Good morning, ya’ll! Within the past few months, I’ve become more invested in finding beauty/skin/haircare products from cruelty-free brands (companies that do not animal test). Surprisingly, it’s harder than you might imagine! A friend referred me to a website, Cruelty Free Kitty, which is dedicated to cruelty-free beauty/skin/haircare brands, and I’ve bookmarked it for easy access.
Today, I’m pumped to share with you one of my first cruelty-free beauty product finds, and that’s theBalm’s Meet Matt(e) Hughes Liquid Lipstick. I was originally introduced to this brand when I got a sample from my sister’s makeup stash (she seriously has a problem) when I was home last. I liked the one color that I got from her so much that I recently purchased a sample pack of 6 mini long-lasting liquid lipsticks to try out more colors.
Let’s see how Mr. Matt(e) Hughes liquid lipstick stacks up.
Packaging
The 6 mini lipsticks come in a simple cardboard holding case. theBalm has seriously catchy product branding; every product has a graphic of some kind of 1950’s man or woman along with a catchy product name (i.e. ‘Meet Matt(e) Hughes’ liquid lipstick and ‘How ‘Bout Dem Apples?’ cheek stain). On the product packaging, the names of the samples are clearly written underneath each sample, so I could easily tell that the sample I had gotten from my sister (Committed) was also in this sampler pack.
However, I will say that once the mini samples are out of the packaging, it is harder to read the lipstick name on the actual tube of lipstick due to the font and font color combination on the packaging.
Appearance in Product Packaging
The sample-size liquid lipsticks each come in a sleek plastic tube. The applicator has a nice size brush to swipe the color onto your lips.
Consistency & Application
The liquid lipstick sample tubes are very easy to handle and apply onto your lips. At first, the liquid lipstick goes on like a gloss – it’s moist and somewhat shiny. I don’t have to use a lot of the product to cover my lips. After about 30 seconds, it starts to set into its matte finish. Right after the lipstick has set, I usually press my lips together to smooth out the lipstick distribution on my lips, and it does feel slightly sticky when I do this, like my lips have to be peeled slowly apart. However, the extreme sticky feeling only lasts for maybe a minute or two. Once a little time has passed, my lips are as matted as can be and only a tiny bit sticky. I didn’t think that the slight stickiness would be enough to make me not like to wear the lipstick everyday, but it is slightly annoying and might turn some people off – I get that.
Appearance on Skin
lipstick swatches in order of their packaging. On the right side, i’m wearing COMMITTED.
What I love most about theBalm’s Meet Matt(e) Hughes liquid lipstick is the color and finish on my lips! I honestly gave up lipgloss years ago – it’s just too messy and high maintenance for me. I hate having to reapply so often! The colors theBalm chose for Meet Matt(e) Hughes are just gorgeous. I’m most obsessed with the shade “Committed,” – it’s the perfect mauve/everyday nude in the game! I also love how my lips look in the “Charming” and “Sincere” shades. To be honest, I am not in love with “Doting” but it’s due to the peachy-orange shade not looking the best with my skintone. Now, for some drama I’ll wear “Dedicated” or “Loyal,” since they are some deeeep reds and magenta colors.
Longevity
Longevity is definitely the Achilles’ Heel in the Meet Matt(e) Hughes liquid lipstick. I decided to keep track of just how long it does lasts until it starts to wear off/clump up on the lips, and I’ll say this: it stays on really well all morning and into the early afternoon. However, it starts to clump up on my lips between 4-5 hours of wearing it, no matter the color I have applied. When this happens, I do one of two things: 1) I blot my lips with a napkin, apply a moisturizing lip balm, and typically re-apply the liquid lipstick and let it dry and go about my day, or 2) I blot my lips and apply lip balm and DO NOT re-apply the liquid lipstick (some of the color of the lipstick is still on my lips), and let it be.
Overall Impression
I enjoyed trying out this sampler pack of 6 different colors of liquid lipstick. The fact that I feel confident wearing 5 out of the 6 colors makes it worth the purchase to me, too. The matte finish of this liquid lipstick is so on point – it’s exactly what I’ve been wanting to find for so long! In the future, I’ll most likely just buy the normal size “Committed” and interchange it with some of my other favorite lipsticks. I don’t think I could rely solely on this product as my go-to lipstick due to its stickiness and clumping factors, but overall, I still really enjoy wearing it.
That’s all I’ve got for this product review today! Would love to hear your opinions on Meet Matt(e) Hughes or theBalm cosmetic products, in general. Share your thoughts in the comments below. Cheers!
