I know what you’re thinking. These are just lip glosses with a fancy new moniker. But really, they’re not. Think of the new style liquid lip colours like trad lipsticks boiled down and reduced into precious vials of potent colour. Like a power packed green juice of a lipstick. All the goodness is there, just without the fibre.

What’s changed is the way we want to experience colour. Textures have to be new and exciting to stand out in a marketplace that’s beyond saturated with a colour wheel of lipsticks, tints and stains.

These new liquids borrow terminology from other realms of the make-up spectrum too – there’s a paint, some extraits and even a rouge edition velvet. What they all have in common is the hybrid of full clout lipstick pigment colour in a fluid, malleable gloss format.

Like what you’re hearing? Read on to see how the team got on trying the latest new breed liquid lipsticks.

 

Laura, staff writer, tried Lancôme L’absolue Velours in Velours de Caprice 193, £20

‘I tried one of Lancôme’s new liquid lipsticks, the L’absolue Velours. The texture was thick and the formula’s opaque so you can get a good colour without having to pile on a gloopy amount. The oval brush with gap in the centre is brilliant. It holds and spreads loads of product while the precision tip helps you get a neat outer line and defined cupid’s bow. I think it gives a more dramatic finish than regular lipstick, because of the sheen of the gloss, and also because the gloss sort of forces you to pout a bit while you’re wearing it so as not to get it on your teeth. This one has a medium sheen to it, so it sits in a nice place between old Hollywood and porn star. On the whole the pigment in this red is incredible, so even though most of the sheen had gone after a couple of drinks, the colour remained strong. The thick texture meant that it didn’t  feel sticky or like it would easily slide off over the course of an evening.’

 

 

Joanna, beauty director, tried Guerlain Rouge G L’Extrait in M25 Colere, £29.50

‘If there’s one thing I consider myself something of a connoisseur on, it’s lipstick. I’ve sailed through about 427 lipsticks in my adult life (shudder to think about how much I’ve ingested), searching always for that elusive semblance of long-wear, comfort and colour pay-off. Liquid lipsticks, the beauty world’s latest technological lip mastery, go the closest yet in covering off all three. Guerlain’s Rouge L’Extrait is a perfectly-tempered middle ground between glossy and matte, glides on like velvet and stays there for hours. Literally hours. It doesn’t come off. Unless you are a make-up artist, you will struggle to apply it: the tiny wand is what can deliver total lip shape precision but it also requires you to trace your lip line accurately. These, as I have found the hard way, are not back of a cab lip products. But, usefully, Guerlain has constructed a mirror into the side of the bullet, to help you along the way.’

 

 

Alice, beauty intern, tried Topshop Lip Paint in Tallulah, £8

‘The name says it all really – it’s literally like a paint for your lips (in a good way).I was expecting it to go on and feel a bit sticky like gloss does and granted, it is more sheeny than your average lipstick, but with a little bit of blending the texture completely transforms into a matte finish. And, unlike a gloss, it’s far more pigmented yet allows for you to opt in for a full blown rouge lip, or tone it down to a subtle tint. I still don’t think I’m converted from traditional lipstick, but this was super easy to apply and stayed put (in fact, it was quite tricky to get off).’ 

 

 

Elin, junior fashion editor, tried Lola Liquid Lipstick in #002, £12 (available in April at Marks & Spencer)

‘I’m quite fond of a bright lipstick, in fact, the brighter the better. This lip colour looks quite demure in the pen, but wow! It’s practically neon. The only thing I’m not so keen on is the texture. Because it’s quite liquid it’s difficult to apply and keep inside the lines, as it were. Give me this shade in a matt finish which I’m a bit more experienced with and I’d be sold.’

 

 

Kelly, deputy editor, tried Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in Ole Flamingo, £8.99 (available in mid-April at Boots)

‘I road-tested Bourjois’ Rouge Edition Velvet in Ole Flamingo and if I am being honest, I went in to it a little bit sceptical. There’s the worry with pink lipsticks/glosses that they will make your teeth look a bit yellow. Happily, this one didn’t. So a tick in the box there. It passed the drink test too – no unsightly mouth marks on my water glass. After wearing for a few hours it’s still going strong without reapplication too, and it was easy to apply in the first place. Basically, it’s good news all round. The only negative is that it feels a tad drying and sticky on the lips, but I only notice that when I press them together, so it’s far from being a problem. Given the bargain price I will certainly be buying one or two of these.’