it’s literally got aloe juice as the second ingredient?? Baffling... the one good thing is that it’s not at all tacky at any point, it’s truly weightless and almost invisible – aside from the dryness, that is. Interestingly enough, at first it feels totally liquid! It’s like you have literally been drawing on your lips with permanent markers, that kind of soft liquid feeling that feels like it is pulling in moisture from the air. If only it stayed like this instead of becoming so dry!
 

Well, it’s certainly extremely long-lasting! It doesn’t budge! It’s completely transfer-proof, so it’s safe to drink or kiss with this lip stain. On its own it doesn’t feather or smudge at all and it stays just as pigmented as when it was first applied for hours. It’s also incredibly resistant to foods, but not totally! While eating even greasy/oily food doesn’t cause it to fade on the centre of the lips, it does end up being slightly smudged on the corners of the mouth. Honestly, it’s mostly great post-meal, not a whole lot of need to fix it. 
 
Also, it avoids adding more layers that could end up drying the lips further. The part where it fades a lot is on the inner centre of the lips, where the upper and lower lips meet. It’s gone from there – probably because it collected on my lower lip. Yup, it looks terribly dry and slightly cakey on my lower lip after only a couple of hours... oh well, I guess it’s not that horrible. This lip duo is a great choice for like the gym or formal occasions where you need excellent longevity. This is literally like a tattoo – completely fused with the lips!

 
Oh dear, here comes the part that I am dreading... let’s try to remove this lip stain. And yeah... it’s about as impossible to remove as I expected. They say that it is, supposedly, easy to remove with oil-based cleansers... yeah, not for me, it seems. Or maybe the problem lies in the fact that I am not using an Avon cleanser... in any case, it’s hella difficult to remove, no matter what you use. Don’t even try to just use micellar water, you’ll just be setting yourself up for a world of hurt. Even with an oil-based remover I have to keep scrubbing and scrubbing until my poor lips are all dry and chapped. Once I finally do manage to remove it, I notice one other horrid thing: it has left a stain! 
 
 
So yeah, you can either just give up and live with the stain or scrub your lips some more to try and remove it... in short, removing this lip duo is a Sisyphean task if there ever was one.
 
 
In conclusion, well, this is surely an innovative product! A dual-sided liquid lip stain that applies using felt-tip applicators and behaves like a literal tattoo? It sounds great... on paper. In reality, it’s honestly a bit of a let-down. The fact that it is called a ‘tattoo’ is a bit intimidating, to be honest. Tattoos are permanent by design, so if this is just as durable, it might be problematic to remove. Oh yeah, it is just as problematic to remove as I had feared. It’s literally like a tattoo, impossible to remove without a lot of collateral damage to the lips. But not only that, it also leaves a stain! Just great... but what did I expect from something that is literally called ‘Lip Tattoo’? This lip duo has a peculiar formula that starts out being liquid and feeling just like marker fluid, but it then changes into an ultra dry, lightweight formula that is barely noticeable on the lips. It’s never tacky (thank god), so it isn’t the most uncomfortable lip product to wear, although it is far from being comfortable. It’s bone dry, so I am constantly trying to lick my lips to restore moisture, but it is in vain, since it’ll go back to being so very dry a minute or two later. My lower lip especially suffers, as this lip duo dries out the centre of my lower lip so much that it sometimes starts to crack. It’s also not the easiest to apply because the applicators on both sides apply pigment unevenly for some reason. So I have to keep fiddling with it until it looks acceptably alright. And it does look pretty good in the end, it’s just that I would prefer having to spend less time getting there. Credit where it’s due, the applicators are very precise, especially the thin side. So it is easy enough to draw a rough outline if the lips, even if it is slightly uneven. Now if only the felt tips didn’t smell atrociously bad... seriously, they stink! The colour? I like it, although it’s definitely not my favourite colour. I do like a vampy red from time to time, but this one isn’t dark or intense enough. It’s a darker almost wine-like colour on my skin; not nearly as red as the picture in the catalogue suggested. It’s a nice wintery colour, and I do like how it looks on me. I certainly like it more when it’s this slightly wine-red than a more brick red. And this would all be great if it didn’t dry out my lips so much and if it didn’t look dry and if it wasn’t such a nightmare to remove. But with all that, it’s just not something I wear often... I actually wear it only on very rare occasions because of how much damage it causes my lips. I like the colour, but it’s just not worth all the damage, honestly. I just feel immensely let down by this lip stain... it could have been great. Could have... but it's sadly not. So no, it will not get a recommendation from me - not after all the trauma my lips went through while testing it on multiple occasions! There are much better lip stains out there, although I will give Avon credit, I will give them a star for trying to innovate with this, even if it did end up being a flop for me.
 
 
 
Rating: 5/10
 
 
Would buy again? NO

 

 

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