Red lipstick: some live by it, some fear it, some have just never found “the one”. We tried Rihanna’s new universal red lip paint on the day of launch to see if it could change the red lip game
Fenty Beauty is leading the charge for diversity in beauty halls, in terms of skintone at least, so it may seem intriguing that, despite launching an impressive 40 shades of foundation, her freshest addition is available in just one shade. Stunna Lip Paint , £19, launched yesterday, promising “one head-turning red that’s got everyone’s name on it”. Now, we’re not everyone, but Ayesha, Victoria and I have very different makeup tastes and colouring, so one single lipstick to fit seems like quite the ask. Here’s the Stunna assessment…
What does it do?
It’s essentially a long lasting matte liquid lipstick, but when we say matte, we don’t mean dry, cracky or powdery. It has a tiny hint of a sheen once on, so is far from the arid matte liquid lips that have a tendency to flake away mid evening meal or come off on your croissant in the morning. It’s intended to stay put for twelve hours, although we found that you’ll need to touch up the centre of your lips after a few hours, but the slight fade out isn’t obvious. In terms of application and wear, it is indeed low maintenance as promised, and as for the shade working for everyone, we’ve witnessed it on the palest redheads and deep black skin, alongside our own office sample size, and it’s the TRUTH. You’d never guess we were wearing the same lipstick, but it’s undeniably flattering on everyone. It also made Ayesha’s teeth look ‘Colgate ad’ white.
What’s it like to use?
A doddle. Not so liquid as to drip over your lip line, but smooth enough to whip over lips in just one highly pigmented coat, the cushion tip has a flatter side for filling in lips, and a sharper edge for definition. No lipliner required. Touch-ups don’t result in a piling up of product either. In terms of texture, it’s smooth and comfortable, and the pigment is as bold as they come. Just one quibble: Rihanna reckons it’s “make-out proof”, but said make-out session would need to be VERY light and gentle - Stunna doesn’t tattoo on to the degree of some liquid lipsticks, but then again it keeps lips looking and feeling supple rather deprived of all moisture, which comes above heavy petting in my book.
The verdict?
Stunna is a winner. Yes, we had good lighting in our photo session, but Victoria wore it to meetings all day and I went straight out for a three-course meal afterwards, and Stunna stood its ground and garnered compliments without me dropping hints whatsoever. It seemed to brighten up our skintones with zero clashing, and didn’t bleed beyond the lip line. Just keep it on hand for occasional filling in, and bear in mind that makeup rarely survives any real ‘make-out’ session. That probably wouldn’t be your priority in the heat of the moment anyway...