Woodblock (212)

By Aurora 3 years ago.

Before I truly go into how much I love this product, let me clear something up: lipstick is a struggle for me. I love the finish of a good, opaque lip, but as a victim of more or less chronic xerostomia (dry mouth; a side effect of daily prescriptions) my lip texture will always be far from smooth and moisturized. Most lipsticks can't handle that (even though I try to always apply Vaseline underneath before application) and end up looking dry and generally unflattering. The Shiseido formula? Nothing of the sort. As long as my lips are not in an absolutely disastrous form (which can be fixed with a balm), this applies flawlessly smooth, even and comfortable on me. I don't expect a lipstick to moisturize, per say, but I can say that while my lips will definitely be slightly drier after hours of wear than they were before, it's not an uncomfortably severe thing that usually accompanies lipstick wear for me when it comes to the Shiseido formula. It makes me unreasonably happy to finally have a formula that just.. works for the dry lip texture I have to deal with. The color is a stunning warm, midtone brown, and the characteristic "set" of the lipstick changes its gliding sheen at application to a more matte, yet natural finish. This bullet is incredibly soft, and dented by the slightest pressure, due to its "gel" formula. It can be easily blotted to a more sheer coverage, but directly on the lips it will be opaque with a single swipe. The formula is lightweight and surprisingly long-wearing, and tends to leave a more flattering stain behind. It's easy to retouch and reapply, and doesn't glide and slip if a lip gloss is applied over it. Some people have pointed out the imbalanced product-to-price ratio of this lipstick, and while I do get where the complaint comes from, judging from the air-tight double packaging this product had, it seems that the mousse-y, gel formula will be so quick to dry out that the amount of product inside has been changed to reflect upon that, which I personally don't mind. The period after opening is given at 6 months.