Lipstick Diaries #1: KIKO Unlimited Stylo lipstick in Warm Rose

It's February and a tad bit too late to post on resolutions, but better late than never, they say. I hope nothing but survival this year. It's all I think about. Pass my graduate course, get a job, not get depressed. My aim this year with this blog is to post on a regular basis. While there are numerous challenges that I can commit myself to, evidently from last year's un-updated project pan, I don't think working on the same products and writing a progress report on them monthly was something I can commit to. I'm also not a seasonally-motivated person so I can't be bothered to have a make-up capsule as a project, or a mini project pan (Finish X by X sort of a thing.)

A project that I feel I am interested to invest my time into completing is Bad Outfit Great Lipstick's Lipstick Diaries. It's a great way to work one's way into using all of their lipsticks, especially if that someone (me) has a lot of them. So, I will attempt to use one lipstick from my collection for a couple of days and write about them. A bit of warning, I think I won't be able to write just about lipsticks, though. I have always preferred a blogging + beauty style, not just reviews. I can't promise the things I write alongside my reviews are spectacularly interesting, so if anyone skips that part completely, no offence is taken, of course.

Enough babble. Now, let's begin!

I was visiting a friend a couple of weekends ago and visited a nearby KIKO store to check out their 30% sale. Of course, it's never that easy -- you gotta spend £30 to qualify for said sale. I ain't spending that much money! My intention was to get some of their Smart Shade lipsticks. I tried one lipstick from the range last year and loved it. Unfortunately, none were seen in the store (and only one shade is available on their website), I am sure they are discontinuing the range :( So instead, I went on a swatch fest with my friend and we talked about how I got introduced to KIKO, since she's never even heard of it. (The blogosphere, of course.)

I ended up getting their new Unlimited Stylo lipstick in 05 Warm Rose.  In the above picture, it is the only swatch on the third row and the swatch above it. Yes, I swatched it twice on my hand and even on my lips!

The design of the lipstick's packaging is sleek, making the lipstick look more expensive than they actually are. It's plastic and the clasp is pretty secure, although a bit janky (is this a word?) at times.

Forgiving lighting vs. Unforgiving lighting

I adore the colour of the lipstick. Instead of warm, I think it appears to be a white-based pink neutral on me, especially in conditions where the light is unforgiving (i.e. direct sunlight). In the dimmed lighting of the library, it looks warmer. The lipstick application was creamy and opaque in one swipe, and in fact one of its selling point for me was how creamy it applied when I swatched it in store. However, when my lips are dry and flaky, expectedly the lipstick becomes crumbly but it was not the worst of all the dry-crumbly textures I've had to experience. Alas, I can't hope a tube of lipstick to do any magic if the fault is actually my dry, chapped lips, no?

In the library vs. in front of the windows

I would call the finish to be velvet matte, it has no shine at all. In fact, I noticed it to turn into more of a powdery matte finish after about an hour or so. The lasting power is not that great, maybe 4 hours with constant coffee/water drinking? I personally don't mind this with my lipsticks, reapplication is a ritual I actually enjoy. Talking about reapplication, I didn't like how the lipstick reapplied on itself after some hours of wear. It is unattractively patchy. My trick is apply lip balm first, then the lipstick.

L-R: KIKO Unlimited Stylo in Warm Rose, KIKO 414 Mauve,
Revlon Lip Butter 096 Macaroon, Revlon Matte Balm 205 Elusive.

Compared to my other lipsticks, Warm Rose is most similar to Revlon Matte Balm in Elusive, but a bit deeper and warmer. It is not a my lips but better colour (KIKO 414 Mauve is) but it is a very natural pink for everyday use.

As for ratings, I'm gonna go for a simple scoring out of 5 points for this project and Warm Rose would be a 3.5/5.