BEAUTY: Rimmel Provocalips Review

I should’ve known what I was in for when the Walgreens’s cashier gave me a stern-faced warning at the register; Rimmel’s new Provocalips liquid lip colors are no joke. My cashier told me in no uncertain terms that she’d purchased a tube and had to sleep in her lipstick because she couldn’t get the color off her lips. I think she was trying to dissuade me from purchasing, but to me her words meant only one thing: impressive staying power.

Because I like a challenge, I immediately picked up 5 shades: 

I'll Call You - medium, cool-toned pink

Make Your Move - brown-leaning nude

Little Minx - bright fuchsia/raspberry

Play With Fire - deep, blue-based red

Kiss Fatal - dark, cool-toned purple

L to R: I'll Call You, Make Your Move, Little Minx, Play With Fire, Kiss Fatal {natural light}

L to R: I'll Call You, Make Your Move, Little Minx, Play With Fire, Kiss Fatal {with flash}

The full line contains 10 shades, including mainly reds, pinks and nudes. Each tube is double-ended, with lip color on one end and a clear gloss on the other. The gloss is not at all sticky - it’s super slick, and feels similar to the slip you’d get from a silicone face primer. Without the clear gloss, these lip colors can feel a little rubbery or sticky, but one dot of gloss and your lips are totally smooth.

In my excitement, I tried on Make Your Move right there in the drugstore parking lot, and found the coverage to be opaque and smooth. It dried in about a minute, so I topped it with the clear gloss and went on my way. Because the high of beauty buying is ever so fleeting, I forgot I was wearing the lip color until I got out of the shower that night. I’d luxuriated in a full shower, during which I’d even washed my face, but exited to find my lip color was somehow still fully in place.

I scrubbed and scrubbed, but the Provocalips would not come off.  I thought of my Walgreen's cashier's warning and a brief panic ensued, but then I remembered my favorite stubborn makeup remover: Pond’s Cold Cream. Rub a bit on your lips, wipe off with a tissue, and every trace is gone.

I was tentatively in love with this stuff, but wanted to see what challenges Provocalips could stand up to, you know, other than a shower. The bar had been set pretty high.

To test it, I applied the shade Little Minx around 10:00 AM and went about my day. I never found the product to feel heavy or tight on my lips, and any hint of dryness was remedied with a swipe of the attached gloss or another lip balm overtop. After lunch, I expected to reapply, but found it wasn’t necessary. Almost confused by its toughness, I decided that evening to whip out the big guns: the Pizza Test™. Being the true scientist that I am, I ordered pizza for dinner and chowed down carelessly. As everyone knows, pizza is the natural predator of lipstick, but this stuff stood tall. In the end, there was my lip color, unaffected! Yes really.

Is it legal to marry a lipstick?

This is the best long lasting lip color I’ve ever tried. It stays on through eating, drinking, kissing, face washing AND showering. I even brushed my teeth with it on one time - just because I could! Freedom, thy name is Provocalips.

Have you tried this lip color yet? What's your favorite long-wearing lip product? Which lipstick would you like to marry?