Mambo

Makeup Geek Mambo Showstopper Creme Stain ($12.00 for 0.19 fl. oz.) is a rich, raspberry pink with cooler undertones and a matte finish. It was one of the more pigmented and easier-to-apply shades with minimal streaking, just "cracking" when I smiled where it was clear the color was pulling away at my lip lines. It had semi-opaque coverage, though it required three pulls of product just to get enough product on the lips for one layer. The consistency was thin, quick-drying, and lightly tacky after it dried down. It lasted for four hours before there was noticeable fading along the center of the lips, and it was drying after three hours of wear. (Surprisingly, it did not leave behind stain.)

The Showstopper Creme Stain formula is supposed to be "long-lasting" and "highly pigmented and offer effortless, buildable coverage." Highly pigmented and buildable make it confusing what the coverage actually is, since something that is buildable means that it is less pigmented but can be layered for greater coverage. The majority of shades were medium to semi-opaque in coverage, hard to build as they often pulled up the first layer and shifted color around. The formula rarely applied well; it was streaky, dried so fast that there was no time for corrections (and attempts to correct just made it worse), and clingy. I found the applicator rougher, and the packaging made it seem that sometimes it was more like I wasn't getting enough product on the wand to even coverage half of a lip (it seemed like the opening was wiping away too much product from the doefoot applicator). For every single swatch, I had to dip and pull the wand two to three times just to get enough product to cover my lips (it was impossible to stretch out the product very far as it dried as I was spreading it). It did dry to a transfer-resistant finish, but it did not survive eating well (most liquid lipstick formulas have survived better for me). Though transfer-resistant, it remained slightly tacky for one to two hours--and if you use more than one to one and a half layers, it often lifted and separated the color.

The brand's swatches and lip swatches showcase a seemingly opaque product, but I could not achieve opaque coverage with several shades, even trying four or five layers, and the result after five layers of product was uneven, patchy, and cakey. The wear was average--four to six hours with significant fading from the center, which is more what I'd experience with a typical lipstick than a liquid lipstick--and surprisingly, little staining, even with deeper shades. So far, they have been slightly drying to somewhat drying. There are so many high-performing liquid lipsticks on the marketplace already, so I was caught off guard by the poor application and performance of this formula.

FURTHER READING: Formula Overview, which is a detailed review of the range as a whole.

• Ingredients