'No, My Lips Are Sealed' Lipstick Topcoat Review
Nothing is more painful than spending the time perfectly applying your lipstick, to see it imprinted on your coffee cup or smeared around your face after eating. Especially when so many brands have claims for 'long-lasting' or 'kiss-proof' wear. Even worse is trying to reapply and being left with a chunky, clumpy mess on your pout.
When I was given this 'No, My Lips Are Sealed' lipstick topcoat as a Christmas gift, I remained hopeful but with a touch of scepticism. I've tried a couple products from Know Cosmetics in the past and have been very underwhelmed or straight-up disappointed with the results. But for the sake of a smudge-free kisser and a review for you all to enjoy, I decided to give it a shot!
'No, My Lips Are Sealed' Lipstick Topcoat by Know Cosmetics.
I decided to test this with the Too Faced Melted Liquified Long Wear Lipstick. I haven't worn this simply because of how much it transfers, so I thought this would be a great lippie to truly test with the topcoat. I find this to be a demi-matte finish, so note that this doesn't dry down completely, so transfer is expected with this product.
I set out a few guidelines for myself: Wear for at least 6 hours, no reapplying (lipstick or topcoat!). Even though it says to reapply with each application of lipstick, I really wanted to see the longevity one application would provide.
The product came with detailed instructions inside, which is great because the box simply says to 'shake well before applying'. In summary the leaflet says it is 'colourless and neutral in taste', and 'won't change the colour of your lipstick'. It will help decrease the smudging and fading of the lipstick.
As instructed, I first put on the lipstick. It specifies to put the colour onto bare lips, so I begrudgingly avoided chapstick to get the best results I could. I shook up the tube and slicked on a 'generous coating'.
The wand was not at all what I expected. It's essentially a silicone doe foot applicator, but flat on both sides. It has a little flexibility, but otherwise very stiff and not very comfortable on the lips. The sides of the wand are especially painful, as I noticed it has a seam that wrapped around (likely from the mold it was made in). However, it is easy to wipe off after application, so as to not taint the colour of your future applications.
The formula looks milky, and is slightly runny. It was hard to get a totally precise application (You'll see what I mean in a moment). It took about 5 minutes to totally dry down; it was not sticky at all, no scent or taste either.
Left: lipstick applied without topcat. Right: topcoat applied, and completely dried down.
I did notice the finish is mattifying, which makes sense to reduce the transfer/smudges. The colour doesn't appear as vibrant as before, because of this.
The instructions said to wait a few minutes before testing it on the back of your hand. I let it completely dry down, and smooched my hand. You'll see the only transfer is the lip-line of my top lip, which I must have missed when applying the top coat. So far so good!
Left: transfer test without topcoat. Right: transfer test with topcoat. You’ll see it left tiniest little bit of transfer (which you can barely see), so I consider that a win.
My initial thoughts after dry-down was that it did feel heavy on the lips. The best way I can describe the feeling is like the skin of a peach. I know that sounds bizarre, but my lips just felt...fuzzy?! It felt obvious that I was wearing a lip product in an uncomfortable way. Think of the most drying liquid lipstick you own, because it's comparable to that.
3 hours later I decided to test it's abilities throughout a meal.
A little disclaimer for those unaware; No matter how many claims a lipstick may have about being smudge-resistant, anything oil-based will take it right off. I don't care how much it costs, no lipstick is a match for anything oily (Makeup-remover, food, etc). With this in mind, I was careful to eat something that wasn't especially greasy.
Alas, the topcoat was no match for my sandwich lunch. With every bite, I saw more and more pink residue on the bread and eventually below my bottom lip. I don't even want to imagine what would've gone down if I had eaten a fast food burger and fries.
As painful as it was to not reapply after this fiasco, I left it on for 4 more hours (You're all welcome). There wasn't much left to show for it after but a big patchy, dry mess. I did a kiss test but 1) the lighting is awful, and 2) there wasn't really a transfer because there wasn't really anything left on my lips.
Albeit, I kept my expectations fairly low so I'm not totally surprised that this didn't work out in the end. Though I do think this can work if you're just going out for drinks and not planning on eating. I was pretty impressed at how it didn't smear onto the rim of my coffee mug.
That said, my lips have never felt drier. And maybe that's from the Melted Lipstick alone, but I certainly don't believe this topcoat has any sort of hydrating qualities. I was more than happy to scrub this right off at the end of the day. In summation, this wasn't my favourite.
Have any of you tried this lipstick topcoat, or any other products similar to this? What were the results?
Do you enjoy reading the product tests? Let me know in the comments!