I blame Kylie Jenner for the liquid lipstick trend. Before Kylie I'd never even heard of it, but since devouring her Snapchats it's all I can think about. However, being the lazy shopper that I am I always miss her shop's beauty drops. But, worry not, as I've uncovered the best matte lipstick on the market that doesn't require spending your day refreshing her website every time there's new stock. And the best bit, it's only £3!
It ticks all the boxes as it's literally as cheap as chips, it wears well and is food and drink proof. Yes, I am telling you that all you need to spend on a matte liquid lipstick is three quid. In the name of research, I tried the likes of Ciate (£17) and Maybelline (£6.99), but I fail to see why people would spend any more than three quid as MUA's Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquer is the best out there.
The lipstick smells like 2004. And, by that, I mean £1 candy floss body spray. It is sickeningly sweet to the nose, but somehow miraculously doesn’t feature any sort of taste when on the lips. Whilst I was concerned what chemicals the artificial smell is covering, I decided it can’t be worse than other products I’ve put on my face (not even a euphemism) and painted it on anyway.
Looking at the product on the brush it's as shiny as Kim Kardashian’s latex dress, which isn’t what you want from a matte lipstick. But as soon as it touches skin the formula dries. In fact, it dries almost too quickly. Those of you without a steady hand (like me) should definitely have a strong make-up remover and some cotton buds on hand, because it isn’t forgiving on accidental over lining or smudging. It literally doesn’t budge. One coat was enough, perhaps even too much, for a full coverage, which suggests that the bottle could last a lifetime (if you don’t mind old germs too much).
But that super speedy drying was good news for the rest of my day, because my lip survived an afternoon of drinking (water, unfortunately), a tube and a train journey. I confidently licked my lips all the way home without once being worried. Things got slightly rocky around dinner time (pesto pasta, FYI), but it didn’t smudge or flake, just slightly rubbed away on the inner lip area. And a top up didn’t send the existing product into meltdown, but rather glided on pretty nicely.
Despite looking matte, my lips weirdly didn’t feel velvety to touch, but glossy. The moisture meant that there was no flakiness (like there was with Ciate's Liquid Velvet) or cracking (as with Maybelline's Vivid Matte Liquid). And when bedtime came it wiped off nicely with a Wilko’s own brand makeup wipe. My lips even felt moisturised the next day.
My main concern with the Velvet Lip Lacquer was the extremely daring colour that I tried. As a new member to the lipstick clan I did feel somewhat bold wearing Firecracker in the office. Anyway… I was impressed to find 26 shades on their site. Everything from hot pink to blue to black, but also some nudes which are much more Chloe-friendly and definitely on my to-buy list after finding the winning formula.
So, I’ve done it. An ignorant lipstick-phobe has found you the perfect Jenner-esque beauty product for a solid £3. And although I also discovered the wonder which is Laura Geller's Fifty Kisses on this quest, which I'd also recommend (it's soft and one swab on my hand from 48 hours ago has survived two showers and dozens of hand washes), i'm not sure if it's worth spending an extra £14 on.
Like this? Then you might be interested in...
Reddit Users Share The Drug Store Beauty Dupes They Think Are Better Than The Original
Follow Chloe on Twitter @chlogray_
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.