Underwhelmed: Too Faced Melted Lipstick in Melted Peony

Liquid lipsticks seem to be all the rage these days - I still remember the first liquid lipstick I've ever tried, and actually wore to my middle school prom at the tender age of 15. It was a rusty brown Avon number that I nicked from my mum, and the shade was so, so wrong on me, but I felt all grown-up and glamorous applying it. Oh the memories...

So when the liquid lipstick trend rolled back towards the end of last year, I thought that a) I must be getting on in years if I can already observe recurring beauty trends, b) it's quite cool to see brands release new products, but I don't really care if my lipstick is solid, or liquid, or gaseous - although that last one would be kind of awesome. That being said, when I received an email offer from Beauty.com for a free sample of Too Faced Melted Liquified Long Wear Lipstick in Melted Peony ($21 for 0.4 oz) with a purchase, I didn't exactly resist taking advantage of it.

The deluxe sample comes in a smaller version of the full-size packaging, which is a squeezy tube with a sponge tip applicator, much like the Clarins Lip Perfector glosses. There are five little holes in the applicator, wherein the product oozes out - I find it quite easy to control the amount this way, although the packaging gets quite messy in the process; definitely not an OCD-approved design. There's some raspberry candy (Mamba fruit chews?) type of scent to the product, but it doesn't linger too long on the lips.

The actual formula of the Too Faced Melted lipstick isn't very thick and it feels quite creamy with a bit of slip, and very little stickiness. It applies easily and evenly on the lips, and it has a standard cream finish right off the bat, just like your regular lipstick would have. So far so good.

My issues with this liquid lipstick start as soon as I'm done applying. I simply find the texture of Too Faced Melted really, really unflattering on the lips. While I can get an even layer of product that doesn't cling to dry patches too badly, the lipstick just sits heavily on the lips, exaggerating every little lip line I have, and some that I didn't even know existed - I hope you can see this in the close-up shot (and please excuse the upper lip peach fuzz). I actually find this texture very similar to the cheaper than chips NYX Round lipsticks that I now wish I'd never purchased.

In terms of wear, the Too Faced Melted Lipstick lasts okay when left alone, but drinking or, heavens forbid, an actual meal, obliterates it within minutes - again, pretty much exactly what you could expect from any mediocre lipstick. It also does not wear comfortably; my lips start feeling tight and dry pretty much right away, and are in a state of an absolute mess when I finally can't stand it no more and decide to remove the dastardly thing from my face. Why so dry?!

The shade I have (Melted Peony) also doesn't help the texture issue. On my arm, it swatches nicely enough along some of my My Lips But Better nude pink shades - it's not as brown but still quite warm, and it has a pretty vibrancy to it. On my lips however, the white base in this shade becomes a lot more apparent, and to my eyes, looks borderline pornstar pink. It's almost that universally abhorred concealer lip, just in light pink instead of beige.

L-R: Too Faced Melted Peony, NYX Tea Rose, Maybelline Color Sensational in Warm Me Up, Revlon Lip Butter in Berry Smoothie
I really wish cosmetic companies spent more time perfecting their textures and bringing out truly innovative products, instead of just going with a new gimmicky format - look, it's melted! Yeah, that's also what happens to any old lipstick if you leave it in a really hot space, Too Faced. I'm sorry, but melting a lipstick is definitely not enough to hold my attention these days. NEXT!

Have you tried any of the new liquid lipstick formulas? Are they all same old, same old, or have you found some favorites?

PS. In case you're (still) interested in giving the Too Faced Melted lipstick formula a try, there's currently a promo on Sephora for a free Melted Peony mini with $25 purchase - the code is LIPMINI.