Ever since liquid lipsticks became a thing, our regular bullet lipsticks have had a lack of love and affection, but can you blame us? More often than not, liquid lipsticks offer way better staying power, superior opacity and pigment, and do not go anywhere until you take them off. Just as the formulations have improved over the course of its growing popularity, new brands haven’t stopped popping up, leaving us spoilt for choice.
And in our pursuit to find the best liquid lipsticks out there, we recently came across Nori – A Malaysian purveyor of clean skincare championing the use of plant-based active ingredients such as apple stem cells and seaweed (a.k.a. nori in Japanese) to repair and regenerate cells for the enhanced wellbeing of the skin. While skincare clearly is its forte, Nori recently unveiled the first of its makeup in the form of a box of liquid lippies in six shades.
How it applies and performs
Firstly, let’s look into how it applies. While doe foot applicators aren’t new, the ones on these liquid lipsticks aren’t too fuzzy, which makes applying the products a breeze. You can get very precise with the application, even on the cupid’s bow and on the outer corners of the lips. It’s safe to say that you don’t have to be faffing around with an extra lip brush or concealer to clean up the application if you have steady hands.
As far as the liquid lipsticks are concerned, the overall formula isn’t too runny or difficult to work with. With that said, we found several shades to be rather patchy when applied, though putting on another coat solved the issue right away. However one particular shade (Cherry Red) ended up being a little disappointing; it lifts off the colour underneath it every time we tried topping it off with another coat for a more even application.
Formulated with olive husk oil, shea butter and vitamin E, the liquid lipsticks dry down within 15 seconds to a matte finish and although they aren’t sticky whatsoever, we found them to be lightly uncomfortable as our puckers were feeling tight right after the liquid lippies dried down, which is a far cry from the “superior moisturising effect” claim on its website. On the other end of the spectrum, they sure as hell are long-lasting on the lips and do not budge easily.
Final verdict
While we didn’t have a five-star experience with these liquid lipsticks, the box set comes with six mini liquid lippies and you do get a lot of bang for your buck. It may just be the ideal starter kit for those who are new to liquid lipsticks, and these mini lippies also double as wonderful travel companions that wouldn’t take up too much space in any makeup bag. Out of all the six shades, we found that the hues Naked Latte and Blush On had the best and most comfortable formulations.
The 6-in-1 Nori Lip Color box set (6 x 1.5g tubes) is priced at RM120 (now on sale for RM96) and can be purchased via www.nori.com.my.
Naked Latte
Blush On
Pinky Rose
Sexy Scarlet
Red Me
Cherry Red