Product Review: Sephora Rouge Infusion Lip Stain

I've noticed that there seem to be more and more lip stains available lately. Are you a fan? I've tried a few in the past, but never really found one that I liked.

One of the products that arrived in my September (and very first!) Sephora Play! box, was a generous sized sample of their Rouge Infusion Lip Stain in Peony.


I was attracted to the color right away - it's a beautiful shade. It's what I think is a really wearable color for most people - a bit coral, a bit pink, a bit red...I would actually love to have a sheer lipstick or a lipgloss in this shade.


So here's the deal - most other lip stains I've tried have been pens or some such contraption - this one has a doe foot applicator just like a lip gloss. Other lip stains I've tried have applied like a marker, but this is like a thin lipgloss - perfectly smooth and not sticky. It's kind of like painting your lips with tinted moisturizer that absorbs and leaves the color behind.


If you apply this product directly from the applicator you are going to get fairly intense color. I'm pretty pale right now, and that was just too much color for my taste. I actually used a lipbrush to apply it so that I could have a little more control over how much product was applied. I also felt like this allowed me to make a more defined line around the perimeter of my lips. This probably isn't an issue for younger women, but for those of you who are a little more mature, you know how those fine lines can cause issues!

Here are a couple of pictures of how it looked once it dried. I'm wearing about two coats of the lip stain. There is nothing else on my lips, either under or over the stain. Please forgive the less-than-professional photos - I was home alone, so I had to try to take my own pictures, and the only room that had decent natural light was an upstairs bedroom! I tried to tilt my head in different directions so the light would show the color better and you could see that...



Thoughts:

• If your lips are dry, cracked, or flaking at all, this is going to cling to those areas and give you uneven color. I would definitely exfoliate and moisturize, getting your lips in really good condition before applying. I'm not saying this because the product is drying, but because the color is so intense and absorbs so quickly.
• You need to apply the stain to clean, dry lips (meaning nothing on them) and then allow the stain to dry if you want it to last for several hours. I applied it this way, then topped with just a smidge of lipgloss (only after it was dry!), and it lasted for about 5 hours. (Note: I'm not wearing any lipgloss in the above photos.) Even at that point, the only areas that were starting to show wear were the inner edges and corners. A brief touch-up did the trick.
• I didn't find this to be drying at all, and that has been an issue with other stains I've tried in the past.
• The Sephora website recommends for softer color, apply one coat - for more intense color, apply 3 coats, waiting a few seconds between each one.

These lip stains are formulated without parabens, sulfates, or phthalates. Here is the ingredient list for the color Peony, from the Sephora website:

Ingredients (for Peony): Water, Diisostearyl Malate, Dipentaerythrityl Tetrahydroxystearate/Tetraisostearate, Polybutene, Pentaerythrityl Tetraisostearate, Acrylates Copolymer, Polyacrylamide, Glycerin, Peg-100 Stearate, Phenoxyethanol, Dimethicone, C13-14 Isoparaffin, CI 77492 (Iron Oxides), CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), Aminomethyl Propanol, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid, Parfum (Fragrance), Laureth-7, CI 17200 (Red 33), Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Galactoarabinan, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Phytosterols, Laureth-21, Olea Europaea (Olive) Oil Unsaponifiables.

The full-size product sells for $14 each, and they are available at Sephora online as well as in the brick and mortar stores.

I'm pretty excited about these lip stains! I really want to try Petal and Coral Extract - they look so prettty!

Have you tried any lip stains?
Do you have a favorite?