I received City Color’s Creamy Lip Stain in Flirtini in my February Ipsy (referral link) Glam Bag, and am only now trying it for the first time. To be honest, it isn’t my color!

I had not heard of City Color before, and thought the lip stain looked like a run-of-the-mill drugstore-priced lipgloss. I wasn’t far off: it retails for US$4.99. Their description of the product is as follows:

A hybrid between a lipstick and gloss, City Color Creamy Lip Stain gives your lips true, bold color that won’t quit! Applies thick and creamy with a glossy shine and sets with a lightweight, matte stain that doesn’t dry out.

Flirtini is a somewhat bright, midtone mauve pink cream. The mauve makes it look a little less horrible on me, but it’s still too pink and a touch too cool-toned for my taste. The lip stain applies a bit thick and creamy, but it’s easy to spread out evenly.

I didn’t like the doefoot applicator with this formula, though. I wasn’t able to get a neat application with it, so I had to resort to using a separate lip brush.

The lip stain soon dries to a matte finish. It’s not bad, reasonably comfortable, and quite matte-looking. I am not personally a fan of the extremely matte look for lips, and I much prefer a creamier matte lipstick formula. The staying power of this lip stain was pretty good, lasting several hours and through a fair bit of coffee. I found it to be slightly drying, but I guess a longer lasting formula will tend to do that.

So, I have to give this product a fail for me, but if you are into this type of matte lip product, you might want to give it a try.

City Color Creamy Lip Stain is US$4.99 and 0.078 US fl oz / 2.3 mL (which seems really tiny considering the size of the chunky tube!). It is made in China.

City Color Cosmetics is part of Beauty Plus Global, Inc., which is based in Ontario CA, USA.