Maybelline Color Blur by Lip Studio Cream Matte Pencil & Smudger Review & Swatches.

Hi lovelies!

I was fortunate enough to be invited to a Maybelline pre-release event last year in December, but unfortunately, was unable to attend as I was away. I was pleasantly surprised to find a surprise parcel on my return, however, as they were kind enough to send me a fantastic goodie bag with a sampling of new release items since I had missed the event! It was makeup heaven just opening that bag and looking at everything!

Isn't that a gorgeous assortment of goodies?! I'll be reviewing items over the next week or so, so be sure to leave a note in the comments if there's something in particular you want to see reviewed ASAP! The first thing to catch my eye were the lipsticks, and I was especially intrigued by the Maybelline Color Blur by Lip Studio Cream Matte Pencils, which is why they're the first items to be reviewed!

The Color Blur Pencil is a dual-ended slim stick, with a thin, wind-up lip pencil at one end, and a softly pointed rubber smudger on the other end. What I found to be a little surprising is that the wind-up mechanism is actually located on the smudger end, not the lipstick end as you'd expect. 

Keep reading after the jump!

The first thing I thought about these pencils is the trend seemed to be very Asian, or 'kawaii' inspired. The second thought that crossed my mind was that these lip pencils would be perfect for achieving an ombre look, where you blend two (or more) shades together to create a gradient.

There's a little label on the lid which shows you how to achieve the 'blurred' effect. Essentially, you trace the tip of the lip pencil in the centre of your upper and lower lip, and then use the smudger (pictured below) to gently blur the colour out towards the edges of your lip.

The smudger is quite soft and stains quite easily, so it might be worth giving it a quick wipe with makeup remover in between uses. It also does quite a good job at blurring the lipstick out when I tried to achieve the 'blurred' look.

The texture of the lip pencil is quite smooth and creamy, and it's quite comfortable on the lips. It does tend to catch on dry patches so be sure to prep your lips well with lip balm beforehand. Unlike most matte lipsticks, these do transfer a little bit so they don't last as long as you'd expect from a matte lipstick, but you do get a few hours of wear before having to touch up.

There are eight shades in the range, with a combination of pastels, brights and a dark shade, but nothing that I would call a good nude shade. All eight shades have fantastic pigmentation. Some of the shades are exceedingly pretty when worn on their own, and all the shades work well together when it comes to creating the ombre look. The eight shades available in Australia are:

#05 Pink Insanity - blue based Barbie Pink shade
#10 Fast and Fuchsia - bright fuchsia shade
#50 I Like to Mauve It - soft pink shade
#15 Berry Misbehaved - bright berry pink shade
#20 Orange Ya Glad - warm orange shade
#25 Cherry Cherry Bang Bang - bright cherry red shade
#30 Partner in Crimson - deep red shade
#35 Plum, Please - deep wine shade

Do note that #50 - I like to mauve it, should be at the end of the range/swatches in terms of numbering, but I placed it line with the rest of the pinks due to the shade.

Swatches (L-R): #5 Pink Insanity, #10 Fast and Fuchsia, #50 I Like to Mauve It, #15 Berry Misbehaved, #20 Orange Ya Glad, #25 Cherry Cherry Bang Bang, #30 Partner in Crimson, #35 Plum, Please.

Overall, I quite liked these, though I personally wouldn't use it to achieve the blurred out effect because I have a natural dark lip line which would defeat the purpose of this look. I do like wearing these lip pencils on their own as normal lipsticks (Berry Misbehaved and Orange Ya Glad are personal favourites), and I also like them for creating gradient looks. The smudger makes it very easy to softly blend different shades together, and I'll be sure to share a photo wearing these to achieve a gradient look to my Instagram in the next few days, so keep an eye out for that!

These lip pencils retail for $17.95 and will be officially available in stores from February 2016, though I'm sure that some stores would have them from the end of this month as they usually do with new releases. Will you be picking any of these up? Which shades do you fancy?

Much love,
MM.
x

PS- I'm joining a blogger link up party, so be sure to check out Ingrid's post here and share the blog love! ♥

Note: This product was kindly provided for editorial consideration. This has not affected my opinion in any way. For more information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.