As much as I love a great looking lippie, when I’m at work I am super low maintenance. I want to put on a lippie in the morning, and not think about it until that night. At the most I want to be able to grab something out of my pocket and swipe it on (while walking down the hall, so no mirror) and have it look decent without spending much time on it.
So, you can imagine that I’m pretty much left with stains, long wearing lipsticks and lip balm. Lippies that take intricate work to look great, such as a pigmented lipstick or even many tinted balms, aren’t a great choice for me.
I’ve been using one lippie over and over for the last few months, and I thought since we’re sharing our favorite long lasting makeup today for Makeup Wars that it was a great time to finally post about this lipstick. The Chanel Rouge Double Intensité Ultra Wear Lip Color. Yes, it’s a huge splurge. But it is so worth it!
This long wearing lipstick look a lot like other lipsticks out there. I’ve tried pretty much all of them, and only 1 brand comes remotely close (more on that in a bit), but this one still blows all of the others out of the water. It is absolutely amazing.
Similar to other long wearing lip colors, this is a two step process. The first is a liquid color coat, and then you can follow that up with the clear top coat as often as you like. The color coat comes with a doe footed applicator, but the clear coat has a white bristled brush for application.
When using this product, I’ve found that it works best when applied to recently hydrated lips. I usually put on some lip balm, spend about 10-15 minutes doing something else (usually my hair or makeup) and then I’ll blot my lips with a tissue to remove any excess balm before application.
Next I apply the color coat. I start by applying it around the edge of my lips, like a lip liner. I then fill in the center. You want to cover everything in one coat, even if it is a little bit thick. The product melds together to create 1 seamless lip coat, and if you go with 2 coats instead of one, the 2nd coat will peel off throughout the day. And it isn’t pretty!
Once I’ve covered my lips, I let it just dry for a few minutes. I don’t drink, but I don’t hold my lips still in a strange position either. I just go about my business.
Later I’ll come back and apply the clear top coat over the color coat. It feels a bit hydrating and offers nice shine. You can reapply this as often as you want throughout the day!
I do have about 5 of these lippies now, but here are the swatches of the 3 I could easily locate (pretty sure the others were in various purses at the time of these pictures). Most of the shades that Chanel has put out are on the lighter, more subtle end of the spectrum.
Pictured here:
Shocking Pink is brighter on the lips than it appears here. It’s not for the faint of heart, think of it along the lines with NARS Schiap.
Strawberry Red is kind of red, kind of pink… it’s a little warmer than I had expected.
Bright Rose is pink, but also has some mauve-coral tints and gold shimmer. It’s more neutral than it appears here and works for almost skin tone.
I also have Ever Red, a dark true red. Darling Pink is a mid-tone pink that I love as a neutral every day color.
The reason why I really love this lipstick is that despite sipping coffee all day, talking most of the time, and other abuses, this lipstick still looks perfect at 12-15 hours! In order to remove it at night, I have to use a 2 phase, oil based eye makeup remover, and I hold the cotton round against my lips for about 30 seconds before swiping. I’ve found that Dior works best (and I discovered this by wandering around a Nordstrom beauty department with one of the makeup artists, we had the lippie on our hands and were testing everything in sight to remove it), but Mary Kay remover also works after about 3-4 wipes. Other removers do melt the lipstick a bit, but that mostly smears it around.
You can find this lipstick at Chanel, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s and other high end retailers such as Saks.
If you want a lower priced alternative, I did mention that I have a cheaper option! I’ve found that the L’Oreal Infallible Pro-Last Color Lipstick (at Amazon) is pretty similar. I get less wear from it, more like 8-10 perfect hours instead of 12-15, but at a much lower price point. The L’Oreal also has some very pretty colors.
I’m a doctor, a mommy and a bit of a beauty addict. If you let me, I can take 2 hours to get ready in the morning. Really. I'm on a quest for faster beauty that works!