Victoria Beckham recently launched 9 new lipsticks. They are priced at $38 each and described as “buttery soft lipstick in a clean vegan formula with rich colour payoff and natural shine”.
I blindly picked up 6 directly from the Victoria Beckham site which is where the entire beauty range is available. The collection can also be found in-store in Victoria Beckham boutiques with some bits of the range at Cult Beauty and Net-a-Porter where I purchase more frequently since the VB site doesn’t ship worldwide and only select countries.
The lipsticks are mailed in a cream drawstring bag, perfect for reusing as a wash bag for when you travel or repurposed as a nifty little pouch to keep maybe your cables and chargers etc. I do enjoy these little extra touches that add to the luxury experience when you buy high end makeup.
The lipsticks come packaged in a slim, twist up tube with a gorgeous tortoise shell finish. Absolutely stunning! Hands down my favourite lipstick packaging so far. It’s also weighty and feels substantial like most luxury lipsticks.
The finish of these are almost a creamy balm. If you were hoping for full coverage lipsticks, these are definitely not it; and I do see them more as an easy to wear balmy lipstick formula that can be applied without a mirror. They feel very comfortable on the lips, which I really like, and don’t feel heavy on. They are truly hydrating and condition the lips.
The payoff of these vary between shades, the best ones so far have been Play & Sway. There’s noticeably less slip in these two and a slightly drier formula. Also happen to be my favourite shades within the range.
Fringe – A chocolate brown
Play – Deep Merlot
Pose – A muted mauve
Sway – A soft mauvy pink
Spice – A light true nude
Girl – Pale nude with a hint of pink
My favourites are Play and Sway as mentioned earlier as well as Girl which is a nice easy to wear shade for daily use. It’s actually the most perfect nude for light to light medium complexions.
The only colour I didn’t like, actually two.. was Spice and Fringe. With olive complexions, the best shades are lipsticks that don’t lean too yellow, and these just emphasise my golden/green undertone making me look sallow.
Overall I do like the lipsticks. It’s right up my alley and just the kind of thing I use day to day. I do wish they were slightly more pigmented and come in a wider shade range though. Right now I feel a majority of the shades are geared towards the lighter skin tones and the medium to deep complexions are left with only a handful of options. The paler shades such as Spice & Girl will not work on anyone NC 35 and up, most likely would need to be layered over a lip pencil. I myself always tend to line my lips whenever I wear nudes since I already have pretty pigmented lips; and a cleaner look can be achieved by ensuring the whole lip is ‘neutralised’ with the help of a pencil. The formula most certainly benefits from a pencil and luckily VB does some good ones too. The shades I have are 2, 3 & 4 which I feel would match a majority of the lipsticks I own.
As much as I love the attention to detail on the packaging and overall purchasing experience, I feel the lipsticks themselves could have been better. They are lovely, but not exactly WOW… if you know what I mean. Especially at a time when masks cover 50% of the face, it’s important to have lipsticks that actually last, the timing of the product launch is just off.
Anyway the best buys would be Sway, an excellent pink for everyday and Play, a gorgeous lipstick for a bolder look. Those two, I LOVE & highly recommend, but the colours themselves I feel can be easily duped if you are a lipstick lover.
Overall my opinion is, if you love sheerer lipsticks and usually gravitate to a nourishing & clean formula, these will be perfect for you. Colours like Girl, Sway and Pose are great for daily use and feel luxurious, which is what we ultimately look for in a luxury lipstick.