The Mattest of Them All: Swatches + Review of Colourette's lipstick
I’ve been a fan of Colourette Cosmetics ever since Liz gave me a Colourtint. Now, I have a small collection of Colourtints, and a few more lippies from their different lipstick lines. I find their lip products to offer great quality at a very affordable price so when Colourette released these limited edition matte lipsticks called Christmattes, I just had to try them out! This post is a bit late considering this was released during the holidays, but I hope to give you an idea of how Colourette bullet lipsticks perform.
Touted as pigmented, long-lasting, and comfortable, the Christmattes are surprisingly just P299 each. That’s cheaper than any of their other permanent bullet lipsticks, and you also have the option to buy them in sets. Get all twelve shades for P2,990. If you’re a fan of warm peaches, pinks, and browns, you can get the Nice themed set of six at just P1,490. Fans of deep browns, mauve, and red would love the Naughty set. All sets come with a cute pouch to store your makeup.
The lipstick tube itself is a simple, black plastic container like their Creamy Matte Lipsticks. I find the tubes to be inconsistent though - some twist with relative ease while I have a harder time opening the others. The lipsticks have a fruity scent just like their Lush Lips.
I was surprised to find the formula to be very hard and a bit crumbly. In fact, I broke one of the lipsticks while trying to swatch it on my arm! It was also difficult to apply them on my bare lips, then I discovered that applying a lip balm beforehand helped it to go on evenly.
These lippies are true mattes, without the slightest bit of shine or shimmer. Pigmentation is only so-so, and I had to swatch it three times to get an opaque layer. I’m loving the shade selection, though! I honestly can’t pick favorites as there are so many nice shades. While they are mostly MLBB and brownish shades, they are very wearable for everyday and for all skin tones. Colourette definitely had every Pinay in mind when they chose the shades. My fave is probably the lone red in the collection, a gorgeous blue-based red that complements my skin tone and makes my teeth look whiter. I think this is one of my absolute favorite reds ever.
The Nice Set:
FRUITCAKE - warm peachy brown
DULCE - rich burnt orange terracotta
VIXEN - cool toned deep mauve
CHEERS - neutral MLBB with pink undertones
MITTENS - A toasty deep brown
MILK & COOKIES - mid toned nude that flatters all skin tones
The Naughty Set:
NORTH -warm pink MLBB
EVE - truest brown
25 - deep terracotta with a brown base
COMET - rich chocolate
GLORY - mid-tone brownish pink that pulls neutral for most skin tones
SANTA - A blue-based red
Although the brand claims that these are comfortable, I find them to be quite the opposite. It was my first time to experience such a dry feeling from a bullet, almost like a liquid matte lipstick. Impressively, my hand swatches would not come off with micellar water, so I recommend using an oil-based makeup remover. With that, it’s easy to believe that these are indeed long-wearing bullet lipsticks. Unfortunately, since I found these impossible to apply on my lips without lip balm, I couldn’t really maximize its staying power. With a coat (or two) of lip balm underneath, I find that the color lasts for around four hours on me. It also won’t survive a meal but it leaves a stain behind.
I honestly have mixed feelings about this collection. While these are some of the most matte bullet lipsticks I’ve tried and they have a great shade selection, I find the formula to be problematic to work with. However, if you are willing to commit to using a lip balm beforehand every time, then you might enjoy these. It may also be worth trying out with Colourette’s Uno Lip Primer (P599).
Did you get to try the Chrismattes? Were these a hit or a miss for you?
Product photography by Nicole Quindara
