Special effects are taking centre stage when it comes to the lip category… but for daytime wear convenience is king

A matte lip in a bold or nude shade has been a staple ‘look’ for online make-up aficionados for the past few years. However, while brands such as Burberry (Liquid Lip Velvet) and Rimmel London (Stay Matte Liquid Lip Colour) are still investing in this eminently wearable trend, recent launch activity suggests the industry is having a bit more fun in the lip category with special effects coming to the fore.

Metallic and iridescent products, for example, are popping up on shelves, especially among mass-market labels. Barry M offers Matte Me Up Metallic Lip Kits, featuring paint and liner, in pink, berry and gold shades, while Sleek MakeUP launched Matte Me Metallic Lip Creams in three shades for a foil-like finish, unveiled as part of its iridescent Distorted Dreams collection.

Smashbox offers a subtler take on the metallic theme with the Be Legendary Liquid Metals and Pigment lip lacquer collection; the liquid lip gel is said to deliver rich, high-gloss colour while evenly dispersed pigments reflect light, creating a 3D, optically plump pout. Lime Crime and Ciaté likewise offer a theatrical twist to lips. The former has Diamond Crushers toppers in its line-up in a range of iridescent shades, claimed to make wearers lips “sparkle like a fairy on acid” when layered on top of a coloured lip product.

Ciaté’s newly launched Glitter Flip, on the other hand, is a range of glitter liquid lipsticks that switch effect on their own. According to the brand, when lips are pressed together they are transformed from a metallic matte liquid lipstick into a multi-dimensional glitter lip.

Indeed, ‘changing’ lip products are coming to the fore, including ones that switch hue once on the lips. Lipstick Queen recently added a new colour to its colour changing collection – Mornin’ Sunshine – a yellow bullet, which becomes a coral tone upon application, while the new Prism collection from value fashion retailer Primark also features colour changing lipsticks.

Looking at other trending effects, Smashbox is clearly banking on the Asian vogue for two-tone lips taking off in the West as it launched the Be Legendary Triple Tone Lipstick collection, which instantly adds an ombré effect to the lips.

This fashion for graded colour has also seen the rise of lip powders in France, with recent powder products from the likes of Dior (Le Rouge Gradient) and Tom Ford (Shade and Illuminate Lips) in prestige, and Artdeco (Hypnotic Blossom Matte Lip Powder) in mass.

And for maximum ‘wow’, 3INA launched Fluoro Lipgloss shades as part of its recent UV Collection, which doubtless will have adorned many a lip in festival dance tents this summer.

But it wasn’t all about impactful, Instagrammable lips… on a day-to-day basis convenience is king, and plenty of new lip products honoured women’s need to apply a single, portable product quickly and easily.

Hourglass Cosmetics’ GIRL Lip Stylo offers a fusion of lip balm, liner and lipstick in 20 shades and Stila recently introduced Color Balm Lipstick, formulated with plant-based emollients and peppermint oils to deliver the full pigment of a lipstick with the nourishment of a balm.

Also meeting consumer demand for multitaskers, Max Factor launched Colour Elixir Honey Lacquer, a three-in-one lacquer that offers the intense colour of a lipstick, the shine of a gloss and the soft feel of a balm.

Benefit, meanwhile, came up with the ultimate lip ‘life hack’ when it debuted they’re Real! Double The Lip, a liner and lipstick in one, which defines the lip line and fills in the lips with a complementing colour in a single gesture.

For those customers bold enough to embrace metallic, ombré or day-glo lips, our industry is providing ample options. However, underpinning changing trends for colours, effects and formulations is the need for quick, fuss-free application. As such, multitasking lip colour will never go out of fashion.

Julia Wray is Editor of SPC magazine

Euromonitor International, will discuss more on colour cosmetics in a session ‘Identifying opportunities in colour cosmetics in Asia Pacific’ at in-cosmetics Asia in Bangkok on Tuesday 31 October at 2pm.