I love the look of matte liquid lipstick, but my lips are very prone to drying out so I’ve been hesitant to use them. When I heard that Eccentric Cosmetics had a line of matte liquid lipsticks that didn’t turn your lips into the Sahara, AND came in little sample vials, I had to get my hands on some!
The 1.2 mL sample vials are very cute and fun-sized – about 4 cm/1.5 inches tall, and contain a doe foot applicator. They’re not a good investment in terms of price per mL, but I’ve never ever finished an entire lipstick in my life, and I have terrible luck with lipsticks that look great in swatches but not on my lips. If you’re anything like me, this is a great opportunity to try a whole bunch of colours before buying the full sized product.
All of Eccentric’s matte lipsticks have the same ingredients listed, so I’m guessing a lot of the variation is due to the batch or the specific pigments in each.
Ingredients: Cyclomethicone, Isododecane, Dimethicone, Castor Oil, Sorbitan Olivate, Candelilla Wax, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin May Contain: Titanium Dioxide, Tin Oxide, Iron Oxides, Manganese Violet, Synthetic Flurophogopite, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Yellow #5, Orange #5, Red #6, Red #7, Red #21, Red #27, Red #40, Blue #1
Here are the individual shades:
Potala Palace – Deep burgundy red. Potala Palace s a very flattering vampy shade that would suit a lot of skin tones. It leaves behind a bright pink-red stain that’s the same as those “mood lipsticks”, from the Red #27 in the ingredients.
The formula is amazing – it goes on quite liquid, spreads easily and dries quickly to a matte. It takes 1-2 thin coats for opacity, although if you put on thicker coats it will flake and crack a little. It’s comfortable throughout the day although it does transfer a little, especially when eating. The best thing is that it doesn’t dehydrate your lips as you wear it, which has happened to me with way too many matte lipsticks, where it looks great at the beginning but you flake and dessicate throughout the day.
Taj Mahal – pinkish-red. This is scarily fluorescent in the tube but goes on as a vivid red that’s bright, but not unwearably bright. It has the same great formula as Potala Palace.
I swatched all the colours in a three hour marathon session with natural lighting and the camera on the auto setting, hence the slight variation in lighting (I’ve adjusted them a bit in Photoshop to try to even out the colours, but some colours do weird things regardless). I ended with Taj Mahal and as you can see, my lips were in great condition. I wore Taj Mahal for the rest of the day through two meals – here’s what my lips looked like afterwards: