REVIEW: e.l.f. Studio Matte Lip Color

i was very excited to pick these up at Target during my L.A. trip - along with a few other things. you have no idea the overwhelmingly gratifying feeling i had when i walked out of those doors with my goodies in my bag. i would have visited 3 other Targets if i could. i can't wait for Target to start opening its doors in Canada!! i hope it will be as good as the American stores :)

so anyway! i picked up two of the e.l.f. Studio Matte Lip Colors (1.8 g) for $3 (US) each, which is the same price  as listed on the e.l.f. website. there are a total of 6 colors available, and i settled on "82463 Tea Rose" and of course, "82461 Coral".

i find the jumbo pencil format really cute. the exterior is sleek and round with the indication of the color around the bottom (which actually resembles the real color). the lid is a bit of a pain though since you really have to press down to close it and when i tried to take the lid off one time, my "Coral" one almost flew out of its container.

the formula is obviously going to be drier than say, the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains since we are talking about a matte lip product here. it does tug a bit when applying and it looked horrible the first time i put it on. it settled into every crack and emphasized all the dry patches of my lips so exfoliated soft lips is a must! i looked up some tips on wearing matte lipsticks and it includes: exfoliating first, dabbing some lip balm with a very light hand about 10 minutes prior, and when you are actually applying it to your lips, start from the center and blend it out with your fingers. it's difficult to get all the areas (especially near the inside of your lip - the part you can see when you pucker your lips) so blending with your finger really helped there.

the "Coral" lip color barely had a scent to it but on the other hand, "Tea Rose" smelt pretty terrible. i couldn't detect it when applying but when i sniff it now, it smells like bad herbal medicine.

the first one i tried was "Coral" and it looked absolutely - did i say horrible earlier? let's take one more step up and say - horrific. i had no idea how i was going to show close-ups of my lips in that condition! following the steps i listed above really helped though so here are some more acceptable pictures.

"Coral" - a very soft peach color. it can almost pass for a nude lip color for me.

"Tea Rose" is a lilac shade. at first i found it too much on the cool side for my skin tone but then i started liking it a little bit.

and finally some arm swatches:

top to bottom: artificial light; natural light

-- update September 22, 2012 -- so i stumbled on a video that was recommended for me on the main YouTube page and it was a review on the same e.l.f. lip products i reviewed here. the lady in the video mentioned that there was actually a hidden sharpener at the end of the lip color. there is no mention of this on the e.l.f. website at all so i was very surprised. i can't find the video right now to give the lady credit but when i do, i will add her name here. 
so you can actually twist the end (where it is colored) off, and you can use it to sharpen the lip color. amazing huh? --

before figuring out the proper way to apply matte lipstick, i was not a fan - but now i'd recommend it to those who want to add a few mattes to their collection. they're affordable and the pigmentation is definitely there. the lip colors leave a stain and are quite resistant to water (a stain from the arm swatches remained even after a shower). surprisingly, i did not find that it dried my lips out while wearing it but i would recommend some lip balm afterwards. the only setback is that the color selection is a bit limited. 

what is your take on matte lipsticks?