Maybelline Superstay Vinyl Ink Review & Swatches

Maybelline Superstay Vinyl Ink Longwear Liquid Lipcolor ($11.99) is a new long-wearing lipstick that promises 16 hours of wear with a shiny, vinyl-like finish that’s available in 15 shade selections. These will likely become part of Maybelline’s permanent collection for a while but you’ll see them getting a big push for Summer 2022.

I was actually really good because I only purchased one. I’m not a fan of long-wearing lipstick anything as you well know but of course, I do love glossy or shiny lip products. That being said, I had some doubts about a product that promises long-wear and shine. I had a pretty solid opinion that this formula likely wouldn’t do both but I was willing to try nonetheless.

They’ve been heavily promoted and pushed on Tiktok and across social media and they have a solid formula but the hype is just that, hype. They aren’t super special, nor unique enough to warrant all this, “OH MY GOD” moments that I’m seeing on Tiktok.

Here are my thoughts on Maybelline Superstay Vinyl Ink!

As you well know I’m the only person in makeup land that isn’t a fond fan of Maybelline Super Stay Matte Ink. It’s a very popular product, it’s a very well-loved product, it’s just not one I’m a fan of. I think it’s sticky and drying. Superstay Vinyl Ink Longwear Liquid Lipcolor is just a variation of that formula in some ways with a lighter consistency, less stickiness, and less pigment.

But let’s discuss some good points here.

This comes in killer packaging. The square barrel has a laser “Vinyl” logo cute out that’s pretty dark slick. The barrel also has a nice bit of weight behind it. It feels quite luxurious for drugstore makeup. A single shade is around $12 bucks not on sale and 0.14 oz in size. Flashback to 2017, and Super Stay Matte Ink has a bit more product at 0.17 oz and was only around $8 to $10 bucks per shade. But times are changing and drugstore makeup prices have gone up considerably over the last ten years. But, hey, we never pay full price for drugstore makeup! A sale should happen at some point.

Warning major warning…WARNING…. SHAKE THIS PRODUCT BEFORE USE! I repeat. SHAKE THIS PRODUCT BEFORE USE. It’s absolutely useless to you if you don’t share it before use. You’ve been warned.

This formula is extremely watery and runny if you don’t take time out to mix the pigments with the oils. It becomes separated during storage and it’s incredibly important to shake it before each use. It even has a weight inside (sort of like nail polish) to ensure the pigments and oils mix properly before use. I’ve read several reviews with people saying, “It’s so watery!” “It’s not pigmented!” “It’s runny!” Please shake it before saying that.

The consistency remains a little watery after a good shake and isn’t as thick or as velvety as a regular long-wearing lip color but still applies very easily in my opinion. It’s quite thin, feels moist and hydrating at first, and slides onto my drier lips easily and smoothly. I chose the shade Peachy, a light nude peach with plenty of pigment at the first swipe.

It’s a very weightless formula and it feels good those first few minutes of the dry down. Initially, it does have a glossy look (not vinyl by any means) but it sets within a few minutes and has a more satiny finish. If you’re going into this purchase expecting glossy lips for 16 hours straight you’ll be disappointed as the glossiness disappears within moments of application. As it dries down I do get a bit of stickiness but nothing as crazy as what I got from Super Stay Matte Ink. They aren’t 100% transfer-proof but after they set the color does stay on quite well between food and drink. But, again, not completely transfer-proof. As I said the glossiness is really fleeting which made them a bit disappointing but really, I never did expect the gloss factor to be an all-day event. The color, however, does stick around for a solid six hours and felt a little tiny bit drying but nothing too bad. The color never migrated nor did it flake up. Long-wearing lipsticks tend to pill up on me and became flaky a few hours into the wear but I had no issues with this formula.

Maybelline Superstay Vinyl Ink is a fun little lipstick but there’s a lot of hype surrounding this formula. It’s a nice enough formula but not really the long-wearing, glossy formula I wanted. But that’s to be expected as shine and glossiness isn’t known for sticking around for a very long time but hey, the color does!

Have you tried these?

Thoughts?

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Where to buy

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