ColourPop Time Square & Love Bug Ultra Matte Liquid Lipsticks

ColourPop Time Square Ultra Matte Liquid Lipstick

ColourPop Time Square Ultra Matte Liquid Lipstick ($6.00 for 0.11 fl. oz.) is a muted, medium-dark rosy beige with subtle, warmer undertones and a mostly matte finish. The texture was thin, almost runny, but smooth and very pigmented. The color was easy to apply on the lips before it dried down, though it didn’t fully dry down for almost an hour (there were a few areas that still has very light transfer). This shade wore well for six and a half hours before starting to fade noticeably, and it was moderately drying after four hours of wear. Make Up For Ever M101 (P, $22.00) is darker, warmer (90% similar). Kat Von D Lovecraft (P, $21.00) is cooler (85% similar). Colour Pop Beeper (LE, $6.00) is darker, warmer (85% similar). Smashbox Safe Word (P, $21.00) is darker, warmer (80% similar). Kat Von D Bow 'n' Arrow (P, $20.00) is warmer (80% similar). See comparison swatches / view dupes side-by-side.

ColourPop Love Bug Ultra Matte Liquid Lipstick ($6.00 for 0.11 fl. oz.) is a deep, plummy brown with warm undertones and a flat, matte finish. This might be one of the worst liquid lipsticks I’ve had the displeasure of trying, because it felt heavy on the lips, clung and emphasized every lip line I had, and then the color flaked off as it cracked when I tried to move my lips. It was very pigmented, and I had no trouble applying an even layer of product before it dried down, but it looked awful on. It wore terribly, as it flaked away just by talking, and it faded significantly faster from the center of the mouth–noticeable after five hours. The formula was also painfully drying. Charlotte Tilbury Birkin Brown (P, $32.00) is warmer (90% similar). Colour Pop Chilly Chili (DC, $6.00) is more muted (90% similar). Colour Pop Kae (LE, $6.00) is warmer (85% similar). See comparison swatches / view dupes side-by-side.

Formula Overview

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.