Review + Swatches: Is the Sunnies Face Fluffmatte Lipstick worth your money?
Here's a fact of life: women don't buy lipstick because they need one. They buy because of the way it makes them feel. We tend to pick up our bullet of the day because of our mood or even according to who we want to be like; is it chic and elegant, sexy and hot, smart and practical? The permutations are endless, which is why lipstick is one of the easiest beauty products to sell even in an already crowded market. We can't have too much of it because we assign a unique and personal value to each of our carefully chosen shades.
This is why it was a great move for Sunnies Face to come out with lipstick as their inaugural product. Promoted by "It Girl" founders Georgina Wilson and Martine Cajucom and their friends, the hype surrounding the Fluffmatte Lipstick (P345) has been so insane that it sold out quickly online and even had people queuing at their stores for hours just to get at most three tubes (yes, there's a limit). So is the hype real? Let's get to it.
What I love about the lipsticks
- The nine colors are all wearable and trendy. My favorite shades are Nudist, Vacay, and Major, shades that for me are hard to find and get right for my medium skin tone. Someone asked me if the colors work for fair skin tones and yes, they do! You can wear any of these shades as a nice blotted lip type of stain if you prefer something lighter.
- The lipsticks glide on like butter - a feat for a matte lipstick. It also has this amazing opacity in one or two layers depending on the color. The most patchy I would say is Mood, but everything else goes on evenly with no effort at all.
- The finish is a powdery, dare I say fluffy, matte. It doesn't feel uncomfortable or heavy once it has set. I agree with the claims that it's weightless. If you hate the feel of waxy lipsticks, this is as close as you can get to the non-waxy feel as the formula is actually silicone-based. Even the beeswax they used is a silicone hybrid!
- At first I was worried that the beige tube would be flimsy and cheap, but it actually has a bit of heft and the texture feels great. The box is also well-designed - it's minimal but dynamic. Everything feels luxurious for something that's only P345.
What I don't like about the lipsticks
- The staying power is poor. The brighter colors will smear around the mouth and transfer on every surface they touch. The lipsticks will not survive a meal; it will fade in a less than flattering ring around the mouth. Staying power is about two, two and a half hours before you need a retouch.
- The formula flakes after two hours. I don't have dry lips and I carefully prime my lips before applying color, but the Fluffmate formula itself is flaky AF. I'm always tempted to just eat away the lipstick because of the flakes. Certainly, once it gets to that stage, you'll have to remove the whole lipstick and re-apply again.
Neutral
- These are made in China. I have no strong feelings about it as I know China is a manufacturing powerhouse capable of truly great products. At the same time, here is another example of local brands not being manufactured locally. Thought you should still know.
Shade notes
I photographed these lipsticks in front of a bright ring light and each color was just freshly applied, hence the shine on my lips. In natural light though they are quite matte! I love Nudist because it's one of the few true nudes that doesn't wash me out; Major is a beautiful, beautiful true red color that reminds me of MAC Ruby Woo. Hot Sauce has a bit of an orange tint to it compared to Major although they look almost similar in the swatches.
I find Milkshake, Vacay, and Baked to be quite similar with a slight variation of undertones. Milkshake has a pink undertone to it, Vacay is more coral, and Baked is more of a terracotta. 143 and Mood are also similar, but Mood is darker and vampier compared to 143's berry shade.
So are they worth the hype?
Well, yes and no. Yes because the Sunnies Face Fluffmatte Lisptick is a good lipstick at P345 - it does deliver that luxe feel at drugstore prices. This is not easy to do and I know from experience. Sunnies didn't promise long-wear, which for some people isn't a big problem if they're after beautiful colors and packaging. The price is very competitive in this sense and the urge to collect is understandable if only to be part of the Sunnies cool girl narrative. Don't knock it, it's real.
However, if you've tried formulas like the Happy Skin Matte Lipsticks, Maybelline Powder Mattes, and L'Oreal Color Riche Mattes, then this is not new to you. These feel and look (in terms of shade selection) almost the same as these older mattes. I would say however that Happy Skin Mattes are superior to them all since they're non-drying and not flaky - that for me justifies the higher price tag. The L'Oreal performs better than Sunnies too, IMHO.
I think that if you love the way these lipsticks look and love collecting bullets then you should definitely grab a tube or two!
Let me know what you think as always. Have you tried these lipsticks yet? What's your experience?
