e.l.f. Lip Stains

e.l.f. Lip Stains Lip Swatches and Review

During the e.l.f. moving sale, I managed to get all four colors of their Studio Lip Stains for a dollar each. They're usually $3.00 USD, which isn't a bad price, but if you can get them for cheaper then definitely do. In this picture I have them in the order (from left to right) of Heartbreaker, Fashionista, Birthday Suit, and Red Carpet. The colored side dries to a matte looking finish, but it isn't totally transfer-proof so that means it isn't super drying. You can layer the gloss on top for a glossy finish, but I find that when you do that it makes the color underneath separate and go patchy if you aren't careful. My recommendation is to use just the colored side and go for a matte look. It's pretty long lasting and it layers well so it won't go all weird like some liquid lipsticks do when you try to touch up. I will mention that they have a bit of an odd smell so if that bugs you, you may want to steer clear of these.

This is Heartbreaker on my lips, without gloss on the top and with gloss on the bottom. It's a bit sheer so you may want to layer it a couple of times if you're going for a more opaque look. I find that the best way to apply the gloss is to dab rather than swipe, otherwise it will disturb the color.

Here is Fashionista on my lips, matte on the top and glossy on the bottom. This color seemed to be a bit crumbly on the inner part of my lips for some reason, but none of the other colors did that.

This is Birthday Suit. This one is the sheerest and needs the most building up. It's also the most easily disturbed by the gloss.

Red Carpet s my favorite shade because it's the least sheer and the gloss doesn't disturb it as easily. It's a very pretty red as well. If I had to choose one shade to keep it would definitely be this one.

Overall, I think these are decent lip products and if you're just getting into makeup and don't want to spend a lot of money then they might be for you. But if you already have lots of lip products that you love, this probably won't be anything special. None of the colors are especially unique, and the formula isn't all that great in my opinion, although it certainly isn't terrible either. Is it worth $3.00? Yes, and definitely worth the $1.00 each that I paid. But I don't see myself wearing them very often.