Doesn’t the packaging and colours of the new Maybelline Vivid Matte Liquids take your breath away? I kind of see this launch as an extension of the Vivid lipstick launch (what was that… four years ago? Eek!) and I LOVED that launch so, so much.

So the new Vivid Matte Liquids are essentially a lipstick with a “creamy liquid base that creates a soft, cushiony feel that glides on smooth to a matte finish”. But… they’re not actually matte. And they don’t dry matte. The only way to get them to turn matte is to actually blot them down with a tissue.

This isn’t going to be a terribly positive review, so please let me start out with what I DO love about the Vivid Mattes before I get into all of my negatives. Number one is the applicator. This thing is pure gold for applying lip colour. It’s long and slanted and because of its length, it does a phenomenal job of creating straight lines as you apply colour (drag the edges across your lips in one smooth motion). I’m fairly terrible at applying lip colour without causing skipping and this completely stopped that from happening. Love!

The other aspect I’m in love with is the colour range. They have some neutrals, but I was drawn to the bold, vibrant shades. The colours above are just BEAUTIFUL!.

Rebel Red is a lot of fun and this one applied the most consistently.

Berry Boost was the best shade to blot down to create a matte texture.

Vivid Violet was fairly patchy, but there’s no denying that colour impact.

However… like I said… this isn’t going to be a positive review. So let’s dissect why:

• The formula actually creates a numbing sensation on my lips. And we’re not talking “plumping” either. It’s like I applied Orajel on my lips – they feel NUMB! The sensation does disappear after about an hour, but it’s not a comfortable feeling. (And I’m definitely not the only person that’s noticed this.)
• The scent on these is very unpleasant to me. I like the scent of the Maybelline Vivid lipsticks (although I don’t really know how to describe it… slightly sweet?), but these smell nothing like those. This has a wickedly strong floral/old lady/potpourri scent that lingered the entire time I wore these. DO NOT WANT.
• These aren’t matte, and so, matte should not appear in the name. You can blot them down so that they become matte, but you lose a lot of the pigmentation that way.
• The formula moves around on my lips. Even with lip primer and invisible lip liner, these still bled outside my lip lines and (worse) started to smear on the outside corners of my mouth. (Think fruit punch mouth.) This required constant maintenance and I was eternally worried that I looked like I had no idea how to apply lipstick.
• There’s inconsistencies in the formula: Rebel Red was the smoothest to wear, Vivid Violet was fairly patchy, and Berry Boost wore best when blotted with a tissue.

Thoughts on how you can possibly make these work:

• I only wore the bright shades, maybe the lighter ones are less obvious to smear/move around?
• I didn’t try this, but I imagine a lip liner in the same colour as the Vivid Matte would help control the product.
• …and that’s all I’ve got.

Final Thoughts

I’m so sorry to say that I really can’t with this product. It smells bad, it numbs my lips (like what??? No Maybelline product has ever done that to me!) and it  won’t stay put without leaking out the sides of my lips. I know this is a very strong “NO” review, but it’s not like it’s fun to come down so harshly on products – and I really, REALLY wanted to love these. I love Maybelline as a brand, and I still love and use many of their products (like seriously, go look at the epic-ness of their new eye primer) but this was just a total miss for me. 🙁

The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration.