Staying Alive — New Stila Stay All Day MATTE’ificent Lipsticks & Stay All Day Lip Liners

If there’s one woeful tune most women find themselves singing to their lip colors, it’s Lisa Loeb’s “Stay” — as in, “‘Cause I missed you/Yeah I missed you.” See, there’s few things as frustrating and disappointing as applying a bold lipstick shade only to discover, 20 or 30 minutes later, that the color has faded to oblivion, leaving behind only a trace of pigment around the perimeter of the mouth. The worst part: somehow, just like when you have a leaf of spinach stuck between your teeth, no one ever dares to points out this beauty faux pas, instead allowing you to roam the world looking utterly ridiculous. When a lipstick or lip liner promises longevity, then, women expect a Dick Van Dyke-esque life span, a MacGyver-esque resilience. So when Stila released its new Stay All Day MATTE’ificent Lipsticks ( $22 each at StilaCosmetics.com) and Stay All Day Lip Liners ($20 each at StilaCosmetics.com), most of us took the “Stay All Day” promise quite literally.

Since Stila’s Stay All Day Liquid Lipsticks score so well on the longevity scale, my expectations for the Stila Stay All Day MATTE’ificent Lipsticks were high. As a matte lipstick lover, I was ecstatic over the idea of a new product that would deliver high-voltage color, offer full coverage, keep my lips comfortable and hydrated, and stay locked in place for long stretches of time. And on some fronts, the MATTE’ificent Lipstick really does deliver. Formulated with castor seed oil and argan oil, this lipstick glides onto skin effortlessly and keeps the pout smooth, supple, and comfortable. The pigment pay-off is equally formidable, and the matte finish is demure and never flat. Do these lipsticks really stay on all day though? In my experience, no. I wore the Bisou shade to Thanksgiving dinner, and my lipstick didn’t even make it to dessert. It didn’t vanish completely, nor did it bleed and feather in a weird way, but it certainly didn’t remain intact throughout dinner. That said, I’ve noticed that when paired with one of the Stila Stay All Day Lip Pencils, these colors do, in fact, last for a solid 6-8 hours.

The Stila Stay All Day MATTE’ificent Lipstick is available in 12 shades, 3 of which I had the pleasure of testing out: Bordeaux, a deep oxblood hue; Bisou, a dark cranberry red; and Framboise, a warm holly red hue with orange undertones. Below are photos of the three lipstick tubes:

Next, check out swatches of Bisou, Framboise, and Bordeaux:

As you might notice from these photos, the Bordeaux and Bisou lipstick hues have certain similarities, but the Bordeaux shade is actually much darker and has more purple undertones, so that it looks more vamp-y on the pout.

Here’s a shot of me wearing the Stila Stay All Day MATTE’ificent Lipstick in the Bordeaux hue topped with the Stay All Day Lip Liner in Cabernet:

Next, you’ll find a couple of photos in which I’m wearing the Stila Stay All Day MATTE’ificent Lipstick in Bisou:

As you can see, the Bisou shade falls squarely in the red spectrum whereas the Bordeaux shade is more of a blackened plum red.

Last but not least, here’s a photo in which I’m wearing the Framboise lipstick, topped with the Sangria Lip Pencil.

Now, the Framboise lipstick is a warm red that borders on vermilion but, because the Sangria Lip Liner is a fun melon pink shade, the color you see above is softer than if you were to apply the lipstick all by itself.

Now, let’s move on to the three Stila Stay All Day Lip Liner shades I tested out: Cabernet, Pinot Noir, and Sangria!

Check out swatches of the three shades below:

As you can see, Cabernet is a very dark Merlot color that’s actually the perfect accompaniment for the Bordeaux lipstick shade. The Sangria Lip Liner, meanwhile, is a deep honeysuckle pink that’s perky and effervescent. And the Pinot Noir shade is a true red with blue undertones.

Since lip pencils aren’t just for lining lips, I actually wore these a few times in lieu of lipstick. Here’s a shot of me wearing the Stila Stay All Day Pinot Noir Lip Liner:

The fun thing about wearing the Stila Stay All Day Lip Liners by themselves is that they do, in fact, linger all day long (score!), they have the truest of matte finishes, and you can always moisturize your lips by adding a touch of Smith’s Rosebud Salve with a lip brush.

So what’s the verdict on the latest Stila lip launches? Well, the Stila Stay All Day MATTE’ificent Lipsticks are slightly disappointing in that they don’t actually stay on all day — in fact, they don’t even stay all morning or all afternoon! — but when you apply one of the Stay All Day Lip Liners atop one of these lipsticks, it locks the color in. With this technique, the matte lipsticks do, in fact, last for hour-long stretches. Ideally, you should line your lips and fill them with the desired pencil shade, apply the matte lipstick of your choosing next, and top this color off with another layer of pencil color.

As for the Stila Stay All Day Lip Liners, these are a slam dunk! You’ll want to wear them by themselves, pair them with other cream and matte lipsticks in your vanity, and stash them in your purse for on-the-run touch-ups.