I grew up for most of my late teenage and early twenties hating makeup. Whenever I would put it on, it took me about 10 minutes before I’d rub it all off. I am also a fan of brightly coloured makeup. I remember having an amazing purple lipstick when I was about 13 and putting it on my eyelids to give me vibrant eye shadow colours. Let’s not even start with the fact that it was probably very bad for my eyelid skin.
In the past few years I’ve found some amazing waterproof products that seem to pass the Amber test. What is that you ask? The makeup has to survive me, for a day. Survive me eating, rubbing my face and having multiple coffees. If it can survive me for a day then I would be happy to purchase it and keep it in my stash.
A few years ago I was doing a supermarket shop and stumbled upon Maybelline SuperStay 14hr lipstick. I thought I’d give it a try and picked out the brightest red lipstick I could find. I was amazed it stayed on for long periods of time and maintained the vibrancy of the colour. For the past year or so I’ve been buying a different colour shade every month during our supermarket shopping to build up my collection.
While walking through Wellington Airport on the way to a flight I saw a new M.A.C makeup store. I went and asked the team if they had any ‘long lasting’ products and they mentioned that in the past few months they’ve brought out a long lasting lipcolour. I thought I’d try it and compare it against the Maybelline SuperStay 14hr Lipsticks I’ve grown fond of.
Price
The Maybelline 14hr SuperStay is a great value at $26.49 per lipstick (at Farmers). The
convenience of this lipstick is that they’re available in New World supermarket. My present to myself monthly is to pop a new colour into the shopping basket.
The M.A.C Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour is a bit more expensive at $50.00 and is available at M.A.C stores as well as selected sellers like Farmers.
Look
The Maybelline 14 hr SuperStay has a nice, smooth and creamy look. Maybelline describes this brand as ‘weightless’ and ‘high voltage color’.
The M.A.C Retro Matte is definitely a matte look to it. It is not shiny and has a dry look to it (without being dry).
Feel
The Maybelline SuperStay 14hr has not dried out my lips in any time I’ve used it. Once cleaned off with makeup remover it hasn’t left my lips dry. A few select colours have tended to at the end of a full day wear, to turn into dried clumps across the lips.
The M.A.C. Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour goes on very thinly. I think the key is to put it on sparingly, unlike what I did which was put heaps on during a flight. Although it did dry, it did take more than a few minutes to dry. The lipcolour felt a little dry during the day but nothing major, not enough for me to reach for a lip balm. Once cleaned off with makeup remover it didn’t leave my lips dry either. The applicator tends to put a huge amount of lipcolour on to start with, so it’s important to wipe off the excess.
Lasting ability
For the Maybelline 14hr SuperStay it is important to put it on, let it air for a few minutes then dab the lipstick, let it dry again for a few minutes and it should last most of the day. There was some very minor marking on coffee cups. There was minor staining on food I ate during the day.
The M.A.C Retro Matte required you to let the liquid lipcolour air dry for about 5 minutes. Once air dried I dabbed it with tissues to check there was no excess that hadn’t dried. It is also recommended to add a few coats, although for this test I only added one. I have found with the darker colours it’s essential to put at least two coats on. There was some marking on coffee cups but nothing major. There was very minor staining on food that I ate as well.
Overall
My general thoughts are that the SuperStay 14hr is a great buy and the lasting ability for the price difference is pretty amazing. However, if you are a major fan of the matte look then the lasting effect with the M.A.C Retro Matte is just as good even if it is double the price. For me the colour differences are where I’m pretty interested in overlapping my collection. The M.A.C Retro Matte has some amazing dark red colours, while the Maybelline has great pinks and fuchsia colours.
If you’re on a budget, want a smooth creamy finish or great mix of pinks and fuchsia’s colours then the Maybelline Superstay 14hr is for you.
If you don’t have a budget, want a matte finish and need the dark red/purple colouring than M.A.C Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour is for you. Try it out for yourself and let me know your thoughts.
Amber Craig 