Model Co. Party Proof Matte Lipsticks for Birchbox | 'Classics'

Heyy. Say hello to an exclusive collaboration between BirchBox and ModelCo - a trio of 'Party Proof Matte Lipsticks'*. There are two trios to choose from and they can be bought only from BirchBox for £15.50 per set. The two sets are the 'Classics' - the set I have: red, orange and pink, or the 'Nudes' - obviously a selection of nudes, which from pictures I've seen looks like peachy, browny and pinky nude tones.  

While on the whole, I do like these lipstick and I think that they're good.. I do have a fair few criticisms of the trio in general, and of the individual lipsticks. Sorry. Let's dive straight in with a packaging complaint and that is that although they're quite unique in a white bullet as opposed to standard black, they do looks pretty tacky (to me), and they've got an incredibly cheap feel to them, right down to the swivel up mechanism (but that's just me being picky). Also the transparent circle on the top serves no functional purpose, it only adds to the cheap appearance. (Major bitch out of the way now, only minor bitches to come). 

 

The swatches don't come out very true to the shade in the bullet at all, and you might also be flitting your eyes back up the post title and thinking 'did she say matte?', because yeah.. matte? It's very strange for these to marketed strongly as matte lipsticks - it's even in the name of them! - when they are actually some of the creamiest and glossiest lipsticks that I've ever tried. Even with blotting down and a considerable amount of wear time, they end up more of a satin finish. No matter what, they're a long way off being matte. 

(Sorry my skin looks rank, we weren't all born with a flawless complexion). I thought that all was lost when I tried the first shade 'Disco Fever' as it really isn't the shade for me. Not only is the colour all wrong, but it also has a bit of a different texture and consistency to the other two shades - very thick, sticky, creamy in kind of a 'gooey' way and didn't sit well on my lips at all - even though they were well prepped and primed! I strongly, strongly, dislike the shade Disco Fever. 

Things vastly improved when I moved on to the two other shades: Peony and Red Velvet. These two lipsticks completely won me over and changed my mind about everything. Although they are still very shiny and very glossy when they're supposed to be matte (I can't get over this element!), they are actually gorgeous shades. The formula is lovely, really moisturising and creamy on the lips with very minimal bleeding considering I didn't use a lip liner for such intense shades. The pigmentation is 'WOW' and just a single swipe is shown on my lips and the hand swatches - no need to build them up. I wore Red Velvet the other day and I can't actually say is lasted 'x' amount of hours, because it exceeded the amount of time that I was awake in the day! I was at uni for 8 hours, ate 3 meals, came home and still had to get out a make up remover to get it off. That's staying power. 

I feel like the red makes my lips look more plumped, and dare I say it - sexy. There's just something about red lips on pale skin that looks so.. 'classic'. Which then bring me onto my next criticism of the set, and that is: does the orange shade belong in a set of classic shades? Red, yes. Pink, yes. A light coral orange? Hmm. Debatable. The fact that these lipsticks can only be bought as a trio hugely lets down the whole package for me. If they were available as a red/pink duo, or there was an option to buy each of the shades individually then, for me at least, it would make a more appealing purchase. 

So, the individual lipsticks, Peony and Red Velvet, rank very highly with me and I completely love them and will continue to wear them - especially the red for glamorous evenings, but we'll just pretend that Disco Fever doesn't exist shall we?

Party Proof Lipstick 'Classics' Trio* - £15.50 | link

Thanks for reading!
What do you think of the trio?

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