I embarked on an experiment to see if Maybelline’s SuperStay lip colors really stay in place for 24 hours. What I found out was exciting!
I’ve never had a good relationship with lipstick. I hate waiting all day for my lip color to end up all over my teeth like ugly crayon marks. I hate feeling self-conscious when I drink from a glass at a restaurant. I hate having to feel anxious about the possibility of it smudging all over the rest of my face. On top of all that, I’m a constant snacker and an even more constant lip-biter. Lipstick and I have just never been friends.
That’s why I was so surprised when a friend of mine, who’s heard all too often about my bad relationship with it, recommended a lipstick to me. She said that she’d finally tried Maybelline’s SuperStay 24 Color Lipsticks– a product I’ve heard about from beauty bloggers and magazines for freaking ever– and that it was a game-changer. I was hesitant to try it out, considering a) I’m trying to transition to only buying cruelty-free beauty products and b) I’ve never, ever met a lipstick that truly understood me. Still, some little voice in the back of my head convinced me to go for it. Fighting against my better judgment and my morals all at once, I picked up a tube for $9 at Target and embarked on this experiment.
The Experiment
The photo at the top of this page is what my lipstick looked like when I first got to work in the morning, at 9 am, after applying it at about 7:30. I actually like the way it looks (a first!), although putting it on was an odd process. You use one end of the tube to paint your lips with a tar-like product, being incredibly careful not to go out of the lines, and you have to sit with your mouth gaping open for a minute or two to let it dry. After that, you put on the gloss to get rid of the sticky, filmy feeling.
Here I am right before lunchtime, around 1 pm. You can see that a teeny tiny bit around my bottom lip seems to have come off– more like a chip than a smear. I was still amazed that it was staying in place for even that long since I’d been through a cup of hot tea, a bunch of almonds, and a long conference call.
This is me on my way back to the office after my lunch break, wearing a genuine smile. I’m amazed that my lips looked like this after eating a burrito because everyone knows that Chipotle and lipstick are lifelong enemies. I didn’t even care that some dude gave me a weird look for taking a selfie on the sidewalk. I was that pumped about my lips!
And that’s when things started to change. This is me at 4 pm, realizing that everything good must eventually come to an end. I’m not sure how obvious it is in the lighting, but there was a super, super, super noticeable line where the inside of my lip began. I’m lucky that I work with a bunch of men because not only did no one seem to notice, but I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t understand what was going on even if I pointed it out. You can tell from my adorable facial expression that I wasn’t feeling it.
And here I am on my way home, angering the cars around me by taking selfies at a red light in the middle of LA traffic. This was 6:30, and as you can see, my lipstick wasn’t really having the time of its life. I held out with the experiment until 7 when I had a date with my boyfriend, who didn’t deserve to stare at my weird, patchy lips all night.
The Conclusion
While bits and pieces of the color stayed in place for a full 12 hours, it’s pretty clear to see that calling this a 24-hour product is a major stretch. That being said, though, it was still the longest I’ve ever gone without losing a lipstick altogether. I’m into this. I’m definitely $9 into it. This is one of those products that I’ll be recommending to friends and keeping in my purse in the event of lip emergencies. If you have any experience with this product (or one similar to it), be sure to let us know how you feel about it!
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