Overview

Rating: 4.5/5 stars ★★★★☆
Price Tag: $4.00
Shades Available: 18 shades
Weight: 0.4 fl oz / 12 ml
Where to Buy: Online at drugstore.com and lagirlusa.com

These super bold Glazed Lip Paints by L.A. Girl are cruelty-free and vegan-friendly.

Supposedly they are/were available in Kmart stores, but I can’t verify that info since my local Kmarts closed a couple years ago. I did find the original six in a random Chicago convenience store once. All shades are available at Drugstore.com.

I actually purchased the six shades reviewed here from a reputable seller on eBay, under the user name reysoocd. I’ve heard of tons of horror stories about buying makeup and nail polish on eBay, but I did a lot of research before settling on this seller. My order was promptly shipped and all of the lip paints had shrink bands intact around the lids.

Packaging

The lip tints are packaged in familiar lip gloss tubes that sport a plastic, black angled tip applicator and metallic gold, plastic lid. The tubes themselves are colored to correlate with the color of the product. For the most part they are surprisingly accurate.

Tube versus swatches of the L.A. Girl Glazed Lip Paints in Whisper, Elude, Peony, Tango, Blushing, and Pin-Up

I’m not sure how the lip paints are formally distributed, but the ones I purchased through eBay arrived loose without any box or blister packaging.

Formulation

The formula has a thick, almost cream-like consistency, with a light minty flavor due to peppermint oil. I’m always a fan of minty flavors, but I know some are turned off by them.

All of the shades are super shiny and stay that way for their duration. They have fair wear time, but the darker shades stain the lips, particularly around the edges of the mouth. The darker shades also have fairly significant bleeding.

I initially thought these were dupes of the OCC Lip Tars, then later the Too Faced Melted products, but having tried neither, I can only go by what I’ve read online. It seems like the lip paints aren’t really dupes of either.

L.A. Girl Glazed Lip Paints in Whisper, Elude, Peony, Tango, Blushing, and Pin-Up

Shades

Originally L.A. Girl released six bright shades that were expanded to a whopping eighteen colors to include more light neutrals and a few bold shades.

All of the shades I bought have creme, glossy finishes, but one or two others have a shimmer finish.

Swatches of the L.A. Girl Glazed Lip Paints in Whisper, Elude, Peony, Tango, Blushing, and Pin-Up

Whisper

This super neutral shade is best for super fair individuals. I honestly didn’t think the color would work for me when I bought it. I’m usually the lightest person in the room, and can rarely find a foundation that truly matches me, but due to my darker than average lip color Whisper is too light for me. Kind of gives me corpse lips. Doesn’t help that my skin tone leans warm and this is a cool shade.

I occasionally mix Whisper with darker shades to help tone them down.

Elude

One of my favorite shades of the bunch, Elude is a light neutral pink. It’s similar to Whisper, but dark enough to show up on me and not wash me out. Still, it’s a shade that will work better on those with lighter skin tones.

Peony

This shade is a little bit darker than Elude but with strong coral undertones. Also a good color for those with light to medium skin tones.

Tango

A bold, coral shade. This is a color I rarely wear because it’s a little too dark and pigmented for my liking. It should be compatible with all shades of skin tones.

Blushing

I could not get a good read on this shade when I was determining what colors to buy. Sometimes it looked dark pink, while others it appeared purple. Turns out it is a purplish shade. The swatches I took are fairly true to life. It’s very pigmented and bold. I don’t think Blushing really works on me. Individuals with cooler undertones will probably enjoy it more.

Definitely wear either a lip liner, a reverse lip liner, or both. You’ll need some sort of liner because this shade bleeds. I also think it’s better to apply Blushing with a lip brush for more precise application. If any color gets on the skin around the mouth, it will stain.

Pin-Up

I’m always attracted to reds even though I’m too timid to wear them publicly. Since I was buying six lip paints and already had the main colors I wanted, I decided to go with the super bold Pin-Up. As expected, this is a very bold color, though it’s a dark pink rather than a true red.

Like Blushing, you’ll need to wear a lip liner of some sort to avoid bleeding around the edges.

Application

Of course the lip paints have an angled applicator and you can use them in a pinch, but I find they put out far too much product. Since the lip paints are super bold, they need a more precise application than what the angled tip applicator can give.

Angled tip applicator of the L.A. Girl Glazed Lip Paint in Pin-Up

Another down side to using the built in applicator is that the lip paints get all over your teeth! It’s super frustrating, not to mention gross.

By using a lip brush, the application is more precise overall and reduces the chance of getting lip gloss over your teeth.

Images

Final Thoughts

Pros: Tons of shades, great pigmentation, budget-friendly
Cons: Difficult to find locally, bold colors, minty flavor, applicator tip

It’s difficult not to recommend the L.A. Girl Glazed Lip Paints. They are budget-friendly, available in a variety of shades, and have terrific color payoff. One downside is that the glosses are difficult to track down and you’ll most likely have to resort to buying them online.

Just remember to use a lip brush in order to reduce bleeding and avoid getting product smeared all over your teeth.