Drugstore makeup brands are upping their game big time lately, take NYC New York Color for example with their new Matte Expert Last Lip Color collection, that includes five ultra-flattering shades to complete any look. I chose to try two of them, one more neutral and another one bright and fun: Creamy Mauve and Pure Coral.
NYC New York Color describes the finish as a mix of matte and satin, which actually sounds fabulous for Summer, since they won’t look completely flat. The company also said this long-lasting and smudge resistant formula will stay on the lips for up to 6 hours, without the need to touch up. Let’s see if that was true!
The perfect balance: a mix of matte and satin! These satin matte shades are perfectly wearable in the city. From day to night this lipstick will complete your look.
Creamy Mauve is actually a great name for this pale pinkish mauve lippie. I almost expected it to wash me out, but luckily this color is balancing on the verge, yet not falling into the unflattering category. In fact, it looks quite youthful and fresh – a perfect companion for bright daytime eye makeup. In this look I’m using a bolder eye than I normally do, and I think Creamy Mauve connected the top and bottom halves of my face quite well, and toned down the drama a little.
I got one gripe with Creamy Mauve – after the lipstick sets, this particular color seemed to emphasize the dry patches on my lips, which I found to be a quite unappealing. Not the lipstick’s fault though, I probably should exfoliate and moisturize them more often, but still if like me you sometimes forget to treat yo’ lips, this might be a bad color to try.
Pure Coral is a bright warm coral with strong melon tone to it. It’s the kind of color I would wear with very basic eye makeup [think eyeliner + mascara], and let the lips do the talking. Well, i guess, they already do, but you know what I mean… ha 😉
Unlike Creamy Mauve, Pure Coral doesn’t make the dryness more visible, and it also appears to be slightly more pigmented [darker lippie colors tend to have that quality, naturally]. I am actually quite pleased with this one, and wore it several times already, which is more than I can say about some products from my enormous lippie stash.
Formula-wise, both of these are not as creamy as Milani’s new mattes, but they stay on the lips much longer – 5 hours vs 4 hours, without eating or drinking. The finish is more satin than matte, but they do look properly matte after blotting, if you want them to. The packaging is typical for NYC – plastic bullet with a base, corresponding to the color inside, and the lipstick bullet that doesn’t wind down all the way, so you’d have to be careful not to slice off the bullet on accident [been there done that].
Swatch reference: My skin tone is between MAC NC15 and NW15 with yellowish hue and neutral undertones. Sometimes I can wear NW20 in the Summer. I thought this would be useful to know, since all screens show colors differently, and I also don’t have a studio setup with consistent lighting. Hope that helps!
Do you need this? Yes and no. Neither the formula nor the colors are revolutionary in any way, however, at $2 per bullet, these make great inexpensive additions to your makeup stash, especially if those are the shades you know you won’t use often. Just remember to regularly exfoliate and moisturize your lips so you can rock any color with confidence!
WHERE TO BUY: $1.99 for 0.11oz. Available at Walmart, and local drugstores.
What lipstick color do you want to try this Summer? Do you have a favorite matte lip color? Let me know in the comments below!
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