ColourPop Trap & Tulle Ultra Matte Liquid Lipsticks Reviews, Photos, Swatches

ColourPop Trap Ultra Matte Liquid Lipstick

ColourPop Trap Ultra Matte Liquid Lipstick ($6.00 for 0.11 fl. oz.) is a subdued, gray-ish mauve with hints of pink and an ultra-matte finish. The texture is lightweight, a little runny but with substance, so one coat is more than enough product for both top and bottom lips. It has a quick dry down, so you’ll want to work quickly. I recommend applying to either the top or the bottom lip, then going to the opposite lip to maximize your working time. This one seemed to “crack” a little more after the dry down than some of the other shades, so I liked to relax and smile as it was drying down, which helped the color dry down more smoothly overall. Once it dries down, it feels fairly weightless and doesn’t feel clingy, though if you put your fingertip to your lip, it has a dry “feel.” It will emphasize lip lines but wore down evenly over an eight-hour period. It was non-drying until the very last hour. It was mostly transfer-proof, though if you do more than pat your lips with a napkin, it does flake off very slightly. I don’t have any good dupes for this one, so hopefully readers more familiar with all of the liquid lipstick offerings on the market may be able to chime in with more. NARS Catfight (P, $26.00) is more shimmery, darker. MAC Fun Finds (LE, $16.00) is lighter, glossier. See comparison swatches / compare dupes side-by-side.

ColourPop Tulle Ultra Matte Liquid Lipstick ($6.00 for 0.11 fl. oz.) is a medium-dark, neutral-to-warm plum-red with a matte finish. It had fairly coverage that went on evenly and smoothly without pulling into lip lines or emphasizing them too much. It wasn’t too thin, but it wasn’t thick or goopy, so dry down time was a little faster than average but I had enough time to apply to the top and bottom without getting streaks. This shade lasted for twelve hours with minimal fading and what fading there was fairly even. It had minimal transfer until after I ate, and then it seemed to transfer more noticeably but blotting once or twice post-meal should help bring it back down to minimal transfer. For me, I noticed my lips feeling a little dry after six and a half hours of wear, and it was getting painfully dry at the eight-hour mark. Maybelline Burgundy Blush (P, $7.99) is darker, brighter, warmer, glossier. MAC Diva (P, $16.00) is brighter, glossier. Burberry Redwood (304) (P, $30.00) is lighter, brighter, glossier. Laura Mercier Myth (P, $24.00) is lighter, brighter. MAC Eugenie (LE, $16.00) is darker, cooler, glossier. See comparison swatches / compare dupes side-by-side.

Formula Summary: ColourPop Ultra Matte Liquid Lipstick ($6.00 for 0.11 fl. oz.) is a long-wearing, pigmented lipstick that starts off glossy and dries down quickly to that super flat matte finish. They have minimal transfer with some of the lighter shades having almost none for the first few hours of wear, but any time you’ve had a meal, they lose that transfer-resistant quality to a noticeable degree. They tend to wear anywhere from six to ten hours with darker shades maintaining better color coverage and wear over a longer period of time. Some shades get a little drying about two-thirds to three-fourths through the wear, while a few shades have been fairly non-drying even many hours into wear. They fade away evenly with most color loss occurring from the center of the lips if eating a more oil-based meal but the majority of color survives a meal. Reapplication has been hit or miss and tends to depend on how well it wore away and how easily the shade applies normally, but reapplication tends to emphasize the lip’s natural texture significantly compared to initial application and gives lips a very wrinkled, dried-up look. I’ve layered gloss on top of some shades with moderate success, though it will obviously lose the matte finish and will transfer and I’ll get tiny flakes where the matte lip color has lifted by mixing with gloss but has been pretty minimal. The formula had no discernible taste or scent. After playing with the packaging, it seemed like 16 of the 25 shades I received were significantly overfilled and had regular overflow of liquid lipstick coming out of them for about 10-15 open-and-closes where I needed to use a makeup removing wipe to clean the rim of the tube prior to closing or else the lipstick would ooze out of the closing but seems to have finally stopped (if that changes, I’ll update the post, as I’m still fussing with the packaging!). I have not had this issue with any of my other liquid lipsticks (Anastasia, Hourglass, Kat Von D, Make Up For Ever, Stila) personally, though readers reported experiencing similar issues with Anastasia and the previous Kat Von D packaging.

Re: packaging, over the last three days, I’ve been opening and closing all 25 shades, as well as laying some down and keeping some standing up, rinse and repeat. I’ll also be turning some upside down to see how they fare to make doubly sure that they’re only overfilled, which seems to be the case at this time. If you carry it with you for travel or in a makeup bag, you certainly don’t want to worry about opening/closing it! If you don’t wipe down, the liquid will dry and crust over the base of the tube (that is slightly exposed to air). It’s messy business! 12 of them have had enough accumulated product after one to two openings/closings to ooze out, and then seven more had some excess accumulation after three to four openings. 6 were totally fine even after opening and closing them over a dozen times.

Here are my best tips for applying matte liquid lipstick, as it is a bit of a different animal compared to regular lipstick or liquid lipstick (that doesn’t have the matte dry down):

Proper prep is always useful — smoother lips are best, as dry or flaky lips will often be emphasized (lines can get emphasized, too); hydrating with lip balm prior to applying (and then removing before you put on the product) helps keep lips happier longer
Start in the middle of the lip and work your way to the edges, try to apply using fluid strokes and then use very short taps and strokes to finish or manipulate any edges
Don’t fuss with the color too long; a lot of streaks and unevenness will disappear as the color dries down
If you’ve never tried liquid lipstick, you may need to apply a few times to get the hang of it, and removing using jojoba or olive oil is easiest on the lips
Keep your lips partially open while it is drying down; avoid the upper and bottom lips touching as the formulas tend to turn a little tacky as they are drying down and this will cause color to lift unevenly and give you patchiness that wasn’t there to begin with
Some formulas react well to gloss/balm on top, some don’t (still testing this one for that), which can be helpful for managing the drying factor of some liquid lipstick formulas/shades

The Glossover

P	Trap A-
	Product 8.5/10 Pigmentation 10/10 Texture 8.5/10 Longevity 9.5/10 Application 5/5
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