A funky yellow lipstick that makes your pout lovely pink, but it’s not big news nor a big hype anymore. I agree with that, but I couldn’t leave the shop without my first ever colour-changing lippie. True Lips Colour Changing Lipstick looks like teen makeup, but it’s a real lipstick, not a toy…
Jml -True Lips Colour Changing Lipstick: product & packaging
Formula and texture
True Lips formula aims to hydrate and make your lip healthy plumped and nourished lips. Its recipe isn’t highly natural but contains Shea butter, vitamin E and sodium hyaluronate [1]; the latter being a component of well-known hyaluronic acid. Despite its creepy name, it’s safe to use in skincare and it’s able to capture and transport molecules through the epidermis so to maintain good hydration. This lipstick provides you with an SPF15 and contains synthetic beeswax. It looks like a formal lipstick – solid – but glides effortlessly like an oil.
Shade and finish
It’s banana yellow and applies like a clear balm which enhances your lip colour in seconds into a bright and variable shade of pink. You can see from the collage below how it reacts with my lip colour; I could layer the colour as well, but I find it quite uneven: I can clearly see from the picture a stark like in the middle of my lips even after covering my lips fully with True Lips and there are areas looking inevitably hyperpigmented. Indeed, its colour-changing action is an adjustment to your Ph level, but it’s not by magic as it works on any other body part you accidentally apply it! Its finish is shiny but not totally glossy and tends to become natural-looking within an hour of wear or so. It has no scent nor flavour, that’s great if you can’t bother with intense aromas.
PROS:
- it’s fun to use,
- inexpensive,
- it has SPF 15,
- long-lasting colour,
- shiny finish,
- it’s suitable for daily look and daily use,
- scent-free.
CONS
- hydration isn’t long-lasting,
- it enhances dry patches,
- creates uneven colour outcome (may enhance hyper-pigmentation).
True Lips and similar lip sticks are widely available online and was on offer at Boots at the time I decided to play with it. Its pink colour is very bright on my lips, and the shine effect is really attractive, but there’s a but: its claimed hydration. True Lips glides smoothly, but it may feel uncomfortable if your lips tend to be on the dry side. My lips weren’t visibly dehydrated (see the middle picture in the collage), but most of the time the dry sensation was uncomfortable and also noticeable with some dry areas visible even after scrubbing. Its hydration looks more like an external feature: a finish of the product itself. True Lips doesn’t give that hydration that a tinted balm may provide, so to say. It has the same effect lip oils give me – and disappoint me all the time – superficial hydration that feels clogging.
I played with True Lips, nothing more. I would rather spend a couple of pounds more to maintain my lips supple. I don’t want that much, some comfort and a bit of colour: maybe a ‘toy-looking’ chubby pencil but a real make-up thing! No, don’t wait for it, don’t get mad to find it. I don’t recommend it, it’s clear.
Valentina Chirico aka Valens
Source:
[1] Barel A.O, Paye M., Maibach H.I (eds.), 2001 Handbook of Cosmetic Science and Technology,351
