I'll admit it. The words I'm about to type are a giant blogging cliche... I can't believe I've never reviewed one of my favorite products.
Ok! Now that that's out of the way, let's take a look at Fyrinnae's Lip Lustre in Dragon's Blood. Our very own Valentine Glass recommended this product to me a couple years back and it was love at first application. Over time I've discovered some minor flaws with the product, but it's still easily my perfect red.
Let's start with the basics. If you're not familiar with Fyrinnae Cosmetics, you can read a helpful Company Overview by my co-blogger Kristin right here. If you want an in-depth look at the Lip Lustre formula (including swatches of a bunch of colors), my co-blogger Valentine did a comprehensive review right here.
Full size Lip Lustres come in the same tube as the brand's cult favorite Pixie Epoxy. They contain slightly less product than Pixie Epoxy "due to the viscous nature of the Lustres" - Lip Lustres contain 8mL versus 9mL in Pixie Epoxy. I neglected to take a photo of the tube in my hand to give you a size reference, but it's nearly 1.5 times as tall as a Milani lipstick tube, and about 3/4 of an inch shorter than a Shiro gloss tube. It's a generous amount of product and should last a long time even with daily wear.
Dragon's Blood is listed as "a deep, rich, cool matte maroon-red, inspired by the vampy lipsticks of the 1920s. Can be applied as a lighter "berry stain" shade over balm." It's a couple of shades deeper than the classic red lipstick, but I don't think it wanders anywhere near vampy territory. Fyrinnae calls it matte, but as Valentine rightly points out, it's got more of a satin finish. If you can stand another cliche, I call it my Snow White red. Here's an arm swatch:
And here's how it looks on my lips. Please note I color corrected this lip swatch photo since it was a little overexposed:
I love the way this cool, deep red contrasts my pale, warm-toned skin (roughly NC15 in MAC shades or Sleek Korat in Meow shades), but it also looks stunning on Valentine, and I can see it working beautifully on darker skin tones as well.
Here are the pros of the formula:
- It's thin and lightweight. It's not quite light enough to feel like nothing's on my lips, but it's still pretty easy to forget I'm wearing it.
- It's opaque in one coat (one pull from the tube). I don't need to spend a lot of time layering it to get a lovely, rich color.
- It's not drying. It's not actively hydrating either, but I don't ever feel dried out while wearing it.
- It plays well with lip liner. If I'm in the mood for something a little brighter, it looks great over a neutral red liner.
- It's easy to apply with the included doe foot applicator. I can get reasonably good edges, even with my uneven lip line. The corners of my lips are a little tricky (but then, when aren't they?) so I usually do those last, when there's less product on the applicator.
And here are some drawbacks of the formula:
- It feathers on me. It's not bad enough to see it until I'm fairly close to the mirror, but it bugs me enough that I always put a clear lip liner around my lips whenever I wear this color.
- It doesn't stand up to food so well. Granted, I am not a dainty eater, but this is not a marathon lip color. When I eat a meal with a fork while wearing Dragon's Blood, I can see some fading at the inside of my lower lip. It doesn't even stand a chance against a sandwich.
- It transfers somewhat, even after giving it plenty of time to set. It's not bad by any means, but it will leave a print on a mug or anyone you kiss.
The formula's not perfect, but since the drawbacks are easy to work around and the color makes me feel like a million bucks, it's got top billing among my red lipsticks. If you're interested in picking up a tube for yourself, you can purchase them right here.
Have you ever tried Dragon's Blood, or any other colors from Fyrinnae's Lip Lustre line?
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