Beauty: favourite bright matte lipsticks

Oh my, it seems like the heatwave that hit Belgium the past week made me forget all about blogging. Sorry! My mind has been preoccupied with trying to stay professionally producI'm here to make it up to you, and I haven't exactly stopped creating content, so I have plenty of blog material for the next week or so. And today, I'd like to talk to you about my current beauty crush: bright, semi-matte lipstick!

bright matte lipstick review and swatches

I haven't been into bright lipstick for ages, with the whole mauve/nude 90s thing that has been going on lately, but when we visited Puerto Rico, I was hit with a wave of inspiration. The local style was casual, skin baring and colourful. Just about nothing goes as well with a glowing tan as bright lips, and I was instantly inspired by the cheerful vibe of San Juan women street style. Summer isn't the time to cover your face in heavy foundation and contouring techniques, but even when your face is basically melting off, you can still get a really nice look by emphasizing your eyebrows, pulling back your hair and slapping on a layer of bright lipstick. In short: for the make up lover, bright lips are THE summer heatwave beauty solution.

I have added three new lipsticks to my collection: the very affordable NYC Expert Last Lip Color mattes in Pure Coral and Air Kiss (which I bought for about 3€), and the slightly more expensive & Other Stories' Adhesion Red (15€).

bright matte lipstick review and swatches
bright matte lipstick review and swatches
bright matte lipstick review and swatches
left to right: NYC Pure Coral, NYC Air Kiss, & Other Stories Adhesion Red

bright matte lipstick: NYC Expert Last in Pure Coral review
bright matte lipstick: NYC Expert Last in Pure Coral review

This is NYC Expert Last Lip Color in Pure Coral: a lovely, pigmented shade that sits somewhere between red and pink. This makes Pure Coral just a bit softer than both bright pink and bright red, and it would flatter a range of different skin tones along the warm and cool spectrum. On my fair to medium (now that I've got a tan) skin, it is bright without being neon. I've found that every skintone has this sweet spot for bright colours: if I go lighter than the lipsticks featured in this post, I get a shade that is lighter than my own lip colour, which tends to make me look very made up and 80s. Kind of like a Barbie doll, if you catch my drift. So medium bright shades are the way to go for me. Think fuschia or raspberry rather than bubblegum pink. Pure Coral applies like a dream:  pretty much opaque in one layer, doesn't pull or dry out the lips, and a thick enough formula to suit very neat application and prevent smudging. It is slightly less opaque and matte than Air Kiss, though, which has the superior formula.

bright matte lipstick: NYC Expert Last in Air Kiss review
bright matte lipstick: NYC Expert Last in Air Kiss review

Second: NYC Expert Last Lip Color matte in Air Kiss. THIS is my perfect bright pink, holy grail right here! This is a cool pink, leaning almost purple, and its formula and staying power are sublime. Like, MAC level amazingness. Come to think of it, the NYC Expert Last lip colors also have a smell that is similar to the MAC vanilla scent, but a bit more like candy. Again, Air Kiss feels like a dream on the lips, and while it does fade from eating and drinking, the colour is quite smudge resistant and leaves a nice stain even as it fades, keeping you from looking like you applied lip liner and forgot to finish the look. ALL the thumbs up.

bright matte lipstick: & other stories Adhesion Red review
bright matte lipstick: & other stories Adhesion Red review

Third, & Other Stories' Demi Matte lipstick in Adhesion Red. This colour is a stunner, don't you agree? Fire engine, orange leaning, in your face red: a colour I've discovered really agrees with me. I prefer it to the typical neutral or cool reds that beauty experts generally recommend for my colouring. I feel like an orange leaning red is just fresher, younger and more modern. Neutral or cool reds often look very "vintage" on me. Adhesion Red is perfect for me. Slightly more glossy than the NYC Expert Last lip colors upun applying, but if you leave it to settle for a bit, it becomes more matte and stays put like it's nobody's business. 

Despite the substantial difference in price between NYC and & Other Stories, these lipsticks are all top notch quality: super pigmented, soft on the lips despite giving a lovely matte look with a hint of soft, satiny sheen. All three are great value for money, and these bright lipsticks are the perfect finishing touch to go with a simple sundress-sandals-ponytail type of look.
Are you into bright lipsticks for summer?

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