The Summer Season: Milani Magenta Madness Lipstick
Milani Magenta Madness Lipstick ($5.00) is a darkened magenta-purple with a violet sheen. It’s like a much more purple, almost downplayed version of MAC Show Orchid. It’s as if MAC Violetta and MAC Show Orchid had a baby, actually. Magenta Madness has good color pay off and applies evenly and smoothly. If you’re not sensitive to scents (synthetic ones, in particular), Milani is a great brand for highly pigmented lipsticks at a budget-friendly price.
Is this the right purple lipstick for you? Would you wear it?
The Summer Season is a series of posts featuring bright, vibrant shades of coral, orange, and pink lipsticks and lipglosses — all perfect for a summer of fun — that runs through July 2010.
The Summer Season: Milani Orange Gina Lipstick
Milani Orange Gina Lipstick ($3.49) is a beautiful shade of vibrant darkened orange with tangerine-gold shimmer. This is a bold, intense color to wear on lips, but it’s not a neon orange. It’s not loudmouth orange at all. The golden shimmer strewn through the color makes it perfect for summer! I find the scent of Milani lipsticks to be a little synthetic, but for the price, I’ll endure. The color payoff is fantastic–super smooth, rich color that applies evenly. I get about three hours of wear with this shade in particular.
Is this the right pink lipstick for you? Would you wear it?
The Summer Season is a series of posts featuring bright, vibrant shades of coral, orange, and pink lipsticks and lipglosses — all perfect for a summer of fun — that runs through July 2010.
Milani Brown Liquif’Eye Metallic Eye Liner Pencil ($5.49) is a matte, medium-dark brown. I consider it a rather neutral brown, and it’s a great shade to use to define eyes for an everyday look. It’s less dramatic and obvious than black eyeliner. I love the Liquif’Eyes for their creamy feel and texture, easy-to-glide-on nature, and their long-wearing power. They’re really an all-around fantastic eyeliner, period.
This is a short review, as I just wanted to complete the set of Milani’s Liquif’Eye Eye Liners. You can see swatches of the four other shades and my full review here.
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ! 
- Product: 30/30
- Value: 10/10
- Ease of Use: 5/5
- Packaging: 5/5
Recommendation: For an easy-to-wear, soft and creamy brown eyeliner that won’t break the budget, Milani has you covered.
Availability: Milani
The Summer Season: Milani Rose Hip Lipstick
Milani Rose Hip (07) Lip Color
($3.49 for 0.13 oz.) is a beautiful, vibrant shade of fuchsia-pink. It has no shimmer but it does have a bit of a frosty sheen–not quite glossy. It’s intensely pigmented without having to pile on the layers, and it feels lightweight. The formula itself is creamy and moisturizing, but I find the color wears off considerably after two to three hours. (In all consideration, though I rate quality independent of price, $3.50 for a lipstick doesn’t make me feel guilty or worried about reapplying throughout the day!) I wish the scent was a little less synthetic and waxy, but I don’t notice it when I’m wearing it (though those with more sensitive sniffers may want to try before they buy).
Is this the right bright pink lipstick for you? Would you wear it?
The Summer Season is a series of posts featuring bright, vibrant shades of coral, orange, and pink lipsticks and lipglosses — all perfect for a summer of fun — that runs through July 2010.
The Summer Season: Milani Mandarina Lipstick
Milani Mandarina Lipstick ($4.99 for 0.13 oz.) is a vibrant, tangerine-orange with a glossy sheen and completely opaque color. This is not an orange for the faint of heart! This is a bold, unabashedly orange lipstick. The best part of this lipstick is how truly pigmented it is–trust me, I was impressed upon swatching at just how opaque the color is on lips. It lasts about three hours on me, but it fades evenly enough that it’s not a big deal when it does. I wish the scent was a little less synthetic/waxy–even just vanilla would work for me. Otherwise, the intense color pay off and creamy look and feel of the formula is well worth the five dollar price tag.
Is this the right orange lipstick for you? Would you wear it?
The Summer Season is a series of posts featuring bright, vibrant shades of coral, orange, and pink lipsticks and lipglosses — all perfect for a summer of fun — that runs through July 2010.
Long-wearing Liquid Liner with Milani Infinite
Milani Infinite Liquid Liner ($5.99 for 0.17 fl. oz.) is a long-wearing liquid liner that is available in five shades (and new for spring): Infinite (blue), Endless (purple), Eternal (green), Forever (brown), and Everlast (black). I test drove three of the five shades (but I’ll be reviewing the other two later down the line, not to worry!) over the past few weeks, and I gotta say, these hold up to their name!
- Eternal is a medium grassy-green with yellow undertones, gold sheen, and a metallic finish. It reminded me of MAC Lucky Green Eyeshadow, but in a liquid liner format. It’s just a smidgen greener than MAC Greenplay Liquidlast.
- Infinite is a bright medium blue with a slightly metallic finish/sheen. It’s a dead ringer for MAC Blue Herizon Liquidlast–total dupe.
- Everlast is a matte, flat black. It’ll apply quite glossy initially, but once it dries down, it will be a flat, but intense, black. I don’t own MAC Point Black Liquidlast, but from the swatches I’ve done of it in the past, the two should be incredibly interchangeable.
The good: These will wear and wear and wear. They won’t budge or smudge until you’re ready to take them off. They’re also water-resistant and crease-proof, so they’re perfect for summer days spent at the beach, ocean, or pool. The shade range has two more everyday/wearable shades (Forever and Everlast) and three “fun” shades (Endless, Eternal, and Infinite), so it’s a nice mix. I, of course, would love to see Milani expand the color range–I want to see some teals, pinks, duochrome kind of colors.
The bad: They can take awhile to dry if you apply too heavily. If you apply a thin layer, drying time is around twenty to thirty seconds, but if you go thicker, you’re looking at over a minute. I found they stayed wet a little long for my personal preference, but once I was aware of it, it wasn’t an actual issue when I used them. The brush itself is a little on the large side, which made it difficult to apply straight from the tube, so I did opt to use a thin, angled brush to apply it instead.
Taking them off can be a challenge if you’re not used to incredibly long-wearing makeup, but I found that a good oil-based remover like Lancome’s Bi-Facil or shu uemura’s cleansing oil did the trick. I like Bi-Facil on a cotton swab, because it allows me to get everything off in just one swipe.
These are very, very similar to MAC’s Liquidlast Liners–from the shades themselves to how well they wear. Liquidlast Liners run a bit thicker (but not actually thick) than Milani’s Infinite, which feels kind of thin, but the pigmentation is the same on both. Liquidlast Liners retail for $17.50 a pop for 0.085 fl. oz. while Infinites retail for $5.99 a pop for 0.17 fl. oz. (That’s a third of the cost for twice the product!)
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!
- Product: 28/30
- Value: 10/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 3/5
Recommendation: If you love liquid liner and want one that keeps on going long after the sun goes down, Milani offers a truly long-wearing product. Oh, and if you love MAC Liquidlast Liners, then I think you’d love these, too!
Availability: Milani
