Are Lip Stains The Perfect Alternative To Lipsticks?

Ask any makeup lover and they will tell you that one of the beauty items they cannot live without is lipstick. Lipstick is the Beyoncé of makeup products. You can have a fresh face with nothing on but lipstick and still look like a million dollars because it can stand out on its own. But the downside to lipstick is that it doesn't last on the lips for very long, especially the creamy variety. We can unfortunately all relate to running to the powder room every two hours to touch up our lips. Matte lipsticks can last sometimes, but they have a habit of drying out your lips and looking flaky. So, a lot of people are turning to lip stains as an alternative to get the color without all the fuss.

Traditional lipsticks are beautiful, but are known to be messy. Not only do they stain surfaces like clothes and eating utensils, but they also get ingested. Some studies show that women unknowingly consume 60 milligrams of lipstick daily, so much so that they should start counting them as calories. Lip stains seem to offer a solution to this problem and more, but are they really worth the hype, or is this just another fad?

Unlike traditional lipsticks which have an oil or waxy base, lip stains are typically water-based, which makes them last longer and prevents transfer. This gives them an automatic advantage over lipstick. They also get absorbed into the lips, whereas lipsticks are layered onto the lips. Eventually, the shiny coat of the lip stain will fade throughout the course of the day, but it will leave the color on the lips.

L'Oréal Associate Principal Chemist Roselin Rosario told Makeup that lip stains usually have a mattifying finish. "The actual stain will give you a matte finish because dyes and colorants in general do not impart shine," she explains. But, if you want a lip stain that leaves a shiny, glossy finish instead, those are readily available. The Elf Glossy Lip Stain is an excellent option that comes in eight shades.

With lip stains, you can go about your normal daily activities such as talking, eating and drinking, working, or even doing sports without worrying about your lips losing their color or touching them up. They last all day long, so it's safe to say that lip stains are an excellent alternative to lipstick.

Lip stains have proven to be a worthy contender against lipstick for a variety of reasons, but this doesn't mean they don't also come with their own baggage. Lip stains are known for drying out the lips. Although they are water-based, they do not offer any hydration unless specially formulated with that feature. Keeping your lips moisturized is important to maintaining their health if you want to go the lip stain route.

Also, people who love a good variety of lip colors to choose from might be disappointed when shopping for lip stains, as they famously come in painfully few hues. According to Roselin Rosario, there is a specific reason for this. "Only a small number of dyes stain the lips safely, so color selection for lip stains is often limited." She adds that pigments that stay layered on the lips are plentiful, which is why there are more lipstick shades to choose from.

The final con to lip stains is the removal process. This might not be an issue for everyone, but for those who would rather not have a semi-permanent stain on their lips throughout their entire day, it might be inconvenient knowing there's little they can do about it. Rosario recommends using a lip scrub to reduce the presence of the stain.