I was lucky enough to be chosen for the trial team for this product! I was very excited to try this lipstick out, because it was designed and tested in NZ, and cruelty free!
When it arrived, the first thing I noticed was that the lid rattled. It would click on to the base, but was loose. It's a small issue, but it did annoy me, and I was afraid it would pop off in my bag (it didn't!).
The colour looked pink-ish and sheer when I swatched it on my hand, but became this beautiful, rich, red on my lips! It also had a lovely, high-shine, glossy finish. I got lots of compliments on the colour and gloss! It didn't dry out either, it stayed shiny throughout the day.
I tried it both with and without lip-liner, and lip-liner definitely made a difference for how long it lasted! I tried just lining my lips, and filling in my lips with lip liner, and the lipstick stayed on best when my lips were fully filled in. What was really great though was that I could use any shade of red underneath and it didn't matter, because the lipstick was highly-pigmented and fully covered it!
My only other issue was that because it was so moist and glossy, it was hard to get a nice crisp line- it could smear/bleed quite easily. However, even if I smeared it a bit, it came off my skin quite easily and the colour on my lips still stayed strong!
Overall, this is a nice lipstick. It has beautiful colour, and beautiful shine. It's very middle-of-the-road: nothing spectacular, but still better than a lot of other lipsticks out there. For $15 it is a great buy, and I will definitely continue to wear it on a regular basis. Plus it's supporting a NZ business... you can't go wrong!
This is ok for a matte lipstick, the colour is nice but it isn't really that moisturizing. I received this in a beauty box and wouldn't normally buy a matte as I like a creamier lipstick.
Tips: Apply gloss over the top