Lip Hoarder

I recently went through my makeup collection and was simultaneously horrified/impressed to discover that I have about 70 lip products. Do you know how many lipsticks I've used up since I started using makeup in high school? Zero. Now, none of these are that old by any stretch of the imagination. I've been pretty good about doing a seasonal (ok, yearly) sweep of my cosmetics and tossing whatever is expired or that I don't like anymore, but if I'm never using up all my lip colors, why the heck do I keep buying more? New formulas, new colors, new trends? Sure, but how many my-lips-but-better nude shades can a girl have? Or more appropriately, how many should a girl have? 

One of my 2017 goals is to wear every one of my lip products without repeating until I've used them all up. The lip colors pictured above are the ones I've worked through so far! Click through the break for swatches and reviews.

1. Crazy Rumors Hibiskiss in "Coral" - I wish I liked this sweet little tinted lip balm. The color is an almost metallic, sheer coral that is just not pretty on me. However, it is really moisturizing & affordable, so I could see it working well on someone with a different skintone. 

2. Colourpop Ultra Satin in "Wink" - I really love this liquid lip & hate that it was limited edition. Wink is a full coverage, satin finish, cool-toned wine shade that applies easily and lasts at least half the work day before needing a touch up.

3. Nyx Matte Lipstick in "Up the Bass" - "Up the Bass" is right up my alley, color-wise. It's not so matte that it highlights every tiny detail of your lip lines and on my skin it looks like a perfect purpley-gray. It is not long-lasting and it seemed impossible to get the color to stick over the inner portion of my lips, but I also didn't apply a lip primer before wear. 

4. Ciate London Liquid Velvet in "Pin Up" - One of my favorite new liquid lipstick formulas. It applies smoothly, doesn't dry my lips out, and is full of color. Highly recommended. 

5. Nyx High Voltage Lipstick in "Twisted"  - I love the vivid, cool purple color of this lipstick, but Nyx's High Voltage lipsticks (now rebranded as Turnt Up! lipsticks - yuck) have a lot of pigmentation, a satin finish, and not a long wear time. I don't mind reapplying, but don't count on these babies to last you a couple cups of coffee or a bagel. 

6. Nyx Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick in "Kitten Heels" - Nyx's Liquid Suedes are the best drugstore liquid matte lipsticks in the business, imo. Kitten Heels is a bit more of an orange-red than I'm comfortable with, but the pigmentation and application are great. 

7. Colourpop Ultra Satin in "Bijou" - This is another holiday limited edition release from Colourpop. I love Colourpop's Ultra Satin formula, but this shade was much darker than I'd expected. Bijou was advertised as a "dusty orchid" and while the swatch looks spot on, on my lips it looks much darker - like a grape juice colored lipstick, maybe. I still like it, I'll still wear it, it just wasn't what I expected.

8. Trust Fund Beauty Lip Gloss in "Blame Game" - Current favorite lip gloss. I'm not a lip gloss girl, but Trust Fund Beauty's isn't sticky and applies relatively sheer, in case I need to breathe a little life into a matte shade (I wouldn't try to use it over a pale pink or lavender, though). 

9. Nyx Liquid Suede Cream in "Soft-Spoken" - Is there anyone on the planet that doesn't think "Soft-Spoken" is the be all, end all affordable nude lip? I haven't seen it look bad on anyone, ever, the formula is perfect, and if I could only have one lipstick for the next year, this is the one I'd choose. 

10. Clinique Almost Lipstick in "Black Honey" - I like Black Honey for everyday. It's a sheer warm berry that you can apply without a mirror, and I've almost used up this deluxe sample (which is rare!). However, it's recently been replaced for me by Lipstick Queen's Hello Sailor. 

11. Lipstick Queen "Hello Sailor" - Now this is my new favorite every day, no frills moisturizing sheer berry lip color. It's cooler than Black Honey and therefore will probably work on less skintones, but it's perfect for me. Worth $25? Maybe, maybe not, but it is more wearable than almost any other lipstick I own, so it's worth it for me. 

12. glominerals Suede Matte Crayon in "Demure" - I received this matte lip crayon in a New Beauty Test Tube Best of New Beauty 2016 box. And it IS wonderful. It's easy to apply, truly matte without being drying, and fully-pigmented. There's also a sharpener built into the packaging!

13. Urban Decay Vice Lipstick in "Firebird" - I really like the formula for UD Vice lipsticks. Firebird is a hot pink with a blue shift when it hits the light. It's not an every day lipstick, but I love it nonetheless.

14. Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Lip Satin in "Cashmere" - This is a great product that feels like I'm wearing absolutely nothing on my lips. It's a great nude shade with a semi-matte finish that feels amazing. Worth almost $50? No, but I can't imagine a lipstick that would be. 

15. Colourpop Ultra Matte in "Embellish" - Sadly, this is my least favorite product I've worn so far. I think it's possible that Colourpop's Ultra Matte formulas just aren't for me. Embellish applied patchy and faded in a way that made me look like a zombie - but that could just be deep brown/almost black shades in general. 

16. Nars Satin Lip Pencil in "Rikugien" - Ah yes, the lip pencil that all Sephora customers have received a hundred times over (hence my picturing two deluxe samples here, and I gave away another two last year!). It's a pale pink with slight shimmer that is easy to apply and wear, but it's not very exciting and there are pinks I prefer on my skin tone. 

   

And below are all the pretty baby lip products I have left to wear ... and with more on the way, I'm afraid! This self-imposed challenge has been easy so far, but I'm a little nervous about when I get down to only navy and grays and purples!