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Lip Liner Evaluation

By Diane Kaye
TGForum Consumer Products Editor

As part of this column, I am always interested in hearing from the readers on products they would like to see evaluated by Diane Kaye’s testing laboratory. If you have comments, questions, or requests, please drop me a line at: diane923@tgforum.com

Well girls, its that time of the month, no I don't mean THAT TIME. I mean it is the time to open up the Diane Kaye testing laboratories and put another set of products through their paces.

Now we all like to have those luscious looking lips, don't we? And the worst fate a girl can have, well almost the worst, is to have smudged lipstick. It makes a girl look like an amateur in beauty preparation. And we certainly can have none of that. To avoid those dreadful smeared lips, many of us first line our lips with lipliner. JoAnn Roberts recommends that a girl completely color her lips with the liner to insure proper coloring at all times. Now the new lipsticks do last longer, but it never hurts to be safe. I am assuming all of you girls know how to apply lip liner, and if you don't the TGF library section will help you there.

The products evaluated this month are, again, those available at the drug stores and cosmetic stores and are reasonably priced.

The Contenders

The average cost was around $5.50. I chose the following liners: Max Factor International, Maybelline Precision Lip Liner, Cover Girl Continuous Lip Definer, Almay Amazing Lasting Lipliner, Revlon Timeliner for Lips, and Revlon Color Stay Lipliner. The choice was based on what was available at the store. The Max Factor product was still in the old fashion wooden pencil style, a definite disadvantage in my opinion. All the rest were in plastic dispensers with the twist up color stick inside. The Revlon Timeliner did not twist, and is a mystery to me as to how it advances. It also has a much thicker color stick than the other plastic dispensers. Maybe it is spring loaded? Of the plastic dispensers, the Maybelline pencil was the poorest design. The plastic tube did not support the color stick properly and in fact let the color stick break off during testing. Definitely a waste. Both the Almay and Revlon Colorstay had points on the color stick, but this has no practical use except for the first application, after which the point is gone.

The tests performed were to determine how dense the color was, how many applications it took to get a good color definition, did the color come off easily by blotting and licking, and how well did it come off with makeup remover. The tests then were: One wipe Streak Test both on glass and on skin to determine the color density, hardness and uniformity. The Blot test and Rub Test determined how well they stayed on under typical meal time brushes to the lips. The Lick Test simulated one licking their lips repeatedly. The Number of wipes to get good color density and uniformity showed how easily or hard it was to apply and get a good look. And finally the ease of clean up for when we go to bed at night.

Max Factor Maybelline Cover GirlAlmay Revlon Timeliner Revlon Colorstay Comments
Glass TestVery Hard Color Stick, Weak Color Hard Color Stick, Moderate Color Density Moderately Hard Color Stick Moderate Color Density Very Soft Color Stick, Good Color Density Moderately Soft Color Stick, Moderate Density Good Color Density, Moderately Hard Color Stick Almay Went On Best
Skin TestPoor Color Uniformity Moderate Color Uniformity Good Color uniformity Very Good Color Uniformity Moderate Color Uniformity Good Color UniformityMaybelline Broke Off
Blot TestNo Color Removed Slight Color Removal Slight Color RemovalNo Color Removal No Color RemovalNo Color Removal Maybelline Came Off the Most
Rub TestSlight Rub Off Rubs OffRubs Off Moderate Rub OffModerate Rub Off Slight Rub OffMaybelline and CG Came off the Most
Lick TestNo Lick Off Moderate Lick Off Moderate Lick OffNo Lick Off Slight Lick OffNo Lick Off Maybelline and CG Came Off the Most
Number of Wipes Test 6 Strokes for Good Color 1-2 Strokes For good Color 1-2 Strokes For Good Color 1-2 Strokes For Good Color 2-3 Strokes For Good color 1-2 Strokes For Good Color Max Factor too Hard
Clean Up Ease Came Off EasilyCame Off Easily Came Off EasilyCame Off Easily Came Off EasilyHard To Remove Took 3 Times as Many rubs to Remove Revlon Colorstay really stayed on

Bottom Line and Diane's Favorite Picks

After the evaluations, I had two favorites, Almay and Revlon Colorstay. I liked the Almay overall for its case design, and good solid color that looked great and stayed on well. The Revlon Colorstay really lasted, and also had a good designed case. It gave good color definition also in only 1 to 2 strokes. I believe you don't want to make an evening of getting the color on and bright. Both of these were good products. The Maybelline case design was terrible. Max Factor's pencil is not in keeping with the current trend. I don't know if they have a plastic case which just wasn't available at my store, or that they are behind the times. So far in my various product evaluations, Max Factor seems to take up the rear.

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