I forget where I first saw Lonely Plant Co's liquid lipsticks. I think it was a random "liquid lipstick" Etsy search and they popped up. Either way they happened to enter my life at a time when I was desperately searching for a good nude liquid lipstick, but at the moment they only had one shade I wanted, so I shelved that idea. But then a few weeks later they came out with more shades AND a sale...so I took the plunge.
I've been giving these a test run for a few days straight now and feel like I have a solid grip on the formula and my feelings about it, so let's get down to it.
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| Shot of the ingredients! |
Lonely Planet Co has their brand aesthetic based around 70s era New York, which I really love. The names of all their lipsticks reference either pop icons or places from that time, and even their packaging labels have a neon 70s roller rink/disco vibe to them. The box labels were actually what sold me on purchasing from here, weirdly enough, but hear me out!
When I'm looking at a new indie company I'm not totally sure of, I'll usually look to make sure they have their ingredients listed, real swatches of the product that are undoctored, and what kind of packaging they have. For me, having not only tube labels but also customized box labels (and boxes even, that's not always common for indies) shows a dedication to the product and brand. It's an investment in the company you're now part of, so when I saw Lonely Planet not only had boxes but box labels that look quite pleasing to the eye? I was sold that this product was made by someone who cares about what they do. To me, it's the little extra touches like boxes or custom business cards or nicely drawn labels that make things really feel like you're purchasing from a company that cares about how it presents itself to customers. These things look professional and tell consumers this isn't just someone making cosmetics, this is a
brand.
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| Another nice professional-looking detail? Perforated shrink wrap baby. |
So, long story short, small touches make me a happy consumer because I feel they further bridge trust between me and that person however-many-thousand miles away. In that respect, Lonely Planet Co is really doin' it right. Everything even came mailed in a lovely bright pink box and packed carefully with pink and purple tissue for those extra cherries on the sundae.
These also shipped within a few days despite their big sale, so a short TAT is a bonus!
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| Debbie, named after Debbie Harry, and Brick City, which is named after "the streets on an autumn day". |
I picked up two colors I fell in love with: Debbie, a nude, and Brick City, a brick red color that was newly released along with a few other shades at the time of the sale. (Too many brick reds is an impossible thing, right?)
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| Creamy, dreamy goodness. |
The consistency of these was a bit surprising for me, because they're a lot more cream than liquid. The consistency of these reminds me a bit of the cultish Nyx Soft Matte Lip Creams, but better. (More on that in a sec.) These do have a scent/flavor of frosting, but it's not the standard "vanilla frosting" a lot of lip products have, but what I always detect as strawberry frosting. If you have bought a custom Shiro lipgloss, the scent might be familiar, because it's the exact same as their "Pink Frosting" flavoring/scent they use!
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| L to R: swatches of Brick City and Debbie in natural light. |
These are basically what Nyx Soft Matte Lip Creams wish they could be. They're very smooth and silky, but they dry to a very nice matte finish that doesn't transfer too much with normal light activities like cheek smooches or drinking coffee. If you apply balm before apply these they tend to keep the moisture in, so they don't always come off as drying as other liquid lipsticks can. I do find they can be a little itchy on the edges sometimes, but I'm not sure if that's entirely important or if it's just my face being fussy. (It's not an allergic reaction though at the very least, I have lip-tested and patch-tested these multiple times with no redness or actual flare-ups of any sort.)
Anyways, as far as dry time, these do take a bit longer to dry down. They are also not sticky like some liquid lipsticks can be, and when you rub your lips together you don't feel any flaking or crumbling either, like some other liquid lipsticks are prone to do. They set fully probably after a good five minutes or so, before that they can transfer and smudge. They're a bit prone to transfer if you accidentally, say, whack yourself in the face (not that I've done that...) or rub your mouth. Given how different the formula feels from other liquid lipsticks though I was quite surprised how kiss-proof and light snacking-proof these are. They take off best with oil or an oil-based makeup remover and stain very minimally.
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| Brick City on lips in natural light. |
Brick City is a nice Brick Red with a slightly orange-y undertone. It's the slightest bit washed out here, it photographs slightly lighter than it is. In real life it's a slightly deeper burnt red color. I find this one a bit thicker and drier formula-wise than Debbie. It takes a little work to spread it even around the edges of the lips, but it's not overly difficult.
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| Debbie on lips in natural light. |
Debbie is a nice nude, it's a brown with a peachy type of undertone. This formula is a bit wetter than Brick City, thus a smidge more prone to streaks (you can see I got lazy on the upper border of my lips, oops) but overall it's not too difficult to maneuver. This is also a bit darker than it photographed here.
One note, when I opened Debbie the tube had a smidgen of excess product caught in the threads when I unscrewed it, but it didn't bother me much, since I've had lipglosses from other companies do the same thing. I just felt it was worth mentioning, but overall it was one minor hiccup in what I have found to be a very pleasing order and experience overall.
Debbie is my favorite for more than just generally liking the color. Debbie is the one thing I thought I wouldn't find and then I found it by accident and...lemme explain. So my favorite favorite nude "lipstick" of all time is MAC's Nice 'n' Spicy Prolongwear Lip Pencil. I'm slowly wearing it down to a nub and I'm just overly in love with it, it's incredibly perfect.
However I don't wear it as much as I should because it's a bit sticky, being a pencil meant to extend the life of a lipstick layered on top of it. I was never sure if I'd be able to find a properly coordinating lipstick for it, let alone an exact match. I didn't even know where to start.
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| Debbie, with a line of Nice 'n' Spicy swatched under it, and a bit of Nice 'n' Spicy scribbled onto the right end of the swatch to prove just how good a match this is. |
And yeah, you guessed it. Debbie is pretty much an
exact color dupe. I bought the exact color dupe I was looking for without even trying. I still am in total shock and awe. I already liked Debbie before I'd really gotten it, but this put me over the moon. In fact, it put me pretty much shooting past the moon out to Jupiter and beyond.
So I think I've pretty much used up my makeup-allotted good luck for the next five years, but I'm cool with that. This made all the hassle of jailbreaking these out of customs feel totally worth it. So, as always, I leave you with some snaps snagged from instagram of these on a human face:
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| Brick City. |
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| Debbie. |
Where to buy: Lonely Planet Co's Etsy shop here! Also check out the tag #LonelyPlanetGirls on instagram for more swatches and pics of lipsticks by various customers.
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