My First Smashbox Lipstick

Hey Sweeties,

These past few months have seen several beauty firsts and today we have another! My first lipstick purchase from Smashbox, ta dah!

Ever since Lo Bosworth mentioned working for Smashbox on (MTV’s) The Hills several years ago, the brand has been on my radar but I have never had a real opportunity or rather, inclination to explore them further beyond a quick glance. But to be honest, except for in London and I think also tucked away in the corner of Debenhams in Bath, I really haven’t seen many stands of theirs about and although I hear the odd word about their primers, I don’t hear much else. But I am intrigued, I want to know more, I want to see what they do and explore the range. I also want to treat myself to a consultation which I will look to do within the next couple of months.

Meanwhile, I thought I would check to see what price point their products are at and I squeaked a little when I saw… they aren’t cheap but I guess they are no worse than the likes of MAC and Benefit. So I know that come the consultation, I need to have a little bit saved up so that I can purchase what I like and not limp away feebly with a mere swipe of blusher. Anyway, figuring I need to wait and see what their eye and face products are like, I had a little browse online of their lipsticks which you would assume you can’t really go wrong with, especially at the higher price point (in this case, £16). I took quite a liking to the shade ‘fig’ and I think from that moment I knew it was going to be mine. To be sure, I waited a couple of days before I was in London for work and on my way back to the station I nipped into Boots on Oxford Street in search of Fig. The first store -the smaller of the two- didn’t have it so I trekked down the other end to the other one where I struck gold. I was hoping to grab the makeup artist and enquire further about the products but she was busy so I had to advise myself which was quite simply, “Claire, it’s beautiful, go on, treat yourself” and before I knew it I was handing over my money at the till! Such a pushover!

So, here it is!

 

 

It is a lovely, very wearable colour for both day and night and the pigment is really good which for the price I wouldn’t expect anything less. The pictures don’t really do it justice (Sweetie is purchasing a proper Big Girl camera in the New Year) but the shade is I guess more burgundy than it is red and more glossy than it is matte. It certainly also benefits being accompanied by a lip liner as although it’s easy to apply, the edges can appear slightly messy so that definition gained from a matching liner makes all the difference. I am also querying if some kind of base prior to application would also help as I am not entirely convinced its staying power is as good as it could be?

The packaging is lovely and one of it’s best features by far -I love the metallic silver of the upper part of the body. I am a big fan of simple but sturdy packaging and this ticks all the boxes for me.

I picked ‘Fig’ over the other shades for now as it’s slightly different to the shades already in my collection and I am looking to add in colours that I can wear during the day, particularly for work. At the moment I wouldn’t be inclined to purchase another lipstick from Smashbox just because I do just need to spend a bit more time with Fig and determine the staying power which for now, I will put down to me missing something maybe rather than the product. We’ll have to wait and see!

Until next time x