Illamasqua Matte Lip Liquid – Exotic

Exotic

So last year (2014, I decided to purchase one of Illamasqua’s new matte lip liquids in ‘Exotic.’ It came in three shades, Exotic which, as you can see is this bright orange, Forbidden, which was a bright pink and Surrender, which was which was more of a peach, coral colour.

They’re all discontinued now, but when I purchased it, it cost me £17. Was it worth it? Let’s find out…

Applicator

The applicator for the liquid was a brush. Not your standard doe foot, just small, compacted strands. I did not like this one bit, especially for the texture of the liquid. I found it just did not work.  The way I ended up applying it was by smearing it on my lips with the given applicator, then trying to kind of pat it into something presentable with one of my flat eyeshadow brushes.

It dried awfully! I don’t know if it was me being kift, but everytime I used it, it dried patchy and uneven, no matter how long I spent trying to smooth it out! It is a fast drying liquid too, so you don’t have much time to play around with it.

The one brilliant thing about it though is that, once you put it on, it’s virtually nigh on impossible to get off. “Yay!” I hear you say! Yes, perf if you’re out and about, there are no touch ups needed (thank god). But when it comes to taking it off, you will curse and cry and wonder why in the hell you smeared this all over your lips, layer after layer! The first time I tried it on, I was there for half an hour trying to remove it! Using every product I could think of. In the end, I put some toothpaste on a toothbrush and scrubbed like there was no tomorrow! My poor red, raw lips! Did the trick though! It always seems to leave an orange tinge/residue though! I’ve now purchased Benefit’s They’re Real Remover, and thought I’d give this a try the other day when I was swatching it for this, and it worked perfectly! Rub a little on your lips and swipe off with a cotton round!

Illamasqua – Exotic

So this is exotic on my lips. Doesn’t look to bad in this pic. It is drying on your lips, and you can definitely feel it, you know it’s there the whole time you’re wearing it.

This review was quite a negative one. This is because, in whole, I was so disappointed with this! For £17, I’m so glad I didn’t purchase all three for the fear of them all being the same in application. I don’t want to spend half an hour faffing with my lip products, especially as the end result doesn’t even reflect the amount of work you’ve actually put in! If you can master getting it on smoothly (I take my hat off to you), then it’s brilliant! Especially as the longevity is amazing! But, I’m afraid, to answer my question: no it was not worth it. (sorry Illamasqua!)

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