I’m afraid that I misjudged this one — and that I shortened its name in the title for the sake of rhyme and rhythm — when I picked this one up fairly early into the new year. I had already tried the matte formulation and was impressed and I wanted to give the original formula a go; the my-lips-but-deeper hue of the Rimmel Kate Moss Lasting Finish Lipstick in 08 ($7-8 CDN)seemed like it would fit the bill. I fell in love with the formula but was disappointed with the shade as the rosy hue of the shade was dominated by its brown undertones, looking a little to ‘mature’ and brown on the lips – so despite it’s comfortable creamy texture and beyond-tolerable vanilla-fruity scent it was a bit of a failure, tossed towards the back of my drawer.

After this particular failure I kind of abandoned the whole quest of finding that neutral-albeit-slightly-deeper lip shade and convinced myself that the MAC Patisserie Lipstick and Bobbi Brown Rose Pot Rouge were as close as I was going to get but when I decided to binge-watch Tijan Serena’s videos and spotted the very same lipstick in her March Favourites, I tried again. I was having quite a ‘meh’ day so I wasn’t expecting much but I discovered that when applied with a lip-brush rather than straight from the tube, it was a flattering rosy hue that not only didn’t emphasize uneven texture on my lips and lasted ages but it didn’t have a bothersome smell or any other bothersome side effects. In other words, when the intense pigmentation is toned down with a lip brush, the strength of the brown undertones diminish, leaving the lips with a flattering rosy shade.

This might sound a bit familiar as I tried to get into this rediscovery in my Lip Product Addict post but then restrained myself somewhat – but of course I left some extraneous details in, you know me… It’s safe to say that I’ve been reaching for this one quite frequently lately and of course, the inanimate object was begging for an apology, heartbroken from it’s lack of written love from me. It’s up there for my favourite lipstick formulation at the drugstore (with the Revlon Lacquer Balms), the formulation is that fantastic and if you haven’t I’d recommend giving these a go, especially this neutral everyday kind of shade.

Have you tried either of the Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick formulations? As I love the formula, I would kill for a shade recommendation or 394882…

Maggie, x