REVIEW: MUA "LUXE LONDON" Velvet Lip Laquer.

Hi everyone, it's review time again!

So, the other day I popped in to town after Uni to pick some course material up, and like always I got side-tracked by the usual shops! Boots, Primark, New Look, Superdrug etc. But whilst I was restrained in regards to the fact that I never spent any of my own money, I did abuse some of my points that I had saved up on my loyalty cards in Boots and Superdrug. One thing I bought was a new Lip Lacquer from a new range launched by MUA.

I am a huge fan of a lot of the MUA products that are sold in Superdrug, like their lip-liners, their matte lipstick collection and the creamy blushers that they do. (Which I will happily review if anyone would like that?) And so when I saw a beautifully packaged product sitting on the shelf that I had not seen before, I was poised and ready to swatch!

MUA have recently launched a new range, “The Luxe London” collection. And one of the products they now sell as part of it is a Velvet Lip Lacquer that comes in five shades. They only had four of the colours available to buy in my local shop, but I have managed to find a collection of swatches for all of the shades on the company’s website which you can see below!

(L-R) Reckless, Funk, Criminal, Kooky, Atomic. (Image sourced from MUA's Webiste.)

The shade list is as follows:

Reckless- This is what I would describe as a "True-Red". It is a bright, blue based shade and so when you wear this it'll make your teeth appear slightly brighter! I can imagine this colour would work well with a variety of skin tones, and if your staple look is a Pin-up style face, you definitely need to pick this bad-boy up!

Funk- I didn't get to see this shade as they didn't have it in the shop to test or to buy, but from looking at MUA's website, what I can gather is that Funk is basically a deeper shade of "Criminal". it seems to be similar in regards to being a blue-based pink, but just a slightly darker, less bright shade. 

Criminal- Oh my God. I can't even begin to explain how much I love this shade. I would have picked this one up as well, by my make-up trunk is overflowing with pink lip products of varying shades and so I want to use all of those up first! It is a super vibrant hot pink. It has a hint of a blue undertone, which like Reckless helps make your teeth appear whiter! It is an amazing Fuchsia colour, and I feel that if you were going to wear this, it would best be paired with an otherwise neutral face as it really is the star of the show!

Kooky- I'm a sucker for a purple lipstick, and I really regret not picking this up! (Every time I go in to get it they're sold out of it, and I'm not surprised why!). It's a super opaque purple shade, and once applied it is a beautiful violet-purple colour. If you're a fan of rocking a Vampy look, then I imagine this'll become one of your favourite colours. it is a highly pigmented shade and only requires one application!

Atomic- This is the shade that I picked up, and it is a really intense Coral/Orange mash-up. Depending on how much you apply it can look a little bit Fluro, but maybe that's a look you like! I imagine that this shade would look beautiful on someone with tanned skin. One of the things I really like about it is that you can build it up from a pigmented coral to an intense orange.

I was well and truly drawn in by the packaging, not necessarily meaning the Gold and Black cardboard slip, but the beautiful frosted matte tubes that the product comes in. The matte tube relates nicely to matte finish the lacquer leaves you with! The feel of the package is quite luxurious. 

The packaging says that you can get the "ultimate velvet-matte pout with this richly pigmented silky smooth lip lacquer", and it's not lying! I must admit though, it took a few attempts at applying this before I mastered it, and I must say I love the formula and the finish,

Like pretty much every product out there on the market, it has it's pros and cons.

Pros:

• The pigmentation of all of these colours is amazing! One application leaves you with the colour in the tube, truly on your lips.
• The staying power that these possess is like nothing I have ever seen before in a lip product. Once these have dried, there is no budging them. You can talk, drink, eat, and go hours and hours without needing to reapply! I've put this product on at 9am and it's not budged by the time I've got home at 6pm.
• The feeling on your lips is not drying and the colours do not go chalky or "bitty" throughout the day.
• The Lip Lacquer consistency is really easy to work with, and the product dried within seconds!
• You are left with a flawless matte finish as your end result! 
• The colour selection they have released is varied and complementary to many skin tones, I have my fingers crossed that they launch more shades!

Cons:

• One downside to the fact that these lacquers have such an amazing staying power, is that they are quite difficult to get off. It can turn in to a bit of a mission with quite a lot of rubbing and elbow grease being needed! (But for such a highly pigmented and rich looking colour, I'm happy to put the effort in to get it off at the end of the day!)
• To wear these, your lips need to be free of ANY dead skin. If you have the slightest of chapped lips, this product is going to highlight this. So if you are wanting to wear this often, you're going to be looking at doing a lip scrub every time you want to, which can be a little time-consuming or annoying if you're trying to get ready in a rush.

Final thoughts on the product:

Overall, I think MUA have a real winner on their hands here! The formulation of this lip product is easy to work with and long-wearing, which are both important things in my books. If you're in the market for some new lip products, and want something that is going to give you great colour pay-off and last a long time without needing to be reapplied, then look no further than this lip lacquer. The fact that it is such a long-wearing product does mean that taking it off can take longer than your average lipstick, but with a good make-up remover you can get it off easily. Although the finish is matte, it will not dry your lips out or make them feel flaky. I will most definitely be picking up the rest of the collection, and I love that there is a colour in the range to suit everyone!

I hope that you find this review useful, and if you have any suggestions or requests of things for me to review or other posts you want me to write then let me know!

Thanks for reading!
Robyn
xox