Darphin Makeup? Who Knew!

I always thought Darphin was a skincare only kind of brand, but apparently they offer some makeup, too. I recently tried Darphin Lip Gloss in Illusion ($22.00), which is a cool, light pink color. From their website, lipglosses are described as, “softly enhanc[ing] your lips natural colour and nourish[ing] them with sensual pleasure. Endless sheen and gloss.” The key ingredients are listed as: Wheat Protein Microspheres and Complex, Rosemary and Soy Extract, Vitamin E.

It comes with a small, doe foot applicator for application. I say small because it is notably smaller than many other doe footed applicators I’ve used in my beauty career. So on the plus side, those readers who have thinner or smaller lips might find this a novelty and great change of pace. On the negative side, sometimes it takes several plunges of the applicator to get enough to cover my lips (which are on the fuller side, fyi).

I’m all about a high-gloss product. I love sheen, shine, anything that glimmers and shimmers both indoors and outdoors. Darphin definitely delivers a high-gloss product, and the shimmer is subtle and totally “adult.” It’s not chunky, in-your-face glitter bits. When I wear the gloss alone, it actually looks like there is some luminosity to my lips. Totally bizarre, and it’s not something I’ve noticed before, but there’s a certain softness created by the way the shimmer reflects light. And what you’re all wondering… this is not a sticky or tacky gloss; it reminds me of the texture of Chanel Glossimers a bit. (Doesn’t it seem like high end glosses are of this variety?) The wear time is good, and if you wear it alone, it fades away in subtly and naturally (no ring o’ gloss ’round your lips).

All in all, I liked both the color and texture of the gloss, and considering I don’t have many cool pink glosses in my makeup collection, it was a nice change of pace.

See skin and lip swatches…