Hema Lip Lacquer, Matt Lip Cream & Lip Primer

The minute I heard Hema would be coming out with new liquid lipsticks, I was all ears. While affordable, many of Hema’s make up products are in fact really really good. I love their Soft Matt Lip Balm and Wet & Dry eyeshadow. So I was curious to see whether these would be any good. Luckily for me, I was sent the entire new liquid lip range and have been testing them out all week. Here’s what I think.

Hema Lip Primer
Hema Lip Lacquer:
pink, fuchsia, orange red, red, burgundy, purple
Hema Matt Lip Cream:
plum, wine, burgundy, raspberry, pink, nude

This new range of lipsticks was launched last week, so these are brand spanking new. Hema products are available in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and, even England. Yep, they’ve started to branch out. Did I already mention these are affordable? The lip primer retails for €4, while the lip lacquers and matt lip creams will set you back €4.50 each. If these are great working liquid lipsticks than that would sure be a bargain. These are more affordable than the NYX liquid lipsticks for instance. There are 12 shades: 6 glossy lip lacquers and 6 matt lip creams.

Lip Primer

The lip primer is a brand new product that is supposed to be layered under your liquid lipsticks for even longer staying power. Moreover, the product promises to intensify the lipstick’s color and should keep your lips hydrated and protect against feathering.

You apply the primer using a doe foot applicator. The tube looks sleek and simple and it doesn’t feel overly cheap. The wand is quite long and the applicator is precise. There isn’t too much product on it and this feels nice and smooth on the lips.

While most face primers can contain quite a lot of silicone, this doesn’t feel like it does. Rather than very thick and creamy, this primer is mostly liquid and a bit gel like. Once applied it just blends in with your lips and it doesn’t feel like you are wearing anything at all. It is also clear which makes this easy to apply.

I feel this works well enough. I am skeptical of all primers, especially lip ones. As you eat and drink you are bound to lose product so to what extent and extra layer actually works to keep your lipstick on for longer, I don’t really know. What this does prevent though is feathering. As you can see in the swatch, some of the darkest shades have a tendency to bleed into lines which is why I used this underneath one of those shades. And guess what? No feathering.

Glossy Lip Lacquer

Lip Lacquers:
pink, fuchsia, orange red, red, burgundy, purple

Glossy lips are making a comeback this year and this fit right into the trend. There are 6 shades available. They range from a deeper pink tone to a straight up purple! Cool to see an affordable brand throw in a few colors that aren’t your standard run of the mill lipstick shades.

The Lip Lacquer comes in a simple lip gloss like tube. Instead of a doe foot applicator, this is applied with a brush applicator which works well enough. I like how you can see the shade of the lipstick through the tube: this makes it so much easier to grab for the color you need.

The brush applicator is not my favorite. It is precise enough in most cases, but I had a hard time applying the darker shades with this. This is mostly because there is so much product on the brush that it makes it difficult to be neat.

As you can see this has a very glossy texture. The actual product is quite thick and a little bit sticky, but not overly so. This feels very comfortable on the lips and some of the shades are absolutely stunning.

Pink – Fuchsia

One thing I noticed immediately is that there is no nude shade in the lip lacquer range. While I am not too much of a nude lipstick person myself, I do feel that this makes the overall shade range quite limited. Most of these are quite in your face and daring, which isn’t for everyone.

Orange Red – Red

Personally, I love a bright statement lip and this Orange Red is absolutely gorgeous. The fuchsia also looks great and I can’t say no to a good classic red any time of day so I can’t wait to try these.

Burgundy – Purple

The two darkest shades aren’t all that dark. The burgundy isn’t really a burgundy as it more like a brick red and has a clear brown undertone. The purple looks very purple in the tube, but I was surprised at how wearable this shade was once it was on.

Lip Lacquer Swatch

pink, fuchsia, orange red, red, burgundy, purple

The swatches show the texture of these lipsticks quite well. They are gloopy, glossy and thick. There is a lot of product on the applicator which means you don’t have to double dip with the applicator. It can make the product difficult to apply, especially if the brush isn’t cut well.

The shades look gorgeous though and while the texture may not look appealing, once applied to the lip these feel very comfortable for the most part. Some shades I’m not too fussed about. Especially the three darkest shades were difficult to apply evenly and many of these were all over my teeth and the inside of my mouth in minutes.

Lip Lacquer Lip Swatch

pink, fuchsia
orange red, red
burgundy, purple

As you can see, on the lip some of these shades look patchy. Burgundy and Red were the most difficult to apply and got all over the place. These do not really dry down or stay put very well and that is the biggest draw back of these colors for me. These stay on for about 4 hours max, which to me just isn’t long enough for a liquid lipstick. Additionally, I like my lipstick to stay put and not slide around and get on my teeth this easily.

pink, fuchsia, orange red
red, burgundy, purple

Out of all of these shades, Orange Red, Fuchsia and Purple are my favorites. Those applied the most evenly and look flattering on. Burgundy is the biggest no to me: it was difficult to apply and made a huge mess. Taking it off with a make up wipe made me look like a clown as well. If you like this finish, then beware that not all the shade perform equally.

Matt Lip Cream

Matt Lip Cream:
nude, pink, raspberry, burgundy, wine, plum

Now the Matt Lip Creams sound a whole lot more up my alley. I love a good matte lip and if these are any good than I’m sure to get some wear out of them. There are again 6 shades. This matt lip range does come with a nude that I found surprisingly flattering, as well as an intense deep plum shade. In short, I feel this range has a bit more variety to it than the Lip Lacquers.

The Matt Lip Creams come in the same packaging as the lip lacquers. Again the tube is clear which is handy to see what color you’re grabbing for. The applicator is different however: the Matt Lip Cream has a doe foot applicator.

That doe foot applicator is very precise and gives no problem applying the product. It is not overloaded with product either. The amount is just right for applying the lipstick without having to double dip back into the tube.

Just by looking at this product on the applicator, you can see the difference with the glossy lacquers. It is a liquidy, almost mousse like consistency. And more importantly, these lipsticks will dry down to a matte finish without drying out the lips.

Nude – Pink

Like the Lip Lacquers, the Matt range comes with a pink shade. I find this shade to be comparable to the Lip Lacquer version, but of course with a matte rather than a glossy finish. The nude shade really surprised me with how wearable of a nude it is. It is not too beige, nor too peach, nor too pink: it is just right.

Raspberry – Burgundy

Out of the matte range the pinky toned red of Raspberry just spoke to me. I am all about pink toned reds at the moment and I think it will be my favorite type of red to wear this spring. Burgundy is again not that burgundy and is most like a classic red shade. It is also nothing like the burgundy shade of the Lip Lacquer range as that one is far more brown than this one.

Wine – Plum

The final two shades are definitely the most interesting ones here. There are two darker shades which both have a purple undertone. Wine is a pretty muted berry and plum is an intense blackened purple. The stopper of Plum was broken though hence the lumpy mess around the applicator.

Matt Lip Cream Swatch

nude, pink, raspberry, burgundy, wine, plum

I was impressed by these swatched. The color pay off is intense and the swatches applied very evenly. These dry down to a matte finish and on the lip they have a bit of a powder effect. While matte, these do not dry out the lips at all. It is not too matte and powdery and these do not make your lips feel like they are about to shrivel off either. I’m impressed!

Matt Lip Cream Lip Swatch

nude, pink
raspberry, burgundy
wine, plum

Applied to the lips, you can see how amazing most of these are. Apart from Plum, these all applied evenly and precisely without too much trouble. Nude is the only one that really accentuates any lines in your lips and the 4 mid toned shades were a joy to apply. These did not get onto my lips and while they all feathered into the lines of my arm in the swatch I found these stayed on my lips well and didn’t bleed. For precaution I did apply Plum over the Lip Primer.

nude, pink, raspberry
burgundy, wine, plum

All of these look stunning on, but my favorite has to be Raspberry. That pinky red just lifts up the complexion and looks very fresh. Wine is also pretty. Many of the berry shades I have are quite bright and in your face and I love how this is more toned down. Plum and Nude are good ones too but both looks the least flattering on me. In contrast, Pink and Burgundy are both stunning on, but I have a million shades that are similar.

Matt Lip Cream Wear Test

Plum:
Freshly applied – After 4 hours
After 7 hours – After 10 hours

To test out the longevity of the lipsticks and the Lip Primer, wore Plum for a full 10 hours. It was the patchiest to apply, but I have to say I’m impressed by how it wore. After 4 hours there was no need to reapply it, even though I had had lunch and a few cups of tea by this time. After 7 hours, including dinner and a workout, the lipstick started to suffer, but not badly enough that I would get the urge to reapply it. At the end of the day, after 10 full hours of wear the lipstick finally looked worse for wear.

I found that also without the Lip Primer, the Matt Lip Creams stay put all day. I wore Raspberry to work and it had a similar wear pattern. Since that color is not as dark, it wore even more nicely than this one.

The Conclusion

With the release of the Lip Primer, Lip Lacquers and Matt Lip Creams, Hema has definitely brought out some products that are affordable and right on trend for spring 2017. If I have to chose between the Lip Lacquers and Matt Lip Creams, then the Matt Lip Creams are definitely my favorite as they stay put and the range is the most consistent quality wise. The Lip Lacquer range on the other hand is a bit hit or miss depending on the shade, but there are a few that I still find worth my time (that Orange Red!).

Which is your favorite?