Topanga Satin Lippie Stix by ColourPop

Topanga is the third and last Lippie Stix that I purchased from ColourPop back at the beginning of the summer. It's described as a mid-tone dusty coral with a satin finish (coral, people!), and I think the satin finish is my favorite of the matte, satin, and glossy finishes.

I'll be honest and say I haven't worn Topanga a whole lot, mainly because I have too many lip products to chose from. These are nice budget lip colors and definitely worth a look. The pigmentation is quite good and the wear comfortable for the 3 hours or so that Topanga lasted on me.

I'm more enamored with ColourPop's eyeshadows and highlighters than their lip products, but that's just me. As a brand, I think the selection and quality really cannot be beat at their price point.

I'm also impressed with how often they are releasing not just new colors, but new products, such as the gel liner pencils and pots that I just received an email announcing. Truly impressive!

Toucan Matte Lippie Stix by ColourPop

I recently picked up 3 lippie stix's in different finishes from ColourPop: the matte Toucan, the satin Topanga, and the glossy Tipsy.  Today I'm showing you the matte Toucan, described by ColourPop as:

"Two can tango in this bright pinky red coral in a Matte finish"

I love a good matte lipstick, and the texture of Toucan is dryer than both the satin or glossy finish of the lippie stix I have.  It tugs slightly against the lip when you apply, although the color goes on smoothly.  The initial finish has a slight sheen to it, which dissipates after an hour or so to a true matte finish.

 

I would not call this a particularly comfortable matte formula, as after 3 hours or so my lips felt quite dry, to the point where it was hard to rub them together.  Prepping your lips (exfoliating, moisturizing, and possible wearing a lip primer) will be important, which is typically the case with most matte finishes.  Toucan wore well for about 4 hours but did not survive dinner, which faded the color in the center of my lips.  I will say my lips did not feel worse for the wear the next day.

I think skin tone will determine how pink or red Toucan leans, and on my fair but warm tone complexion I see more pink than red.

To prep my lips I typically wear a very emollient lip balm (Julep's Strawberry-Min lip balm is my current balm of choice) while I'm applying my other makeup.  I then use a tissue to wipe off the balm and exfoliate my lips.  Afterwards, I apply a dryer lip balm, with my long term favorite being Mongo Kiss in Vanilla Honey.  I've been testing Urban Decay's Ultimate Ozone multipurpose primer pencil, which I applied over Mongo Kiss.  Considering my lips still felt dry once I applied Toucan, it's definitely not one of the more comfortable matte formulas I've tried.

Regardless, gorgeous color and at $5 a pop, a great budget matte lipstick option!