Amulet

Urban Decay Amulet Vice Liquid Lipstick ($18.00 for 0.17 fl. oz.) is a muted, medium-dark rosy plum with subtle, warm undertones and a metallic, "matte" finish. There was a sheen, but there was still the illusion of a more matte finish. It had semi-opaque pigmentation in one layer, and it could be made opaque with a second coat. The consistency was smooth, thin without being watery, and covered very evenly and smoothly. This one was one of the better shades for coverage and application, but it never, ever fully dried down. It took about three minutes for it to mostly dry down, but it remained a little tacky and began breaking down after four and a half hours of wear. The formula was non-drying on me.

The Vice Liquid Lipstick formula is supposed to be "intensely pigmented" with "complete coverage in one coat" and "nondrying wear" that is "comfortable" and "waterproof." The majority of the Metallized shades are not even close to one-coat coverage--maybe three or four or coats!--and did not layer evenly, plus they had a tendency to lose sparkle/glitter through wear. Whenever a shade wasn't opaque in one coat, it often looked streaky or uneven. There were some shades that had fantastic, one-coat coverage, while others featured more medium, buildable coverage but several applied uneven, patchy, and didn't level or improve after drying down even with a second layer.

The consistency of the formula was smooth, lightweight, and comfortable to apply, but the dry down was lengthy and some shades never fully felt dry (instead, lightly tacky). There was a learning curve to applying and wearing these, too, as they were unforgiving if you accidentally press your lips together before the formula has dried down--the formula is quite tacky as it dries down and pressed lips together results in color lifting away. The wear varied from shade to shade (and between finishes) from four to eight hours, and so far, most were true to the nondrying claim, at least. I didn't notice any scent or taste with them. They were difficult to remove compared to most products; I had the best luck saturating a cotton pad with eye or lip makeup remover (Neutrogena, Lancome, Shiseido, etc.), yet curiously were not that long-wearing on me (relative to liquid lipsticks)--they seemed to develop a little tackiness with any meal or drink (even just water) and degraded from there. Overall, the formula was extremely disappointing after the successful Vice lipstick launch last year.

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

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