So, yeah, I went there: I bought me some Kylie Lip Kits. As in Kylie Jenner. (Heard of her?) And even better, I bought them after being alerted about a restock of the sold-out Lip Kits via an email that I willingly signed up for. Because that’s how badly I wanted to know when I could get my hands on this most talked-about beauty product.
And you know what? I’m glad I did, because turns out I’m loving my Kylie Matte Lip Kits.
That’s right: Kits. Plural. As in, I now own three of them.
Related: The best drugstore makeup for tweens and teens: Top picks from a pro
If you’ve been following along (ahem, like me), you may know that Kylie Cosmetics has expanded its product line to include regular, matte, and “metal” lip glosses, as well as eye shadow, which was released just this past month. While I’ve only tried and can vouch for the matte glosses, the signature feature across the entire product line is super saturated hues.
And I love it.
Now, I admit I’ve never been a big fan of lip glosses overall because I like color, not shine. And when I do want color, I don’t always need my lips to be some crazy shade. If you like the look of a nude lip, too, you might want to give these glosses a try.
First, the colors that I bought are gorgeous. Koko K is my favorite from the Kylie Lip Kit — it’s that true light pink shade that’s feminine but not too girl, and I’ve been looking for that forever. Posie K is a deep, dusty rose that looks far more modern than any similar color I’ve tried. And Dolce K is a chocolate-y brown that I have yet to wear too much because, summer. Though I have a feeling it could become my go-to shade in the fall.
The matte gloss, which I consider more of a liquid lipstick than a traditional gloss, goes on super smooth and dries nicely without leaving your lips feeling dry. The pigment is so saturated that the color stays for hours. The only problem that I’ve had is that once in awhile the color will get a little crusty on my lips, as do many of my higher pigment lipsticks. However, when I’m good about keeping my lips moisturized, this doesn’t happen, and the color stays put through drinks, chatting, and even snacking.
(Because hi, I’m a food editor. I’m always snacking.)
I also like the felt-tipped brush which works like a charm. You may know that when they first launched, Kylie Lip Kits caught a lot of flack for busted brushes, so I’m glad they replaced the original brush wand.
The other thing is that while you can definitely get away without using a lip liner, which comes in the Lip Kits, I find that because the color dries on your lips so quickly, liner is the easiest and fastest way to get a clean lip.
And while I haven’t tried the other glosses myself, I’ve heard that they also work better with liners to keep the more glossy, super pigmented color from looking messy. But, that does mean spending $29 for a lip kit instead of $15–17 for just a gloss. (The liners run $14 on their own.)
Oh, and while it doesn’t bother me much, it is worth noting that the matte glosses have a strong vanilla-y scent that will definitely bug those of you who aren’t into fragrant cosmetics. The smell doesn’t linger long, but it’s pretty intense — not surprising when you consider Kylie is all of 19. Which is a little older than…well, me.
To be clear these are definitely not natural or eco-friendly cosmetics, friends. Which is one reason I can’t entirely recommend them for newbie makeup wearers.
In fact, the very reason I like these glosses for me is the same reason I’m iffy on gifting them to a tween or teen — in my view, more intensely saturated lip colors aren’t what young girls need. While you can keep the color light by dabbing just a little bit on your lips at a time and using your finger to spread it evenly, even the nude colors really make you look like you’re wearing serious makeup, all prepped and ready for some serious pro selfies. Look at the creator, after all.
But say you’ve just turned, oh you know, 40-something, and feel like you need a little makeup pick-me-up, I think these glosses are totally worth a look. If you can find them.
You can order Kylie Lip Kits, Lip Glosses, and Kyshadow (get it?) from her website, Kylie Cosmetics. Be warned that more than half of the products are always sold out, but as I’ve learned, signing up for email updates totally works and you can follow @klyliecosmetics on Instagram or your favorite social channel for restock alerts.
