Few lipstick wearers ever make peace with the apply/release/repeat cycle.
Extended-wear lipsticks, however, promised something different when they rode into drugstores a few years ago:
Namely, that a single application would stay with you through thick soup and thin-rimmed glass, from “kiss” straight through to “tell.”
There was just one problem with this breed.
“It didn’t have great wearability,” said cosmetics cop Paula Begoun, author of six editions of “Don’t Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me” (Beginning Press). “Even though it stuck around, it rolled and peeled, and during the winter was almost an impossible product to wear. It was dry and didn’t have any movement. And the last thing you want in the dead of winter is dry.”
But stick around, it did. And it evolved.
“The idea of a long-wearing lipstick is not new; however, the idea of matching it with a gloss is,” said Marshall Field’s cosmetics spokeswoman Fatima Olive.
Indeed, many of the longest-wearing lipsticks, such as Clinique’s new 10-hour Stay the Day Lip Colour, now are two liquid potions in separate tubes or compartments. First is the color that swabs on to dry, followed by a glossy overcoat.
Others, like L’Oreal’s Endless ($8 or $9), sacrifice a bit of endurance for moisture and convenience, in the form of a single-step liquid or solid.
In 2003, several extended-wear formulas made the top 10 of lipstick sales at mass retailers, according to Information Resources Inc. Cover Girl’s Outlast was No. 1, L’Oreal’s Endless No. 3, Max Factor’s Lipfinity No. 4 and Revlon’s ColorStay No. 6 (for Overtime) and No. 8 (for basic).
At department stores, Clinique’s Stay the Day debuted in December. Lancome will introduce its six-hour Juicy Wear ($24), with color stick followed by caramel-flavored glaze, in August.
Begoun said Lipfinity and Outlast–both with Procter & Gamble’s PermaTone color formula–are the best of the ones her team has reviewed.
Beauty bible Allure magazine recently named L’Oreal’s Endless 8 Hour Comfortable Lip Colour in “Fired Up” as editor’s choice for long-wearing lipstick. Allure readers chose Revlon’s ColorStay Overtime in “Ultimate Wine” as a favorite.
Tips for those unschooled in these potions:
If a gloss is provided, stray from it at your peril. Other kinds of gloss may have oils that break down the pigment. (Even eating pasta with olive oil can sabotage some, Begoun said.)
Also, prepare for bold color. “Because they go on so opaque,” Begoun said, “whatever color you put on tends to look more saturated than [basic lipsticks] that have moisture and reflection.”
Finally, the longer-wearing a lip color, Olive said, the drier the formula will tend to be.
First-timers’ trials
We asked three staff members to try out Clinique’s Stay the Day Lip Colour ($16.95), a prestige-counter newcomer, as well as two drugstore top sellers, Cover Girl’s Outlast (about $10) and Max Factor Lipfinity (about $12), to see whether any of our testers would emerge converted.
Herewith, a memoir of a day in the life with each tester’s personal favorite, followed by her verdict on all three.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF . . . Clinique Stay the Day Lip Colour in “Downtown Brown”
7:45 a.m.: Have applied base coat and I’m waiting, waiting, waiting . . .
7:46: Finally I can swab on top coat.
8:45: No lipstick residue on coffee cup. Cool. (Former waitress/frequent diner despises finding residue on supposedly clean glasses, etc.)
10:30: Lips feeling very dry. Apply gloss.
1 p.m. Messy lunch (salad dressing), but no lipstick stains on napkin. (Hurray again! Love cloth napkins. Hate what lipstick does to them.) Add gloss.
5:30: Brown has dulled. Lips dry. Add gloss.
8: Not much to wash off. Use Aveeno cleanser. Works fine.
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VERDICT OVERALL: I can go back to lip-smooching as opposed to air-kissing my husband. But will I convert from my lip-liner-plus-gloss routine? Probably not, because I really hated the drying effect and the uneven way two of them (Lipfinity and Outlast) wore, leaving a ring of color edging my lips and natural lip showing through. Were I to choose, it would be the Clinique, which seemed to retain more even coverage throughout the day. Also liked Clinique’s single tube with two ends (gloss/color) versus the two tubes required to pull off both Max Factor and Cover Girl. I would probably lose one, negating the usefulness of the other.
–Judy Hevrdejs
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF . . . Clinique Stay the Day Lip Colour in “Ruby Lips”
7:15 a.m.: Apply and quickly dab at the middle of top lip because the color is straight across instead of following natural lip line. Spend 5 minutes finding different top because deep pink sweater clashes with lipstick. Apply gloss. Feels good, not funky.
7:30: Husband dodges goodbye kiss, as always when he spots freshly applied lipstick. Twenty-something daughter compliments me on color.
8:30: Reapply gloss after 30-minute walk across Loop in bone-chilling wind.
9:30: Color still looks good–great, even–after oatmeal. Reapply gloss, which feels like lip balm. (Usual lipstick would be long gone.)
11: Reapply gloss; am pleased the color is lasting and want to make it even better.
1:15 p.m.: Post-lunch, color has retreated. Looks like just lip liner. Reapply gloss.
3: Color continues slow fade.
7: After dinner, color is finito.
VERDICT OVERALL: I’m a convert to long-wearing lipstick. With all three, I had more color throughout the day than normal. Clinique is top choice, because it seemed to last the longest and has color and gloss in one tube. But drying seemed more significant with Clinique, so need to reapply the gloss regularly.
–Denise Joyce
A DAY (OR TWO) IN THE LIFE OF . . . Cover Girl Outlast in “Berry Preserve”
7:30 a.m.: Very good initial look.
Lunchtime: Holding up excellently.
By 5 p.m.: A bit faded but none of the patchiness that I got late in the day with the others.
(Day 2, trying it again, in case it was a fluke . . . .)
7:30 a.m.: Again, looks great on application.
11: Holding up well post-coffee. Looks very fresh after reapplying gloss.
3 p.m.: After lunch, still looks great, even on top lip, where my problems tend to start.
Evening: A little harder than the others to remove. Maybe because it lasted better.
VERDICT OVERALL: All three are better than conventional lipstick, but Cover Girl’s rocked, especially considering price. For me, this lasted the longest more consistently–looked fresh after 8-plus hours. Clinique’s looked the best right after application, but the gloss felt a little slimier than the others. Lipfinity didn’t wear as evenly as the others.
Overall, this is a good product for me. I am just not a repeat lipsticker, but I will grab a gloss stick and use it at my desk without needing a mirror. I may never go back.
–Nancy Watkins