I was struggling with the decision of what to post for my favourite red lipstick. You see I don’t wear red lipstick often. I’m quite a scaredy cat when it comes to the prospect of leaving the house with an in your face red lip. I only owned a grand total of two red lipsticks. The Chanel Rouge Allure Byzantin from the Byzance de Chanel Collection which is a pink toned red with subtle shimmer and the magnificent Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Pur Couture The Mats in Rouge Rock from Fall 2012 which is a stunning soft matte true red. I was set on the gorgeous YSL until this beauty arrived at my doorstep. The new Make Up For Ever Aqua Rouge in #8 Iconic Red.
Aqua Rouge ($27 CAD). It is a waterproof, smudge proof, kiss proof long-wearing lip colour. One end houses the opaque liquid lipstick while the other contains the clear topcoat for lacquered shine. There are 12 shades available.
As soon as I started applying the liquid lip colour to my lips with the doe foot applicator I knew it was going to be true love. It is a such a richly pigmented and fully opaque formula that applies so perfectly.
The other end houses the clear topcoat with brush applicator. This is after I tested the lipstick and you can see there was no transfer of red to the brush. I love that the masterminds at Make Up For Ever were smart enough to create the beautiful smoked gradation on the topcoat tube so that if at any point there is transfer of colour the product will still look pristine in the packaging. They really have thought of everything!
I wanted to show you how the product looks with and without the clear topcoat. You can totally wear this either way which essentially makes this two lipsticks in one. I can’t even decide if I prefer the look of the soft matte liquid lip colour by itself or with the glossy shine of the topcoat applied.
Without clear topcoat:
With clear topcoat. Holy shabam in your face red baby!
How fan-freakin-tastic is this lip colour? I mean not only is #8 Iconic Red…well….iconic, but the formula is amazing. Hour after hour went by and it looked just as incredible as when I had first applied it. I was actually amazed at how long it took the clear glossy topcoat to wear off. It did so very gradually and each phase brought a lovely new take on the finish of Iconic Red. I can’t see needing to even reapply the colour during the day unless you ate a really greasy meal. It just seems to go on and on. I even did the kiss proof test. Hubby starting backing away from me as I rushed him with my glossy red lips. I’m sure he was not looking forward to wearing my red lipstick. Imagine his surprise when I had him look in the mirror and there wasn’t any sign of red on his lips at all. And yes, mine still looked perfect with just a touch less glossy sheen.
You can see it here about 4 hours after application right after I ate my dinner. It only wore off on the very inside of my lips. I just reapplied to that area and reapplied the topcoat and wore it for the rest of the night.
Here it is at bedtime after I rubbed the heck out of it with a tissue. A very small amount of colour ended up on the tissue and my lips still looked darn near perfect except for all the bits of tissue the vigorous rubbing left behind. Wow!
What has impressed me even more is that I don’t get the weird pilling sensation I used to get with long wear lip colours like these that have come out in the past. I would always feel self conscious having the sensation of lumps and bits on my lips as products wore off and even though they looked fine to others it drove me nuts. I didn’t get that sensation at all with the Make Up For Ever Aqua Rouge and that is why I am anxious to pick up many more shades!
Available at Sephora and Make Up For Ever Boutiques.
Be sure to check out the other Makeup Wars member’s favourite red lip products using the Previous/Next buttons above or by clicking on the thumbnails below.
Product provided for my consideration by the company. All reviews are my own honest and unbiased opinions.
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