May Lippy Review: Beauty Bakerie Lip Whip in Versailles

The Beauty Bakerie Lip Whip had a lot of hype a few months back when it first launched and many shades sold out on the online shops that I had access to, so it took me a long time to finally get my hands on them. I was so upset because being a beauty-obsessed jobless person who should have spent the time doing her Masters thesis but instead spent it checking out blog and youtube reviews about them, I kept seeing all these amazing reviews about them and yet I couldn’t get them. But now I finally have!

These Lip Whips are liquid lipsticks that are supposed to be smudge proof and dries matte, with “all day coverage in just one pigmented application”. This is sold at USD20 on the Beauty Bakerie website, for 5ml of product. I got mine from the Cult Beauty website for £16 instead of the official site, because shipping from the US to Europe incurs tons of import taxes and always get stopped by customs so I didn’t want to risk it.

The product comes in a frosted transparent lip-gloss tube, with the actual colour of the lipstick showing through, with a doe-foot applicator and a turquoise cap. I like how the packaging looks, but I find that the applicator doesn’t grab or ‘put down’ enough product on the lips to spread it all around, so I have to go back in again to cover my whole lips.

Versailles is a cool-toned mauve. It looks darker when wet, but dries down much paler. I was expecting it to be a stronger and darker mauve but one layer dries down to a sort of pale mauve which is just a little more mauve than my natural lip colour. I don’t think it looks good on its own, but I really like it under a layer of clear gloss, which makes it not matte – I guess this means I like the colour but in a non-matte finish.

The lip whips have a rather liquid texture – it feels gel-like when freshly applied on the lips. This takes quite a long time to dry down, definitely more than 2 minutes. Do not try to rub your lips together before it’s dry because it gets very sticky and by rubbing, the pigment somehow gets “moved” around so that it becomes very patchy. I find that the only way to get an even application is to apply it evenly straight from the tube, which takes a lot of practice. When it’s not dry, the stickiness level is really offensive to me.

However, when it’s dried down, it becomes really tight and uncomfortably dry. It sort of shrinks up the lips because it’s so dry that all the lip lines start to appear extremely obvious – as shown in the lip swatch. This is why I prefer wearing it with a layer of gloss, particularly a moisturising one, because it makes it less tight and plumps the lips back up.

The coverage or pigmentation is very good but it does cover my natural lip colour fully even though it’s a rather light shade. For Versailles, I find that the longevity to be much shorter than expected because every review I’ve read claim this to be smudge-proof, water-proof and that it would last all day until you remove it. It is smudge proof once it’s dried, but it started to disappear within 2 to 3 hours, even without eating or drinking, and definitely was fully gone halfway through a meal. Versailles did not leave a stain behind. A few times this flaked off on me – like cracked paint, when I wore this on its own.

I’ve seen many sponsored reviews (or reviews from people who received these free) that recommend buying the Lip Whip Remover to get this off, but I really don’t find the need. These came off with my usual oil-based makeup remover – some of the pigment might transfer onto the face as you wipe but you can just wipe it off! Don’t waste your money.

In all, I think this must be my most disappointed lip product purchase of 2017. I really don’t think it was worth all that hype – it did not perform as what all the other reviews claim it to, especially in terms of longevity. I found this to be one of the most uncomfortable liquid lipstick – it’s incredibly sticky when wet, and extremely dry when it’s no longer wet to the extent that my lips felt sucked dry of moisture. I like this colour and found the best way to wear it is with a moisturising lip gloss, which makes it not matte and also much more comfortable to wear but it will also further reduce the wear time of the lipstick.