Swatches & First Impressions: Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer

Photo from http://uk.rimmellondon.com

The beauty industry evolves every single day that you always see something new. While it may be completely unthinkable that lip balms can have superior pigmentation ten years ago, it is completely the norm these days.

Now hail the liquid lipstick. The concept of a liquid lipstick has been out in the market for a few years now. However, Rimmel London pushes the boundary of the concept of a liquid lipstick to include one more feature: lipgloss. The Rimmel Apocalips Lip Laquer is dubbed as something bigger than a lipstick and lipgloss.

The collection was released in the UK sometime at the end of last year but recently made its way to the Australian shores this month. Note: It has already been released in the US market too.

This collection comes in 8 colours.

Judging from the swatches, the pigmentation of these lip lacquers resemble a liquid lipstick but they come with the sheen and shine of a lipgloss. I like how creamy and opaque they are and how easy they apply. There is a certain smell to the product that isn't particularly pleasing so do take note of that. It may be a make or break factor for some. The applicator is a doe foot applicator with a well in the centre so that there is more product trapped there. It allows you to get sufficient product for each use without having to go back and forth to get more product.

The colour range is decent. Under different lighting, the colours appear to be slightly different. It comes with a brown based nude, beige nude, pink nude, purple-brown toned mauve, a berry mauve, a bright fuchsia, a raspberry red and a coral red. While there is no colour that particularly excites me, there are shades that will suit everyone. No weird crazy colours here.

I swatched these at the drugstore on my hand and after a good half an hour or so, I used a tissue to wipe them off. What surprised me was how easy they came off- with a tissue.

After removing the Apocalips swatches with a tissue.

It shows that these lip lacquers do not set (as they are still creamy) and most of them do not stain either. It also means that these lip lacquers are not long-wearing as you can expect them to come off when you eat or drink. You will definitely need to reapply your lip product if you use these.

As a no-fuss-I-don't-like-to-reapply-my-lip-product kind of girl, I'm hemming and hawing over them. I prefer the L'Oreal Colour Riche Caresse Aqua Lip Lacquer for its light weight aqua feel and the long staying power as the Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer is definitely creamier and not as long lasting. The Apocalips are more for those who do not like stains.

The shade Big Bang has been receiving a lot of attention in the social media but alas, Australia does not have Big Bang! It is also particularly interesting how the shade selection varies in Australia, UK and USA. Australia and UK both have 8 shades. The difference between Australia and UK is: Stargazer, Phenomenon and Solstice (Australia) vs. Luna, Big Bang and Galaxy (UK). On the other hand, US gets 14 shades but they are called the Show Off Lip Lacquers instead. The difference for between Australia and US is: Comet, Aurora, Luna, Galaxy, Out of This World and Light Year (US) vs. Phenomenon (Australia). Essentially, US has the same shade selection as the UK but with extra shades: Comet, Aurora, Out of This World and Light Year. The only shade unique to the Australian Rimmel Collection is Phenomenon.

If left to my own devices, I will probably get Celestial, Nova, Apocaliptic, Stellar and Big Bang (if I can get my hands on it). It is hard to resist lip products especially if they are lip lacquers (my favourite type of lip product). The packaging is nice and it will make a great addition to my ever-growing lip collection.

The Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquers are available at Priceline for $15.95. They are currently on special at Priceline for $12.76. Alternatively, you can try ASOS.com where they are available in the UK shades for $7.87.

Have you tried the Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer yet? Which shade(s) will you pick?

Cheers
annsleyw :)