With all the matte and semi-matte lipsticks around, I was craving a lip gloss. I've actually finished a bunch over the last couple of months, so I was ready to try something new and chose two colors of Make Up For Ever Artist Plexi-Gloss. It was an "eeny, meeny, miny, moe" situation, because I couldn't decide between the many attractive option, so I went with one cream and one pearl finish, both in the opaque range: 204, and 402P.
Plexi-Gloss 204 is a heather rose color (Sephora's description hilariously calls it "old rose". Whatever) that I wear as a naked/my-lips-but-better kind of a thing. It's effortless and goes with everything, since it's so close to my natural lip hue. My other pick, 402P, is a warm red with the tiniest gold flecks. You can't really see the particles on the lips, but they add to the gleam of this gloss, which catches the light beautifully on a candle-lit dinner.
The applicator for the Make Up For Ever Artist Plexi-Gloss is nice. It offers precision and flexibility. I don't find the little notch to be particularly helpful. It's supposed to function as a pool for all the product you need for a full application, but it comes up empty more often than not and I do have to re-dip.
There are both pros and cons for this Make Up For Ever formula. It's a moisturizing product, which has served me well during these winter months. While not being gooey the glosses are sticky, and that's annoying, considering there are many modern lip glosses that are much less so (Chanel, Marc Jacobs, Burberry, to name a few). The opaque finish is incredible: it works like a liquid lipstick, but it's still a gloss, so there's a lightness to the finish. The intense red of 402P leaves a stain, and for a gloss these are quite long-lasting (though they'll wipe away at the first bite of food or drink). I also find that doing the apply-blot-reapply thing makes the color stay on even longer, just like with many regular lipsticks. Also, these Plexi-Glosses are lightly perfumed, but the scent dissipates even before you finish application. Still, the smell is not my favorite. It's a combination of vanilla and plastic, and I expect better.
Bottom line: I love the colors and finish, the formula can be improved.
Make Up For Ever Artist Plexi-Gloss ($19 each, made in Italy) is available at Sephora.
Thanks, Gaia; these glosses make one feel that a real spring could be imminent, or at least the possibility of creating one's own! In England, 'old rose' is a real colour - a soft, slightly muddy dark pink colour rather than a clear light pink. This colour is spot on for 'old rose'.
ReplyDeleteI think it's what we call here "antique rose", which is among my favorite lipstick/gloss colors. The hybrid "old pink" is still rather amusing.
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