Are miniature lip color sets useful?

As long as they aren’t TOO prone to breaking and fiddly to hold, I love them. For beauty enthusiasts like most of us here… it’s hard to finish full-sized products, so minis are a nice way to get diversity without spending tons of money!

— Christine

23 Comments

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Mariella Avatar

Not for me. Breakage issues aside (and it’s a big issue), invariably, these sets include shades I don’t like and/or aren’t flattering to me so in the end, I’m better off purchasing 1 lipstick in a shade I like than an assortment of minis.

kjh Avatar

Occasionally. As I age, fewer and fewer shades appeal to, or look good. The last one I remember was a UD set with purples and reds. And a set of MUFE ones..the first with the newer formula, IIRC. Some of the Asian brands, like 3 CE have minis in the same shade family, and I LOVE those. Usually I do not, but am open to the idea. Another problem with minis is that the shade names can be obliterated by perforations and are unreadable. That’s an aggro to me.

Francesca Avatar

Not so much, unless they let the customer compose the kit by himself, choosing the shades (and currently I don’t know any brand which allows this).
Infact, kits often contain shades that I don’t use or shades that are almost exact dupes than the lipsticks in my collection. Better ti pick off separately the shades you are interested on. Ok, usually in the kit you pay in proportion less for a bullet than buy It as a single, but you waste packaging and money in something you don’t really need

Ana Maria Avatar

As a person with a minimal make-up collection I still find it hard to finish a lipstick (especially colors I don’t wear often), so a part of me thinks mini make a lot of sense for both regular use and trying out a new brand / formula. But most minis are quite… mini; so they are difficult to use. For example, I was exploring switching my lipstick collection to MAC mini, but when I saw in store how tiny they are, I realised how difficult it would be for me to use them.
Sets are nice indeed, but they either include too similar shades or shades I would never use. It would be great if brands / retailers would allow picking the shades.

Gilad Avatar

I like sets organized by undertone – So all warm tones in a good formula/trusted brand would get me interested. Otherwise I’m paying for colors I’ll never use.

BrandiD Avatar

I like minis for most things — I enjoy trying new items — but mini lipsticks don’t work well in my experience. They’re often drier and more difficult to put on, which makes them prone to breaking. More emollient lipsticks tend to melt, which can be messy in the purse, and again leads to breakage. Also, mini sets rarely have enough colors I like to make them worthwhile. I’m lucky if there is one item I enjoy in the whole set. I bought one of Sephora’s lipstick sets back in November, and the only lip color I liked in it was (the only full size) Charlotte Tilbury’s Very Victoria. Luckily, the cost of the set with a coupon was less than the cost of a Tilbury lipstick at full size/price and there were two lip treatments I liked as well, so I chalked it up as a win. I’m very picky about both color and texture in lipsticks, so other people may have better luck — my best friend who is dark of eye and hair does well with holiday lip sets, since she can wear the predominant red and wine shades well.

Jan Isaacs-Wade Avatar

I must say that I enjoy minis although the ones prone to breakage are not worth buying Do you hear me Fresh?? I just received a CT Pillow Talk and love it. It’s a nice treat to learn about a new brand or product I’d normally wouldn’t buy. I also like traveling with minis. I always buy the Sephora Give Me More Lip box at the holidays to try new products. It’s a great deal! Happy holidays everyone!

Susan Nevling Avatar

There are several minis that I love. Lippies bc I tend to have too many anyway; mascaras because I am a fanatic about discarding at abouy 3 months; and foundations because I use several kinds depending on how my face feels and I don’t use them daily.

Helene Avatar

Usually sets contain some shades I don’t like to wear, or that makes me look worse than without any lipstick at all 🙁
It I find a set with colours I think will suit me I’m likely to buy it. I have one from Marc Jacobs, though it’s Llikely to have turned bad now, as it is quit old. It was a good set for me. Right now it seems to have vanished, I can’t find it, and I know I’ve not thrown it away.
I like miniature lipsticks, at least the ones from MAC, I don’t find that they break and I may actually finish them.

Lauren Avatar

I love love love love mini lipstick sets. I’ve not had an issue with breakage if the formula isn’t a ridiculously soft one in the full size. I think it is a great way to try out something new without hitting the wallet or getting a full size of one lipstick that I may end up hating. Even if I don’t like a certain color or formula I find myself more willing to test things out with a small amount (maybe add a liner, gloss, mix with another shade, etc) vs fussing about with a big. A mini set I can get real use out of and do more trial and error. If I love a color I will not get a mini and will always go full size, but I feel less wasteful when I get minis to just see if I might like something. The only thing I will pass on is a mini set that is more oddball shades. I will never need a blue, green, purple, silver, gold, or what not lipstick so if those colors are included in a set, unless close to halloween, I’ll pass. I will play around with neons, reds, glitters, oranges, browns and can make a pale nude work and Medium purples, berry, pink of all types and peach will always be used in my stash.

Eileen Avatar

I dislike what are essentially sample size lipsticks and glosses that make up the bulk of sets and I have never been tempted to purchase any of them. Invariably, there are lipstick/glosses in the collection that simply don’t appeal to me because I don’t like the color, the color doesn’t like me (lol), the quality is not consistent with the full size product, they’re too little and flimsy, etc. Even though I don’t think I’ve ever finished a lipstick or gloss in my entire makeup-wearing life (over 60 years!), I’d much rather cherry pick from a collection and purchase a full size of the product that I actually want and know I will enjoy using.

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