Melt has done it again! By that, I mean they’ve come out with yet another amazing new product with a wonderful, very wearable formula. I know there are a bazillion liquid lipsticks out there these days and a lot of companies have really stepped up their game to make liquid lipsticks MUCH more comfortable to wear, but Melt has gone above and beyond my expectations! The best part about this liquid lipstick is that it’s available in a set with an AllDay/Everyday Lip Liner that doesn’t necessarily match perfectly, but works with the Liquid Set Lipstick shade and compliments the color nicely. Melt’s liners are all very high quality (like all of their products), apply with no drag, and wearing nearly all day long with minimal touchups.
I purchased every shade/set that Melt has launched so far and will be posting all of them in the not-so-distant future. I have a TON of new products to review and post, so I’ll be switching it up day to day, even though I think most of the hot new shit I’ve purchased lately are lip products anyway.
I’m going to get pretty in depth in this post since this is a brand new product and formula, but the following posts for these will be a little more short and sweet. I just want my readers to get the full rundown on these products in case you all are interested in purchasing them!
I hope you all enjoy this post and as always, thanks for reading! Now that Halloween is over with (which is one of my busiest times of the year), I have more time to focus on my makeup blog and have fun with new products! If you’d like to keep up with me and check out everything I’m testing or playing around with, you can follow me on Instagram @lesley_makeup , twitter @lesley_makeup or add me on Snapchat, which is also lesley_makeup. Don’t be afraid to message me… I always love chatting with my readers!
Let’s just start with the basics… The set included Janice Liquid Set Lipstick, Nudist Ultra Matte Lip Liner, and a super cute, very nice little grey pouch featuring the Melt logo. Purchased as a set, this costs $33 but is a $46 value. Purchased individually, the Liquid Set Lipstick is $19 the AllDay/Everyday Lip Liner is $17, and the pouch is $10, so that’s a pretty decent savings if you get it as a set! To purchase these products, go peep www.meltcosmetics.com.
The Liquid Set Lipstick contains 0.12 oz / 3.39 ml of product, which, for the price, is on par with companies like ABH and Dose of Colors. The AllDay/Everyday Lip Liner contains 1.20 g / 0.04 oz of product, so that’s the exact same size as a MAC Pro Longwear Lip Pencil, and feels like a very comparable formula, but costs $4 less than MAC’s version of it!
While Janice Liquid Set Lipstick is vegan, Nudist AllDay/Everyday Lip Liner is not, which is likely due to the fact that it contains Carmine. Carmine is type of pigment/color additive derived from beetles (you seriously have NO idea how many products contain this, and it’s not as gross as it sounds). However, Melt Cosmetics is a cruelty-free company and neither of these products contain palm oil, which makes me one VERY happy girl!
The formula for the Liquid Set Lipstick is incredibly comfortable to wear and feels liquidy without being too runny or too thick and goopy. Typically, thinner liquid lipstick formulas like this end up being streaky but Janice looked absolutely flawless! I only had to dip the wand into the tube once to evenly cover both my top and bottom lip… I have a feeling that the main factor with how easy this is to apply all comes down to the nifty doe-foot wand. This is NOT your typical applicator! It’s angled, tapered, and has a hollow center to hold and collect the product so you don’t get annoying, uneven blobs all over your lip while trying to apply it. It’s also firm without being hard and soft without being flimsy, so you can achieve a precise application even if you don’t want to wear a lip liner. Another bonus to this formula is that it wore well for a LONG time, only fading in the center of my lips. It’s not the least bit drying either, so it didn’t wreck my lips by the end of the day.
Melt’s AllDay/Everyday Lip Liner is just as nice as the Liquid Set Lipstick! It reminds me of the formula that MAC has for their Pro Longwear Lip Pencils, but Melt’s is even smoother. It glides on very easily and is SUPER pigmented, so you don’t need to be heavy handed at all! It wears well under the liquid lipstick or even when applied over/around the edges for touchups. I’ve also worn this alone with a gloss on top and didn’t have any issues with smudging or feathering even then!
I’ll get into wear time, color, etc in the summaries below, so keep scrolling to check those out!
They really put some thought into both the boxes/unicarton AND the components themselves with these products. As usual, Melt’s packaging is eye-catching, but still classy and not overdone. The liquid lipsticks have holo print on the boxes but the liners do not. I would have liked to have seen that for both, at least for the sets, but it may have increased the price and I mean come on, most of us toss it immediately anyway! One of my boxes tore a bit, but it’s still super pretty!
As I mentioned, the bag or pouch that it comes with compliments the shades of liquid lipstick and liner that it contains. The pouches have the Melt logo both on the zipper pull and stamped onto the pouch itself, which is a very soft, suede-like material. Don’t be fooled by their size… They hold a LOT more than they look like they do! I can easily fit a few lippies and liners in there, plus my powder compact for touchups, as well as a mini powder brush.
Now onto the products themselves, starting with some quick swatches.
(For the record, I’m a MAC NC20)
* All product photos taken indoors using natural, indirect sunlight as well as a ring light *
Janice Liquid Set Lipstick: This shade is described as a “beautiful Victorian Mauve” and is a medium, cool toned mauve with slightly gray-ish plum undertones. At first this wasn’t a color that I was personally drawn to because shades like this usually make me look really washed out, but I actually REALLY love it and get compliments every time I wear it! It has a completely matte finish once it sets and unlike many liquid lipsticks, doesn’t seem to darken much, if at all, as it dries down.
Coverage is full and even with very little product used. As I mentioned, this doesn’t dry down to look much different than it does in the tube, so color payoff and accuracy to how it looks in the packaging is perfect! Wear time is a solid 6-8 hours, even with drinking coffee and having a little snack. As with most liquid lipsticks, it fades in the center first, especially if you eat something like pizza or a salad with oily dressing. As with most matte or liquid lipsticks, it can emphasize dry patches (you can sort of tell in the photos), but exfoliating and lightly moisturizing your lips before applying your lipstick will solve that!
Liners: Obviously Melt’s Nudist liner that comes in this set is perfect with this liquid lipstick! Other than that, a few good options are Whirl or Plum Lip Pencils from MAC if you want something a similar color. This shade of lipstick can be used with so many liners to alter the color or create an ombre look, so just have fun with it!
Dupes: As far as other liquid lipsticks go, the closest dupe I’ve found so far is Trouble, which is one of the new ones from Anastasia Beverly Hills… It’s still more of a rosy mauve, though. In the tube, Pure Hollywood, also from ABH, looks similar but once applied it’s much lighter and more nude. Clover from ABH is MUCH more gray/lilac and quite a bit darker. I looked for dupes in the MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lip Lipcolours that I have as well and still didn’t have much luck… Sweet Thing was SUPER similar, maybe a little more pinky-mauve and lighter but unfortunately, it was limited edition. So Me is permanent, but is darker and has more neutral brown undertones.
Overall Rating: 5 / 5
Application: 5
Coverage: 5
Color Payoff: 5
Texture: 5
Wear Time: 5
Packaging: 5
Nudist Allday/Everyday Lip Liner: This liner is a “neutral nude with a hint of pink” and has an ultra matte finish. It tends to pull a little on the cool toned side for me personally, but it’s one of those colors that looks natural and flattering on anyone and can be worn with all types of lipstick shades from nudes to plums to soft pinks!
You can easily achieve full coverage with this liner using a pretty light hand. I’ve worn it all over by itself or, of course, as a liner. Either way, the coverage is very even and it glides right onto the lip. Color payoff is totally opaque and looks just like it does in pencil form, though, as I mentioned, it tends to work with your own skin tone and may look cooler or warmer on some people. Wear time was between 6-7 hours for me before I noticed any fading or feathering.
Dupes: I don’t have any of the liners from MAC’s Pro Longwear Lip Pencil range that are dupes for Nudist, but I DO have a few that are MAC’s regular Lip Pencil formula that come close… Whirl is actually a nearly perfect dupe! Stripdown is more brown, and Plum is darker and more cool toned, but looks fantastic if you want to add more contrast with Janice Liquid Set Lipstick.
Overall Rating: 5 / 5
Application: 5
Coverage: 5
Color Payoff: 5
Texture: 5
Wear Time: 5
Packaging: 5
*** This post expresses my own honest opinion. I purchased this out of pocket and did not receive any type of PR or compensation for this review ***
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