A few days ago, I wrote about a preview of LUSH’s new Emotional Brilliance makeup line that was held in New York. (You can read that post here.) Over the next week or two I’ll be reviewing a few Emotional Brilliance products that I’ve tried. I’ll begin with a liquid lipstick called Liquid Lips, just because I’m always drawn to lip color and I found this one to be quite unusual.

Like the rest of the Emotional Brilliance collection, Liquid Lips is vegan, was developed without animal testing,  and is sold with minimal packaging. It’s available in thirteen shades, ranging from creams to shimmers and from brights to pastels, and its formula is shockingly simple: a base of jojoba oil, candelilla wax, and rose wax infused with pigments.

“Perspective” was assigned to me after I’d chosen its corresponding color disc in the Emotional Brilliance wheel. In the bottle, it looks like a shimmery rose-gold. (I believe it’s the fourth shade from the right in the group photo above, where it looks more beige.)

Each Liquid Lips contains 5 grams of product in a glass bottle with a screw-top cap and wand applicator. It’s unlike any other product I own, but it does remind me a bit of the liquid Lip Tints once sold by the now-extinct B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful (a sister company to LUSH). Liquid Lips feels silky, but not slippery. Thanks to its ingredients, it’s moisturizing enough that I can skip lip balm underneath (especially in summer, when I’m not dealing with chapped lips), but it stays in place. I’ve been wearing it without a liner, since the edge of the applicator can be used to shape an outline.

Perspective is well pigmented: one stroke is enough to create a thin coat of color. I’ve been spreading and blending the creamy liquid a bit with the tip of my little finger. I’m finding that one layer is enough, although I can add another after the first one sets.

I took a photo of Perspective on my arm: the top swatch is freshly applied, and the bottom swatch has been blended with one touch of my finger. As you can see, the color looks more gleam-y right out of the bottle and then appears slightly more matte when blended. On my mouth, it’s a very natural-looking nude with a subtle gold sheen. I’ve been topping it with a pink gloss when I want a cooler-toned effect.

Liquid Lips has surprisingly good staying power for a lip color with such a simple ingredients list. It wears more like a lipstick than a gloss, staying put through a drink and wearing down to a stain after a snack or a normal morning’s activity.

I might go back to LUSH and sample another shade of Liquid Lips, perhaps a pink or a berry, if I’m allowed to choose one without using the color wheel again! I liked having a “reading” done, and I agree that “perspective” is a good thing to have, but there are so many appealing shades in the line that I want to try others, too.

LUSH’s Emotional Brilliance line is available through the LUSH website (and LUSH stores). Liquid Lips sells for $22.95.

Disclaimer: I received this product as a press sample from LUSH.

Images: Liquid Lips group photo via LUSH; Perspective photos by Tinsel Creation.