They’re almost always a product that performs well for one but not both, so I’d rather buy a unitasker in this instance. It’s hard to get something that’s hydrating/emollient for lips that doesn’t then slide off on cheeks!
— Christine
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I just use a regular lipstick for this. I pat it on my lips to get the stained effect, and I dab the same on my cheeks, maybe warming it up between my fingers to give it more slippery and bendable texture. Then I just use a dense brush (usually a duofiber from Real Techniques, with pink handle) to further blend it out. I tried those lip markers, but they are too drying and set too fast, whereas lipstick gives you some time to blend.
I like the idea of them a lot–I am much more of a gloss than lipstick fan, but my natural lip color is a pale grayish pink. I like to have a stain effect under my gloss, so that I don’t look like a corpse once it wears off. In reality, I can never get them to apply evenly. For whatever reason, they just will not adhere to the center of my lips, no matter what I do, but overly adhere to the outside part of my lips, especially any dry patches, which I inevitably have. So it ends up just looking blotchy and awful. I usually end up just wearing a dark lipstick for a while, then blotting, to get a similar effect. Cheeks aren’t as bad, but then I have to use my fingers to apply/blend, and end up with stained fingertips for the rest of the day. So really just a no-go for me!!
I’ve never really tried any kind of cheek/lip stain, because they just seem like a bad idea for me. I find cream cheek products difficult to work with and have better luck with powders. They sound good in theory (one less product to carry around), but I don’t think they’d work well for me.
I find most of them are really drying on my lips, so I’m not a fan. A lot of them go on streaky and dry really fast, so it’s hard to blend them right. A staining lipstick would be my product of choice for obtaining a “stained” look.
I usually don’t like the stain versions of lip/cheek products. They tend to be drying on the lips. On the other hand there are some lip/cheek colors (creamy products, not stain) that I like, but they almost always work better on the cheeks than on the lips!
Not a huge fan. Although, I do own almost all the ones that Revlon made several years back. Kissable Balm Stains chubby lip pencils. But I only still use Honey and Crush, the rest just sit in my makeup graveyard area.
I’ve had a couple free samples of these along the way, but never been tempted to purchase one!
I really don’t like putting something that’s been on my mouth on my cheeks, it screams breakout to me.
Good for dry skin that likes to flake..
Problems:
1. Not enough play time after application
2. Hard to find shades that show up on my skin
For this reason, I startef looking into using non-glitter lipsticks instead
Rarely works on both and usually drying!
I like it more when a brand releases a similar formula for lips and cheeks. I bought both of the Tarte Energy tints and I definitely prefer their separate formulas than trying to use one for both areas. The color match looks so pretty! Like Kate said, though, this can be done just as easily with using a lipstick as a cream blush and blending it out. I do this a ton for more “unconventional” blush looks like berries and plummy browns.
Basically I think one product for both areas doesn’t always work best but the same color in two formulas is something I love to work with!
I find these products quite harsh on my skin and lips and when the colours fade it can look awful. I would much rather use a powder blush with a blush brush than use my fingers to apply a stain.
I’ve tried a couple, including Benetint, but they don’t last on my cheeks, and it’s too watery to use on the lips (tends to bleed), and I don’t like to use the same bottle for both lip and cheek due to germs. In my experience, products that work well on cheeks aren’t hydrating enough for the lips.
I second what you said, it’s tough to find a formula that works well both on the cheeks and lips.
For me it’s just a no. So far I’ve not come across one that works well on both lips and cheeks.
Try the Rimmel or Jordana balm stains. I’ve worn them on both lips and cheeks with great results. They also make excellent lip primers, just give them a minute to stain, blot, and put whatever you want on top. Added bonus, they come in a bunch of colors and are dirt cheap.