Can any lipstick last for TEN hours?
That’s what beauty firms now promise. MANDIE GOWER sees if it’s true
REACHING across the table to pick up a glass of Prosecco, I hear a familiar refrain. ‘ Hey, that’s mine!’ shouts my husband.
‘I think it’s mine, actually,’ says my brother-in-law, also making a grab for the drink in question.
‘Well, unless either of you has taken to wearing red lipstick, I’m pretty confident it’s mine,’ I declare triumphantly, having spotted the tell-tale scarlet marks around the rim.
As a lifelong lipstick fan, I’m well aware the bright, glossy pout I leave the house with won’t be there a few hours later.
For while we bought £244 million-worth of lipstick in the UK last year, it seems many manufacturers still struggle to make it actually stick.
Like the capricious cads it was once said to attract, lipstick makes you feel fabulous at first, but it soon slinks off, shamelessly moving on . . . to your cup, glass or even your sandwich.
But now a new lipstick, YSL’s Rouge Pur Couture Vernis a Levres Pop Water, claims to be far more faithful, lasting a whopping ten hours.
But can it go the distance? I put it, and some of its rivals, to the test . . .
YSL Rouge Pur Couture Vernis a Levres Pop Water
£26 (Dewy Red)
THE CLAIM: This promises the shine of a gloss with the colour of a lip stain — all with a ten-hour lifespan.
It feels light and wet on the lips, due to high levels of glycerine, but not sticky.
The colour is a triumph — a juicy pop of fuchsia that’s as bold as it is sheer. And there’s a delicious fruity fragrance, too.
The flat, angled sponge doesn’t define my lip shape as much as some, but that’s the trade-off for the soft texture. After five hours, it’s only lost a little shine, and the colour is impressively bright.
After ten, it’s a bit worn in the middle, but there’s still a just-licked gleam. The Duracell bunny of glosses!
VERDICT: 4/5
Clinique Pop Lip Colour and Primer
£16 (Passion Pop) THE CLAIM: This boasts a built-in ‘smoothing primer’ to condition lips alongside a colour that’s said to last for eight hours.’
Although it’s not as slippery as some, it doesn’t ‘drag’ like lots of long-lasting products, and feels so moisturising and light that I forget I’m wearing it.
I apply it at 8am, and love the rich, velvety finish and strong, defined shape — I don’t even need to use a lip liner.
After heartily tucking into hot scrambled eggs, toast and smoked salmon, I’m embarrassed when the waiter clears my tea cup — I may as well have dipped it in strawberry jam. Yet my lips still look bold and juicy, and remain so for much of the day. Definitely a keeper. VERDICT: 4/5
Seventeen Stay Pout
£4.49 (Rule Breaker) THE CLAIM: Promises ‘hours of kiss-proof colour!’.
Luckily for my husband he’s out when I try this lipstick, so I put this to the test on my 18month-old instead, treating her to a flurry of giggly kisses. Thank goodness we’re at home — if anyone else saw the resulting claret smudges on her face, I’d be carted off by social services.
While all that lip- smacking loses the sheen, my lips remain a deep maroon. They look and feel a bit dry, but a quick slick of lip balm soon fixes that.
It doesn’t enhance the shape of my pout like some others, but it does add a stubborn smudge of colour that would be great for days when I don’t want to look too made-up. VERDICT: 3/5
Laura Mercier Paint Wash Liquid Lip Color
£22 (Red Brick) THE CLAIM: This ‘intense colourfast shade will stay the day.’ This comes in a tube with a sponge applicator. It’s thick and wet but not sticky like a gloss, and creates an exaggerated cupid’s bow and full pout.
Of all the lipsticks I try, this one leaves my lips feeling the most soft and moist. It survives an afternoon meeting with lots of talking and air kisses, and still looks fresh that evening.
Despite a solid red ring around the straw of my first cocktail, when my friend arrives, she exclaims: ‘Your lips look amazing!’
Later, I chomp my way through a pizza, frequently wiping my mouth with a napkin, and while the shape smudges a little, the colour is still vibrant.
By midnight my lips look a bit patchy, but I’d say it’s more than gone the distance. VERDICT: 5/5
Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick
£4.99 (Alarm) THE CLAIM: ‘Will lock high-impact colour to lips for up to eight hours and be ‘ comfortable to wear all day long.’
This is very dry and drags across my lips. The matte colour is intense and shows no signs of fading, but the product quickly bleeds beyond my lip line and the finish is smudgy. I haven’t even had a cup of coffee and it looks like I’ve put it through a particularly vigorous kissing test!
I am no make-up snob, but I think you could guess this costs less than a fiver, not least from the cheap smell.
Did it last for eight hours? I wiped it off after one. VERDICT: 1/5
Maybelline Super Stay 24h Ultimate Red
£6.99 (Red Alert) THE CLAIM: This double-ended liquid colour promises ‘no fading, transferring, drying or crumbling for up to 24 hours’.
Applying it is rather like painting a freshly plastered wall; it looks glossy but quickly soaks in and needs a few coats. After two minutes you add a layer of moisturising balm, applying more when needed.
While the colour is bold, my lips feel dry and tight. But it has staying power: wine glasses, sandwiches and my children’s cheeks are all left unsullied.
After eight hours and a bowl of spaghetti, the colour is retreating from the middle of my pout. Eventually I’m left with a ghoulish red ring. When I give my husband a kiss the next morning, he flinches as though Dracula himself was making a move on him. VERDICT: 2/5
Estee Lauder Pure Colour Envy Sculpting Lipstick
£24 (Envious) THE CLAIM: There’s a six-hour promise with this luxury lipstick, which also claims to ‘sculpt’ your lips to look more ‘curvaceous’. The navy and gold case, traditional glossy bullet, and expensive sounding ‘ click’ when you replace the lid — everything about this feels luxurious. And so it should for that price!
I can sense its staying power on the first swipe, and it only takes one coat to fully cover my pout, so no doubt this would last a long time. Once on, my lips feel well moisturised, and had it not been for a particularly messy cheese toastie, I think it would have survived the six hours. VERDICT: 3/5
L’Oreal Infallible Mega Gloss
£6.99 (Smoke Me Up) THE CLAIM: ‘A mega shine, mega pout, all day’ is what I’m hoping for. And it’s really impressive. Less of a gloss and more of a paste, it’s incredibly thick with a solid grip. Yet it looks and feels moist thanks to hyaluronic acid and high-shine pigments which exaggerate the shape of my pout.
The magenta colour is rich, deep and there’s a healthy sheen, too, for a truly luscious look.
However often I rub my lips together during the day, it still has plenty of ‘give’ and never feels dry. Infallible indeed, and great value. VERDICT: 5/5
No.7 Stay Perfect
£9.95 (Love Red) THE CLAIM: ‘This will last for up to eight hours, while leaving your lips comfortable and hydrated.’
I can usually slick on my lipstick in seconds, no mirror required, but this one had me foxed.
Rather than the traditional bullet which angles to a point, this has a virtually flat end, which creates a very clumsy shape. The thick texture is unusual too; it reminds me of the stage make-up we used to slap on for school plays.
Of course, that means it has staying power, and it leaves only the merest of imprints on my wine glass — it was certainly the best of the bunch in that respect. But wearing it for even a few hours made my lips feel dry and look horribly wrinkly.
Frankly, I’d take reapplying my lipstick several times over a puckered pout any day. VERDICT: 2/5