Socialite, Flashing Lights, It Girl, Private Viewing
Revlon recently introduced the ColorStay Ultimate Suede lipsticks. They come in 20 shades and are said to give instant moisture, all-day color and contain Shea butter and Aloe. Sounds pretty amazing to me…
Socialite, Flashing Lights, It Girl, Private Viewing
Swatched L to R: Socialite, Flashing Lights, It Girl, Private Viewing
Socialite
Flashing Lights
It Girl
Private Viewing
I was definitely intrigued by Revlon’s idea to create a lipstick line with a suede finish, so I decided I’d like to experience the “suede-ness” on my lips too! The shade range is magnificent so I found it a little hard to choose which ones to purchase. My two favorite shades featured in this post are Flashing Lights and Private Viewing. They both have a slightly frosty sheen to them that is gorgeous. I am also loving the sleek packaging of these lipsticks, and they are also very secure and “click” into place when the lid is on.
What Revlon says about the new ColorStay Ultimate Suede Lipsticks: “This velvety soft formula with moisturizing shea butter and aloe is food proof and doesn’t quit…Apply once and go.”
Application Notes & My Experience
My initial experience with these lipsticks was: A very smooth and creamy color that feels moisturizing, is pigmented, gives the perfect amount of lip coverage and leaves the lips with a slight sheen. After about five minutes, however, this moisturizing feeling subsides and is replaced by a tacky coating feeling on the lips. When I would talk my lips would at times stick together. As the lipstick began to wear it started to feel like the coating on my lips was starting to crack a bit. After about 1.5 hours of wear and eating a snack, this is how my lips looked:
As you can see, yes indeed, the “cracking” feeling is exactly what I was feeling! I will give Revlon this, however, the part that you see on my lips above does stay on my lips (hence the “doesn’t quit” part) and must be removed with a makeup removing wipe and a good amount of scrubbing to get it off. I tried to remove what was left over at a restaurant after eating a meal and it was a no-go behind the discretion of my napkin at the table, so I had to excuse myself to scrub it off of my lips in the restroom.
I will be honest and say I did not enjoy this product. Although I did give each shade I purchased a fair shot, and experimented with exfoliating and/or moisturizing and not moisturizing my lips, I just could not get this product to work for me. The initial application was perfect, the pigmentation was perfect, but then it went downhill from there. (I am giving it a halfway rating for longevity because about half of it stayed very stuck to my lips and did not quit!)
If you have had a different experience with these lipsticks I would love for you to comment below and let me know. I am uncertain if just a reaction with my lips, or if it performs this way for many people as well. It could be that suede is a hard texture to mimic on the lips and the formula needs to be reworked. It was a good idea though!
*Update 4/22/13 In reading others suggestions in the comments below it seems this product may work for some by using a thick balm underneath the product or a gloss to top it off which would provide additional moisture for those that need it, so if you are experiencing dry lips as I was give that a try!
Where To Buy: Currently in drugstores and online at Target, $8.49 each.
Disclosure: I purchased this product. For more details on VR’s product review policy, please see our Terms&Conditions page.
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Yikes… I’ve contemplated these. But long-wearing tends to mean cracked and drying on my lips. Looks like I should steer clear!
i was so tempted to see the packaging.. and now so disappointed to read your comments.. but i must thin know before to buy
Yes I was disappointed they did not work well for me, but it is possible it might work for someone else. I will be sure to let you know if I run across a positive review for these lipsticks just in case it would help you out even more. I was also so in love with the packaging and the colors which made it more disappointing.
so true packaging is so elegant and different from usual packaging of Revlon lip products.. and thanks for letting me know about update
I think cosmetic companies have made great progress in making a more comfortable and long-wearing lipstick but something about the suede texture just didn’t seem to work for me. Too bad because they have really beautiful packaging!
Well, I’m glad I didn’t splurge and buy all the shades I was eyeing. As a busy mommy, I don’t have time or memory to check on my lip color and retouch. I wonder how they tested these and found them to be worth releasing and promoting? hm. Great review girl, and the photos are so pretty! The shades seem a lot lighter than I was expecting, I assumed they would be super pigmented because of the “suede” title, idk, lol.
Yes it is too bad these didn’t work for me – I am still hoping I hear from another blogger who found these to work well so I can share their review as well. Thank you for the compliments on the review. I must admit I had a great time shooting these beautiful lipsticks.
I also agree about the pigmentation. Although they went on with a good amount of color that I thought was very acceptable “suede” does seem like it would be more rich – but in this case maybe they were going for a suede feeling instead. Quite possibly I now know that suede doesn’t feel very natural on the lips, lol. 
I too was drawn in by all the beautiful colors, and had high hopes for these. I experienced the same issues you mentioned when trying to wear them on their own, but have been able to get them to function pretty much like a regular lipstick when I put a gloss on top. Oddly, I’ve found that some gloss formulations tend to interact with them better than others. I also have Flashing Lights, and topping it with Milani’s Crystal Gloss in Summer Baby is a really pretty combination. I usually apply the lipstick and let it “set” for a couple of minutes while I finish my makeup, and then apply the gloss on top. I find that they seem to wear longer than a regular lipstick with gloss (though certainly not all day!), and that by refreshing it with gloss only throughout the day it seems to wear pretty well. If I’m doing something in the evening, or if it looks really worn off after I eat, I reapply the lipstick again and then add the gloss (just as I would with a regular lipstick). It’s more work than I intially had in mind for a lipstick that’s supposed to be lower maintenance, but I’ve got them (and the colors are so pretty!), so I figured I might as well find a way to make them work!
Oh wow! Great suggestions! I am so glad you got them to work so thank you very much for sharing how you do it. That is also very helpful to know some glosses work better than others – I am sure this will help others as well. I will give it a try! Thank you again for sharing!
<3
I grabbed one without reading anything about them, with my lip issues anything long wearing can be rough but with my magical topper gloss I can make most things work. This though, it was worse than a general matte or long wear color of the modern days. More like the long wear stuff I tried as a teen. Lip flake heaven!
Oh boy, yes I had thought of you when trying these out actually and thought you may like to know how drying/crispy they are, lol.
I still need to purchase one of those magical toppers you talk about – eeek! 
Oooh, that’s too bad! They look so pretty on your lips at first–especially love Private Viewing and Flashing Lights. But that cracked look is NOT pretty (no offense
). Such a shame!
Well I was hesitant to post that photo up with the rest of them, but really to describe it well I felt it really needed it. A reader suggested (below in the comments) that she finds it to work well with gloss on top. I may have to give it a try just in case that helps out. (But it may take the sueded look away). I am still hoping someone comments that this product works alone on their lips.
It would be great to know anyway!
I got one
I put on a thick layer of lip balm before doing
today and it did kind of work on me (without putting any gloss on top)
my makeup. When everything is done (around 10-15 mins), I wiped off the lip
balm and put the lipstick on. It is still a bit dry comparing to the other lipstick
but I am just so in love with the colour, so it is still alrite for me :p
Thank you for sharing how it works for you! I may have to give it a few more tries using more methods. I am glad you love the color you chose as well!
It Girl doesn’t look anything like the ads in your pictures. UGH, I hate how they photoshop everything!!!
What a pity, these lipsticks would have tempted to me, colors are sublime I find.
They do have such gorgeous shades! I have heard some have found if they use a balm it does help with the dryness. It could also depend on how dry the lips are naturally so it is possible that is why it did not work for me.
ok thanks ! May be I’ll try at the occasion… with a balm !
Great Swatches. I LOVE your blog. such quality posts! My favorite beauty blog!!!!!!!! ♥
Hi Bria,
Have a beautiful day!
Thank you for the kind compliments on my blog – I am very happy you enjoy it!