REVIEW & SWATCHES: Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipstick

ITEM: Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipstick
RRP: $20 (USD)

So I bought these beautiful looking Anastasia Liquid Lipsticks because the colours looked absolutely divine and because there was so much hype surrounding it. I was a little reluctant at first because shipping to Australia was $17.95 (U.S.) and the exchange rate was so ridiculous that it converted to an absurdly high amount. But… the more people that posted about them on Youtube, Instagram and Blogs made it impossible for me to resist. Eventually, I took the plunge and decided the shipping was only worth it if I bought a number of them so I bought 8 of them.

The colours that I snagged were Pure Hollywood – Lovely – Baby Pink – Carina – Sweet Talker – Retro Coral – Heathers – Vintage. If it’s not already obvious, I went for the more pinky, neutral shades that were more wearable (except for Heathers & Vintage). I do intend now to venture into more bold colours the line has to offer.

When I finally received the package, I almost screamed with joy. I was so excited. Then I straight away took my photos and decided to put one of the colours on. And…my goodness gracious me, it was beautiful. The pigmentation was insane (although that is pretty standard for a liquid lipstick these days). But the thing that stood out was the formula. It went on very smooth and light – I find that it’s a formula which sits halfway between a very liquid formula (like the Lime Crime Velvetines) and a soft fluffy whipped formula (like the NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams). These are a beautiful in-between of those. Then when you put it on and it sets, it gets a bit tacky for a little while, before turning into a complete matte finish. When it is matte however, it is not drying and doesn’t make me immediately reach for a lip balm. I really liked that and felt that this is what differentiates this product from other matte liquid lipsticks.

Indoor Lighting
Left to Right
Pure Hollywood - Lovely - Baby Pink - Retro Coral - Sweet Talker - Carina - Vintage - Heathers

SunlightLeft to Right
Pure Hollywood - Lovely - Baby Pink - Retro Coral - Sweet Talker - Carina - Vintage - Heathers

Unfortunately, I did find a downside to this product – it’s not very long lasting and it transfers like crazy. I wore it and when I thought it had set about 10 minutes later, I drank from a cup and the colour transferred a lot. (I was wearing Heathers at the time). I was shocked so I decided to give it another hour or so. At this point I forgot what I had on my lips and I had a takeaway coffee. Transferred again. And every single sip that I took, it transferred all over the cup. I then ate a meal (a chicken salad) and it just all came off leaving a rather unattractive lip-liner type perimeter on my lips.

Now, as annoying as this was, it isn’t something that deters me from ever using the product again or deters me from purchasing more colours, because I find that there are positives that this product has that others don’t (namely, the non-drying element of this product). However, if you’re looking for a zero fuss product that will last all day and all night, this is not it. If that’s the kind of product that you’re after, I’d recommend the Kat Von D Liquid Lipsticks, the Australis Velour Lips or the Rimmel Provocalips. But if you don’t mind carrying around your lip product in your bag and reapplying throughout the day/night, and you also don’t mind it transferring onto things (or your partner doesn’t mind you putting lip marks on their face), then I do think that you will rather enjoy this product.

***I was going to do lip swatches but my lips were in terrible shape and the Anastasia website provides lip swatches. Use these swatches to differentiate between colours that appear quite similar online! If you would like lip swatches anyway, please leave a comment down below!

Overall: The packaging is beautiful, the colour range is stunning, the pigmentation is on point and the formula is not drying. That is a long list of positives. However, the one downfall I find with this product is that it’s not very long-lasting and it’s not transfer-proof. So I feel that this product is something that every person will need to do their own weighing up of – colour range & hydrated lips vs a long lasting formula that doesn’t transfer.

Rating: 7.5/10