Vampy Plum

By Carla 8 years ago.

I wanted and in fact expected to love this, but I just can't. I love deep plum/burgundy lipsticks, and have worn those shades quite successfully, even though I'm NW15, so I'm not afraid of dark colors. And I only buy from cruelty-free companies, of which Buxom is one. So things looked promising, but Vampy Plum just does not work for me, I'm sad to say. First of all, Vampy Plum is very VERY dark, almost to the point of looking black. On top of that, it has fairly strong blue-purple undertones that I find unflattering on me; the color's reminiscent of MAC Cyber, another no-go for me. If it were more of a blackened red, I might be able to make it work. Vampy Plum does have a very faint vanilla aroma that I find pleasant, and that's a plus. For me, the real "deal-breaker" is the fact that Vampy Plum applies very unevenly; it clings in patches to the lips, accentuating rough areas you didn't even know you had, and it feels dry quickly. This characteristic is especially problematic in such a dark color. It's not that it goes on smoothly , looks great at first, and then wears off quickly and unattractively; it looks fairly awful right from the initial application. I've tried balm underneath, I've tried blotting, I've tried gloss on top. Next, I plan to try a similarly-colored stain as a base, to [I hope] attain a more even, less patchy color. I do like the packaging, though it's on the bulky side. The matte-finish black metal tube, as well as the product itself, has a larger-than-standard diameter; if you have thin lips, you'll probably have to work around this. But the tube feels sturdy and closes with a satisfying click; it just feels "high-end." I wish I liked this, but I'm going to need to look elsewhere for my deep autumn plum.