Battle of the Liquid Lipsticks

Over the last few years it's safe to say that makeup brands have branched out from the usual lipsticks and lip glosses into many other alternatives such as lip crayons and lip laquers. Over I'd say the past year, something that I've seen many more brands releasing are their own "liquid lipsticks", and being the lip product obsessed girl I am, I obviously knew I had to try some. Two that most certainly caught my attention were the L'Oreal L'Extraordinaire liquid lipsticks and the Maybelline Colorsensational Elixir's, which are also marketed as liquid lipsticks too!

As I have already obtained quite a few bold colours in my collection, when picking up both of these products I decided to grab something a little more natural. I chose the shade Rose Melody from the L'Extraordinaire range and Blush Essence from the Elixir's which are both gorgeous soft pink shades. Rose Melody is a slightly more peachy shade than Blush Essence and does have a little glitter running through the product, however when it's on your lips you can hardly tell anyway and both products look almost identical. If this is something you don't particularly like though, I'd definitely stay away from the L'Oreal range.

Also both of these ranges come with a wide selection of colours to choose from. Maybelline do offer a slightly wider variety, but I'm sure any colour you're looking for, both of these ranges carry! They also both smell (and taste) amazing!

Priced at £6.99, the Maybelline Elixir's may be a better option for anyone who is looking to spend a little less on a liquid lipstick, whereas the L'Oreal alternatives are slightly more expensive, priced £2 more expensive at £8.99. L'Oreal's liquid lipsticks do tend to feel and look a little more luxurious however.

One thing that really stood out for me with these two products was the packaging. As they're both described as liquid lipsticks I like the fact that they are made in the shape of a lipstick, with the Elixir's even portraying the shape of a lipstick within the clear packaging. With this said, I personally prefer the packaging of the L'Oreal lipstick, not only because I generally prefer gold over silver, but the design of it just seems to feel a little more luxurious. Plus after only a couple of uses, the silver sections on the Maybelline product have already started scratching off!

Now for the actual products themselves. Although both of these products are marketed as lipsticks, I would rather closely resemble them to lip glosses instead. In my opinion the formula of a lipstick is much drier (although not dry) and no where near as glossy. The formula of these two products is that of a gloss, thick and almost sticky, with the amount of gloss almost overriding the colour. Also I'm not sure if it's just because these colours are pretty natural shades, but the pigmentation isn't incredible, and since both of these products are described as either having the "colour intensity of a lipstick" or "gleaming colour", they definitely do not live up to these standards. In all fairness though, the Maybelline Elixir does seem slightly more pigmented with a better colour payoff, whereas the L'Oreal liquid lipsticks seem to focus more so on the glossiness.

The L'Oreal ones however are a little thicker and tend to last on the lips a little longer, however both of them need topping up quite frequently throughout the day. Neither do leave a stain on the lips once they've worn off which in my opinion is both a good and bad thing. On the plus side they can't leave an awkward stain around my lips which some products seem to do, but then like I said, it means I have to keep reapplying during the day.

All in all I do like both of these products and actually still use them quite frequently. If I'm completely honest I would say I like the L'Oreal range just slightly more as they feel a little more luxurious on the lips and leave a gorgeous sheen, however it is a very close competition between the two. Neither of them are something that I would rave about as they're simply just glosses in my eyes, but I do think they are decent products. If you've yet to try a liquid lipstick yet and wish to, I'd maybe choose the cheaper Maybelline alternatives and see if it's something you like and would be willing to repurchase.

I think that I would like to buy a couple more colours from both of these ranges, maybe a darker colour in order to see what the colour payoff is like, but I'm not quite sure if they're something I'm going to be buying over and over again. Then and again, they both do offer a gorgeous subtle lip for an everyday natural look!

What are your thoughts on liquid lipsticks?

Have you tried either of these before?

Lots of Love