Here’s the sequel to Rimmel’s The Only 1 lipsticks which I loved: Rimmel The Only 1 Matte. Much like the original, they mix intense colour, easy application, and excellent staying power, and even feel moisturising… almost (let’s face it, matte lipsticks never truly feel moisturising!). There are 9 shades available, and all 9 shades are coming to Australia. Here they are:
Here’s what I’ve been testing on my lips lately – Rimmel The Only 1 Lipstick, newly available in stores in Australia for $15.95 each. Here’s my review and swatches of 8 of the shades. Rimmel The Only 1 Lipsticks are all-in-one lipsticks that combine intense colour, smooth application, solid moisturisation and excellent staying power, and I have to say they …
These days we’re all aware that suntans give you both cancer and wrinkles, so fake tan is the colour du jour. This miracle-in-a-can stains the skin brown through an interesting chemical reaction. The outer layer of your skin, made up of dead skin cells, is permanently coloured. The tan wears away as the skin cells come off. Here’s how it works, and whether it’s safe!
The Chemistry of Fake Tan
Fake tan products you find in stores contain 2-5% dihydroxyacetone, which looks like this:
It starts off colourless, but it reacts with amino acids (particularly arginine, lysine and histidine) in the skin to form a variety of brown compounds called melanoidins.
It’s actually the same chemical reaction as the one responsible for making food like bread and meat turn brown and delicious when cooked. It’s called the Maillard reaction. For the really intense chem nerds, it proceeds like this with DHA (I got a bit lazy, sorry for the shortcuts):
This forms covalent bonds, which means the skin is permanently stained – water, soap and moisturiser won’t wash it off. The skin starts devloping the tanned colour after 2-3 hours, and the reaction continues for the next 1-3 days. The reaction occurs best at moderately low acidic pHs (3-6), so fake tans tend to come in this skin-friendly range. The extent of the reaction is also influenced by the amount of water around.
Application and Aftercare
DHA only penetrates the very top layer of skin (the stratum corneum), which you may know is dead skin cells. This is why fake tans can’t last longer than about a week – that’s about how long it takes for the stained skin to wear off (that’s why if you look up fake tans that claim to last longer than a week or two, you’ll find tons of grumpy reviews – the skin sheds at a similar rate no matter what product you use!).
This explains all the advice given for making your tan look good and wear off evenly:
I’ve always been a fan of the brown/rose/mauve family of lipsticks, so when I got my hot little hands on the much-loved MAC Twig, I wasn’t surprised when I loved it. Then I realised that I had an embarrassing number of lipsticks in my collection in the same colour family…so why not do a swatch comparison post?
(This is only about a third of my pinky-browns. Like I said, embarrassing.)
MAC Satin Lipstick in Twig* – This is a lovely pinky-brown colour that’s great for my-lips-but-better looks on darker girls i.e. “Kylie Jenner lips”. It smells pleasantly vanilla. The formula is a bit drying on my lips, but my lips are very prone to dehydration (fat lip life) so most people will fare better. The colour payoff is magnificent, and it’s opaque with one swipe, with a not-quite-matte, not-quite cream finish.
Marc Jacobs Lip Crème in Infamous* – Close colour dupe. This is a tiny bit little pinker than Twig, but has the same sort of finish. It’s very creamy and moisturising for a satin lipstick, with nicely opaque colour payoff. The packaging screams luxury, with a cool magnetic closure that snaps shut with a satisfying click. It’s practically fragrance-free.
Revlon ColorBurst Matte Balm in Sultry – Close colour dupe. The crayon format of this lipstick makes it very easy to apply, and I love the matte metal detail on the twist-up end, although I’ve found that these Revlon lids crack very easily and then slip off in handbags. The colour is a bit redder than Twig, but it’s pretty damn close! The colour payoff is great. Like other Revlon crayons, this has peppermint oil which gives a minty scent and a weird tingle.
ulta3 Matte Lipstick in Rose Bloom – Close colour dupe, slightly matter finish. It’s almost the same shade as Revlon Sultry and the colour is fantastically long-lasting. This is an excellent budget option – the main drawback is that the packaging feels flimsy, and the bullet is a bit wobbly in the packaging. Its floral scent also hangs around for a bit, which won’t be to everyone’s liking. It’s a bit drying as well, but for the price it’s hard to complain too much.
Rimmel Provocalips is my new favourite lipstick. It may be the last lipstick I ever need (OK, that’s obviously a lie, but you get the idea – I’m obsessed).
I love lipstick, but I’m a low-maintenance girl. I’m pretty lazy, and checking my make-up in the mirror on a regular basis is too much for me to deal with. I can’t count the number of times I’ve gone to work with nice lipstick, then drunken a few cups of tea and eaten an apple, then when I make it to the bathroom three hours later I discover that my lipstick has slid off my lips and disappeared. Or made its way onto my teeth. Or the side of my mouth, and I look like the Joker.
It’s because of this that despite my love of bold lipstick, I only manage to muster up the motivation to wear it once or twice a month. I usually get lazy and end up at my old still-looks-good-after-food favourite, Revlon Kissable Balm Stains.
Enter Rimmel Provocalips. These come in double-ended doe foot applicators. One end has a liquid lipstick, while the other end has a moisturising, non-sticky gloss. The packaging colour is generally pretty close to what’s inside.
The concept is pretty similar to Revlon’s ColorStay Overtime Lip Color and Maybelline’s Superstay 24 Hour Lip Color, which have been around for a while, though the Rimmel ones are the first ones I’ve seen under $20. First, you apply 1 or 2 coats of the sticky liquid lipstick (it feels a bit like latex), wait til it starts looking matte, then you add the gloss on top to seal it in.
Rimmel Provocalips comes in 8 shades. I’m wearing 2 coats in these swatches, with the gloss on top:
Make Your Move – pink brown (more pink than the packaging)
The second half of my Rimmel Apocalips swatches – here are the sheers and nudes in the collection released in Australia (check out the first half of the Apocalips swatches here). Solstice is a dusty pink with fine iridescent shimmer, and the most wearable shade in this collection in my opinion. It’s subtle and pretty – I didn’t …
I’ve been excitedly waiting for Rimmel Apocalips since hearing about them on international beauty blogs, and they’re just entering Australian stores now. They’re essentially very pigmented lip glosses, which combine bold colour with high shine. They come in gloss-like tubes housing a doe foot applicator with a dent in the middle. There are 8 shades available in Australia, ranging …
I’ve only recently started exploring lipstick – I’ve been using stains forever, and since Revlon’s Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains came out I’ve been happily trying out some long-wear colour. The main thing keeping me from wearing more lipstick is reapplication, and it’s often a mess before I remember! So predictably, my favourite finish is long-lasting matte. I was really …
