Review: Maybelline SuperStay Matte Ink

I love long wearing liquid matte lipsticks and it doesn’t look like the trend is ending anytime soon! Some interesting formulations are starting to be released and one of these newbies is Maybelline’s offering, SuperStay Matte Ink. I think I love liquid matte lipsticks because I don’t like fixing my makeup when on the go. Sure, sometimes I have to when at work, but generally I try and avoid it so I don’t have to carry a lot of makeup with me wherever I go. These liquid lipsticks are probably the longest wearing lipsticks I have found to date and aren’t to crazily drying either! You can’t get better than that really, so let’s get into the details 🙂

Ink your lips in up to 16-hour saturated liquid matte. SuperStay Matte Ink™ features a unique arrow applicator for precise application and is available in 10 super saturated shades.

I have three colours; #10 Dreamer, a white based cool light pink, #15 Lover, a mid-toned cool dirty pink that leans a bit purple, and #20 Pioneer a cool deep raspberry red. Each colour behaves a little differently, so it’s worth reviewing each shade separately. What can be said for all the lipsticks though, is that they don’t have to thin of a texture (they aren’t watery) so they are easily to apply and control. They dry down relatively quickly and aren’t to sticky (they are only remain slightly sticky). If you apply to much product on the lips, the lipstick does struggle to set but you can blot your lips with a tissue to remove excess product and the lipstick will then set perfectly. This also means thats you can apply more product on top of previously applied lipstick and it doesn’t behave strangely as a result – it doesn’t go patchy or gather in the corners of your mouth etc. (shudder).

The crazy thing is that they don’t dissolve in oil, which is what makes them soooo long lasting. You can eat the greasiest meal ever and these liquid lipsticks will. not. budge.! If you want to wear a long wearing lipstick but hate the dry feeling on they leave on your lips, you can layer a lip balm over the top of the lipstick and it won’t move the lipstick colour or make it dissolve, bonus! This was a conundrum for me however, because I had no idea how to remove the lipstick easily. As it turns out, the unique formula seems to ‘disintegrate’ or ‘rub down’ over wearing time, making it easy to remove after 8 or so hours (a makeup wipe works perfectly for this job). What you can’t do, is remove the lipstick easily after applying it fresh – even with an oil or water based makeup remover. This could be an issue for some Beauties, but is probably an advantage for most as it is a long wearing formula after all – designed to be worn all day and/or evening. It certainly is unique on the market! It reminds me of those old school long wearing liquid lipsticks that came with a lip balm on one end or a seperate lip gloss to make the liquid lipstick more comfortable to wear (I remember Max Factor had a super famous version of this called ‘Lipfinity’). It’s like they’ve just done away with the lip balm since matte lips are on trend and made the liquid lipstick more comfortable to wear 🙂

The SuperStay Matte Ink lipstick in the colour #10 Dreamer is the first colour that I bought (on a whim at Woolies – a supermarket where there are no product testers) and I thought it would be a light nude pink shade, but it has a white base which I think is difficult to wear and doesn’t suit me. It’s not streaky as a lot of white based lipstick shades tend to be, so if you like these kinds of colours, you will love this one! You need to thoroughly exfoliate your lips before wearing such a shade though, as it will catch on dry skin and look patchy/uneven. The colour just makes me look like I am ill…. Just not for me.

Above: Wearing the colour #10 Dreamer

The colour #15 Lover is much more to my liking, but it goes on like a mid toned lilac shade to begin with. My camera couldn’t capture this, but trust me when I say it looks like purple when first applied. It seems to settle down after a while and looks more rosey with time. The issue I have with this shade as much as I love it, is that over time the lipstick ‘cracks’ and wear and tear becomes visible after 6 plus hours. It’s not major – you can only see this if you are looking at your lips very closely, but it is worth mentioning I think. It’s a great shade for work because it’s a little unique and multi-dimensional for a matte liquid lipstick.

Above: Wearing the colour #15 Lover

Shade no. #20 Pioneer is my favourite and the best performing actually. It looks perfect after 8 plus hours! It can be difficult to apply perfectly with the applicator, but as long as you tidy up any mistakes immediately (I use a cotton tip for this) it won’t stain your skin. The arrow shaped applicator is easier to control compared to a doe-foot applicator IMO. All the shades dry down to true matte colours, but if you apply to much product, they actually look like satin lipsticks and are slightly glossy because the product can’t dry down evenly.

Above: Wearing the colour #20 in Pioneer. See how glossy it is when a few layers are applied! 

Above: Wearing the colour #20 in Pioneer. Liquid lipstick blotted with a tissue to remove excess product and to allow it to ‘set’.

I love the packaging of the liquid lipsticks too! The packaging is matte (big nod to the product inside I’m sure) and each shade mimics the shade of product that is inside 🙂 The packaging isn’t misleading of the shade of product inside either. The lipsticks smell like sweet vanilla spongecake to me – not to dissimilar to the smell of MAC lipsticks.

There are 10 lipstick shades in the range at the moment, but I believe there is 20 in the States – the ‘original 10 shades’ (3 pinky/nude shades, 1 fuschia, 2 reds, 3 purples and 1 dark shade that’s a dark brown but may lean purple also) and 10 newly released ‘nude shades’. The shade range is a big nod to current makeup trends rather than classics – I mean, who would have thought, that they would have more purples on offer than reds?!? This isn’t shocking for a drugstore brand but is thus targeted at a younger crowd rather than those of us who are older and don’t follow trends blindly. I may get another shade or two if they jump out at me, but I wouldn’t use all of the colours on offer I think.

There’s no denieying that Maybelline have on their hands a winning formulation! The lipstick do as they say (stay put) and are matte in and out.  If you are wearing them for 8 plus hours, your lips will feel dry –  there’s no getting around that. It’s great to have the option of applying a lip balm over the top tho, especially after a long day. The lipsticks retail for $19.95 but I’d buy them when they are on sale at Priceline. At the moment, Priceline has a 40% off promotion going for the entire Maybelline line, which brings the SuperStay Matte Ink range down to $11.97  a pop (so $8 dollars off – bargain!).

Is this a lipstick range you would try out? There’s lots of swatches out there on the internet of all the lipstick shades on offer, but I hope my little review has helped someone 🙂 Are you a fan of the matte lipstick trend?

Catch ya next time Beauties,

Beauty Bee~

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