SuzyJennifer

Awesome - if you know how to use it

I have 20+ years of experience with lip stains and felt-tip applicators from many different cosmetic brands. There IS a learning curve involved, I wish ELF's video addressed technique. I'll try to describe how to get great, long-lasting lip color with this stain: First, it looks like an art marker and it works like a marker, except the pigment has a thin, creamy texture rather than watery. Markers bleed, and marker pigment will be uneven on rough paper - the same is true of lip stain. Make sure your lips are s-m-o-o-t-h! Exfoliate dead skin cells with a soft toothbrush, the corner of a dry washcloth, whatever works for you. If you try to line and color in your lips with this product, it will likely bleed unless you have perfect skin and a perfect lip line. So don't use it as a total full-in product! Also, don't try to "draw" in your lips. Instead, use it as a tint ... I apply it to my index finger, then rub the creamy pigment into my lips, from the inside out. I don't bring the color all the way to the edge, and I apply more product if I want more intensity. I'm using Crimson and I can get lips that look "nude but rosy" all the way to a deep cherry red, simply by adding more stain with my finger. Then I smack my lips together once or twice and - magic! Young, fresh-looking lips that are very long-lasting. So far I've had the color last through 6 hours with normal activity ... including kissing! <3 If I apply a lip gloss over this lip stain, it begins to wear off more quickly, I'm going to order some ELF gloss and try that. But this lip stain isn't flat, it has a delicate satin glimmer, as long as you exfoliate your lips. So it doesn't require gloss. Have fun experimenting!

263 of 270 people found this helpful

Stacy

So very little product, not worth buying

I really, really had high hopes for this product. I like to use a stain as a liner and filler, then to just touch up with a lighter gloss throughout the day. This works fine for that -- about two times. Literally, after two applications, in both colors that I bought, I was having to dip the applicator in water in order to get anything more out of it. There's just that little product in the package. So in the end, in all honesty you're farther ahead spending more money on something that will last you much, much longer than this one will. Usually I'm very happy with ELF but this particular product really fell flat and was very disappointing.

75 of 84 people found this helpful