Maybelline Color Blur Cream Matte Pencil Review & Swatches
The new Maybelline Color Blur Cream Matte Pencil & Smudger ($6.99 at Harmons) is a new matte finish lipstick pencil available for Summer/Fall 2015 in a variety of vibrant shades. I’m not much of a matte lipstick fan myself but I was a curious about the new Maybelline Color Blush Cream Matte Pencils because they actually embrace a Korean lip trend that hasn’t really been in the spotlight here in the US.
Let’s take a look and I’ll explain further.
Maybelline Color Blur Cream Matte Pencil are a dual sided twist up lip pencil that contain a creamy lipstick on one side and a smudger on the other. Honestly, at a glance I thought for a second the smudger was some kind of setting balm like Revlon’s Just Bitten Kiss Balm Pencils but it turned out it was a smudger. Why the smudger? The smudger actually acts to recreate one of Korean beauty’s most popular lip looks! You might be privy to brands like Etude House and Tony Moly who tend to love creating this unusual smudged up ombre lip look. I actually don’t really love this look personally as 1. I can’t seem to get it right! Maybe my lips are too small? 2. It makes me look kinda sick and 3. It makes me look like I was playing in my mom’s makeup and didn’t completely apply my lipstick correctly.
The general idea of the look is to apply the lipstick towards the center of your mouth and smudge it gently so it bleeds a bit into the outer lip area but not too much. You want more color towards the center of your lips and less color towards the outer lip area. It’s kinda a funky faded up ombre lip look. I tried it with the smudger and thought the smudger a touch to large to recreate the look but again my lips might just be too small to get this look. You can see some of the lip looks below from a few Korean brands.
On that note I will say I wore the shades as all over lipstick and thought they rocked in the pigment department. They provide solid, smooth color on lips with a single swipe and build beautifully. They provide opaque color with an even matte finish on my drier lips. They didn’t accentuate dryness nor did they look dry or settle into my natural lip lines. The finish was beautifully smooth and very even. The actual tip of the pencil is a flat design so you can apply easily. They glide on incredibly well! I barely have to touch color to my lips, it just melts right on with a soft, velvety feel. They have no fragrance or flavor that I detected. It’s a funny thing because sometimes lip products that have no flavor still kinda taste like cardboard, ever have that happen? But these are truly completely flavor-free.
Maybelline Color Blur Cream Matte Pencil Swatches (My-My Magenta, Berry Misbehaved, Orange Ya Glad, Cherry Cherry Bang Bang, Partners in Crime)
Maybelline Berry Misbehaved Color Blur
Maybelline Cherry Cherry Bang Bang Color Blur
Maybelline Partner in Crimson Color Blur
Maybelline Orange Ya Glade Color Blur
Maybelline My My Magenta Color Blur
The wear is delightfully long at around five hours and some shades leave behind a staining effect as they fade! They don’t migrate or feather through the wear nor do they fade! They remain quite vibrant and fresh through the wear however, at around hour two and into three, four, and five the product feels a little more dry than when I originally applied but it isn’t terribly uncomfortable and lucky enough doesn’t translate to the actual finish looking dry.
All in all Maybelline Color Blur Cream Matte Pencils are a very nice lipstick product that takes on a very popular Asian lip trend. Whether or not anyone gets on board with the faded out lip look is the question. Personally it isn’t really my thing but it is different and it does show the promise of how Japanese, Korean, and other Asian beauty and makeup is influencing the US market and I love that!
Maybelline Color Blur Cream Matte Pencil are launching at drugstores now.
Tried them?
Do share your thoughts!