Creamy, bullet lipsticks are back in for 2018! I can’t remember the last time I was excited about a traditional bullet lipstick. In fact, the only ones I regularly wear are my MAC staples (Velvet Teddy, Mehr, So Select and Ruby Woo). I don’t think we have completely fallen out of love with liquid lips just yet, but it is a nice change of pace to have something creamy on the lips for a change, and boy are these Fenty lipsticks creamy!
There are 14 shades of the Fenty Mattemoiselle Plush Matte lipsticks, released 12/26/17 online at the Fenty Beauty website, Sephora online and in stores as well. These lipsticks are described as long-wearing, lightweight, color-intense and soft matte in finish. They currently are rated 4.5/5 stars on the Sephora website. I’ll share my thoughts and full review below.
PRICE – 3.5 out of 5 stars.
These lipsticks retail for $18 dollars and contain 1.7 grams of product. A standard MAC lipstick is currently going for $17.50 and contains 3 grams of product; based on that comparison, I would consider the Mattemoiselle lipsticks a bit pricey. I think they’re worth closer to $15.
PACKAGING – 4.5 out of 5 stars.
All Mattemoiselle shades come in a black box with the standard Fenty branding, which is white abstract, sort of graffiti-esque in scheme. The lipstick tube inside is slimmer than a standard bullet lipstick, about as thick as a chubby eye pencil. The tube itself is angled on all sides and comes in soft pink chrome. I absolutely LOVE the packaging. On the bottom of a tube is a small circular label matching the color of the lipstick inside. I don’t think this is a fool-proof way to label the lipsticks, as the stickers could possibly fall off, then I’d have to open every tube to find one lipstick. It would have been better if the tube itself had a clear top to identify the lipstick inside.
SHADE RANGE – 4.5 out of 5 stars.
For this to be Fenty’s first lipstick launch, the diversity and uniqueness of the shades is impressive. There are 5 colors I would consider to be nudes: Spanked, Up 2 No Good, S1ngle, Shawty and PMS. There are 2 each of the following shades: oranges, pinks, blues, deep red-browns and on top of that, there is a lilac shade, green shade and rich blue based red. I would have liked to see a few more nude/neutral options, especially at the deeper end of the spectrum. Other than that, there is a lipstick shade for every skin tone and occasion in this line.
PERFORMANCE – 4.5 out of 5 stars.
This lipstick lives up to all of its claims. It is certainly lightweight, and doesn’t have that sticky feel that some non-matte lipsticks have on the lips. The lipsticks are definitely long wearing as well. I put on Midnight Wasabi and went out to a steak lunch with my family and only needed slight touching up on the inner rim of my mouth. This lipstick is also very creamy and comfortable to wear AND goes on fully pigmented. I mean one swipe, that’s it. Even on very pigmented lips like mine.
A couple of the shades are a bit patchy; Midnight Wasabi being one of them, as well as Griselda I believe. While I wouldn’t compromise comfort for a fully matte finish, I would have preferred these lipsticks be fully matte. I’m assuming that the creaminess of the formula causes the slight satin finish to the lipstick. I did try dotting some translucent setting powder over the top to make the lipstick even more matte, but it didn’t help much. Overall, still very satisfied with the performance.
FINAL THOUGHTS – final rating 4.25 out of 5 stars.
I got up bright and early the day after Christmas and went to Sephora when they opened to check out these lipsticks. Somehow, there were already 3 or 4 girls standing at the shelf before me! Initially I only purchased Freckle Fiesta, a roasted orange color, and Midnight Wasabi, which looks like wasabi meets army green. A few days later, I decided I also needed One of The Boyz and Candy Venom. Now I’m wishing I had also gotten MaDamn, and if I do that I may as well get Spanked and Clapback. Basically what I’m saying is that these lipsticks are a creeping obsession. You may feel the need to just pick up one or two shades, probably S1ngle and one of the other more vibrant colors, but then slowly you’re going to want more and more of them. This is why I wish there were a few more nudes and neutrals in the Mattemoiselle line. It would give those of us with a lipstick obsession the opportunity to wear these more often.
Freckle Fiesta
These lipsticks apply so smooth and even reduce the appearance of fine lines in my lips. I’d love to make these my everyday lipsticks. For me, Shawty and PMS, two brown shades in the range, are completely unappealing on my skin tone and I probably won’t pick those up. I tried them on twice and just don’t feel the draw. I also feel like it would be very difficult for me to pull of Ya Dig?! which is a light periwinkle blue. Other than that, I can certainly see myself purchasing the other shades in the range, even Up 2 No Good which is a very light, honey beige nude (perfect for ombre lip looks).
Side note: NYX Liquid Suede lipstick in Sway is a dupe for One of The Boyz. Above, Fenty is on the left and NYX on the right.
Have you gotten a chance to try out these lipsticks? Most of the feedback I’ve heard has been positive, and some of the most popular shades are Spanked, MaDamn and Freckle Fiesta, judging by what I’ve seen online. I would love to see some beauty vloggers create eye looks to go with some of the lipstick shades. I am thinking about expanding into making videos this year, so if anyone has any special requests, please leave those in the comments section.
Happy new year and thank you for reading!
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