Me Now Generation II Long Lasting Lip Gloss #36 (Born Pretty Matte Lip Cream)

Based on your comments under my latest New in post, this matte lip cream generated most interest, so here it is. It has a series of complicated names, both on the tube and on the Born Pretty website, so I shall just call it Born Pretty Matte Lip Cream. Born Pretty sells 12 shades of these and they are all swatched on their website. Now that I'm looking at it again, I'm surprised at myself hat I didn't choose a different shade as I like most of them, but this is a lovely colour any way, just a bit bright.

Colour: This is so bright! But when I asked others they said that it's nothing different from what I usually wear. #36 is a bright fuchsia shade, which looks like a warm shade in the tube, but on my lips it more neutral/leaning to cool. It's similar to Bourjois' Rouge Edition Velvet in Olé Flamingo and Catrice's Mission Pinkpossible as the closest comparisons I own. This is a shade for the brave, also because the lasting power is insane and when you decide to wear this, there is no going back unless you're prepared to spend quite some time with an oil based remover rubbing this off. It dries into that nice matte finish that I'm a huge fan off, though looking at it closely, it does have a tiny bit of the shine and also the thickness of application determines how fast it will turn matte. In case of a thin coat that happens almost immediately.

Texture: It's a lip cream, but very different from what I'm used to. It's thicker than for example Nyx's version and not a mousse-cream hybrid like Bourjois' version. I suggest applying a thin coat and avoiding layering it because once it's on the lips, it dries into this uniform matte layer and the thicker the coat is, the more prone it is to cracks and flaking after hours of wear. Because it dries into this layer, the first minutes or even a hour, you'll definitely feel it on your lips, not necessarily as a dryness, but more as tightness. This feeling disappears over time. The one issue I have with this is the stickiness, not when you press your lips to a glass or test it with fingers, but mostly just when you press your lips together. This stickiness is quite strong and is occasionally the cause of minor flaking, so this is not a product to wear when you know might be talking a lot right after application (unless you avoid letters p,b and m, but I don't how how that would work out for you). Like the tightness, the stickiness also disappears in time and it behaves like a regular matte lip cream.

I'm also wearing Smooth Liquid Eye Liner with a panda design on the eyes 

Staying power: Due to the stickiness you can guess yourself that this sticks on like a glue, except if you're so unlucky (or you applied it too thick) that a part might flake off. It lasts through meals and drinking, although it still transfers a bit. I can't say that this wears off particularly nicely. It disappears from the inner corners first, especially after a meal that includes oils, but the main bulk of the colour stays put for a long time. At the end of the day (meaning after at least 10 hours), it looks patchy, with the colour concentrating on the edges of the lips, but all the lips are still stained. Due to that strong stain action, I also have to warn you to be careful not to get this anywhere else than the lips because it's a pain to scrub off.

Packaging: It's a long tube in a design that is nothing new to me, since Manhattan had something similar four or five years ago. Apart from stickiness, which I can handle because I'm not much of a talker, I don't get along with the applicator. The sponge it fine, but the length of the wand is seriously impeding the ability to do a nice application. If only it were a centimetre or two shorter, it would make it so much easier.  

Scent: This has a paint like scent, which is not particularly noticeable.

Price and availability: These cost 2.99 $ on the Born Pretty website, which makes them some of the most affordable matte lip creams, especially if you consider that the shipping is free as well. All twelve colours cost 18 $.

I got a code to that gives you 10% off your order MKOH10, which is also in the sidebar (it's a direct link to the website).

All the name confusion aside, this is a nice and very long lasting matte lip cream for a very affordable price. The wand is a nuisance as it the initial stickiness, but these are not massive downsides. For the price these are lovely and I'm really digging the shade range.

Have a great day!

*I was send this by Born Pretty.

Posted in: Skincare