I’ve been blissfully unaware of new makeup launches, thanks to boring launches and my preoccupation with (read: addiction to) Korean TV series. I’m now watching Crash Landing on You.
But then, one gloomy Toronto day, the clouds parted within Instagram and I saw a post by Lisa Eldridge announcing her next launch. Now, I skipped the last launch entirely; she launched a bunch of blushes and highlighters. And while I was tempted, I still have so many blushes and highlighters I need to finish. Right now, I’m trying to finish the Honest Beauty Peony blush (must buy if you’re looking for a dewy clean blush), Milani’s Dolce Pink (the best dupe for Nars Orgasm) and an old Tarte Holiday Blush palette. And no, I haven’t forgotten my goal to purchase clean, cruelty free and local products. If I haven’t purchased makeup in the last 4 months it’s precisely because of this.
Back to Lisa Eldridge’s launch. So, I’ve been looking for the best red that suits my face. I’m an Asian, brown skinned person with neutral and a slight yellow undertone. Some blue reds looks okay on me and an orange red looks only marginally better.
When I saw that Lisa was adding more reds, I decided to purchase the Red lipsticks I missed out on last time, as well as her new red lipstick – Velvet Cinnabar. While she has also launched 3 new other shades – Velvet Intrigue, Velvet Petal and Velvet Blush Lightly, they were an easy skip for me. Like I pointed out in my previous Lisa Edlridge post, her lipsticks tend to be various degrees of nudes, pinks and reds, and I think I’m good with the pinks and nudes I’ve already purchased.
Lipsticks I purchased
For this time’s order, I purchased lipsticks in Velvet Morning, Velvet Dragon, and Velvet Cinnabar (+ liner pencil). Despite the order being smaller than usual, I did pay CA$ 50 in duties and taxes. Now, here’s something unexpected I discovered in this batch of lipsticks – -they’re drier than I remember. I’m not sure if it’s the color (i.e. reds tend to be drier) or if this batch was just drier than usual.
Velvet Morning
This is an orange based lipstick. Something about the tones in Lisa’s red lipsticks just don’t work with me. This pulled an Hermes orange on me and I’m disappointed. I was hoping that it’d be similar to Revlon 725 Love That Red, which is the perfect red for me. I was hoping to find the same shade but in Lisa’s velvet formula.
Revlon 725 is a bit more red and less orange than Velvet Morning. Ribbon is close but it’s a bit more blue than Morning.
I found Guerlain Satin Lipstick that is a bit similar to Morning. Unfortunately, I can’t find the packaging but I believe it’s N214 Brick Red.
Having said that, I’m going to Morning again and I’m hoping that I might feel different about it.
Velvet Dragon
As an Asian, I was looking forward to purchasing this shade. Unfortunately, it pulled very yellow on my lips. Dragon is very similar to Morning — Morning pulls orange while Dragon pulls yellow. Again, I need to try this lipstick a bit more to be sure.
Velvet Cinnabar
Love this color! I’m so glad I purchased the liner too. And as expected it’s very similar to Nars Olivia. So I get to use the liner for both lipsticks! This is a win and worth purchasing if you like darker colors. It’s a beautiful brown red and looks amazing on brown skin.
Swatches and Dupes
I swatched all the reds and shades of berry that I have in my collection to see if I have dupes. While most of the lipsticks weren’t exact dupes, you can see in the image taken with flash, that they’re very similar.
Here are some of the dupes I found:
Velvet Morning: Velvet Dragon, Revlon Love That Red 725, Guerlain Satin in N214 Brick Red, Urban Decay Vice Liquid Lipstick in Wired (this one looks a Warm Red under the flash but leans more purple Red in normal light)
Velvet Dragon: Velvet Morning
Velvet Cinnabar: Nars Olivia
Velvet Jazz (existing shade): Guerlain Limited Edition Lipstick (I think it was Rosewood), Revlon Colorstay Satin Ink 020 On a Mission.
A special mention is the Bobbi Brown Blackberry. It’s a beautiful easy to wear formula and is very similar to Velvet Midnight.
Should you buy it?
This may sound noncommittal but I’ll say this — Lisa’s lipsticks are an experience. I know the shipping costs suck but if you can afford it and you enjoy lipsticks, you should purchase one. Pick the one you’re most likely to use every day (because these lipsticks do tend to dry out). But this isn’t a must buy product; you could easily purchase a Charlotte Tilbury or a Chanel lipstick instead, which would save you the shipping and taxes. Other options include: Chanel (they’ve supposedly stepped up its lipstick game lately), Urban Decay Vice Lipsticks (A high-end lipstick line that people seem to not pay attention to) and Guerlain lipsticks. I’m sure you can find dupes in any one of these lines.
At the end of the day, your choice will depend on what you’re willing to spend for your makeup. Keep in mind, we have an inflation waiting for us around the corner and you can always wait for the next drop and purchase the lipsticks then, after you’ve saved up.
Featured Image by Etienne Girardet on Unsplash