Maybelline makes some great lipsticks that I have loved for years. From the liquid lip ink to their regular matte bullet lipsticks: I have tried and loved many Maybelline lipsticks in my makeup trying years. Last year the brand released a new formula: the Super Stay Ink Crayons. Since these promised to give me the best of both worlds, I figured I could try these. This is how I got on with a nude and a red from the line.
Review: Maybelline Super Stay Ink Crayon lipstick 05 Live on the Edge & 55 Make It Happen
I am not sure when these lipsticks made it across the pond, but I bought mine about a year ago when I visited New York. I bought two of the shades from a CVS drugstore in Manhattan so I am currently unsure whether these shades are/ were available in Europe or what the status is of these. I can only find limited information. The general retail price for these in The Netherlands seems to be €12.99, but many of the shades seem to have disappeared and I can only find one single shade in most online stores. So no clue whether you can still get your hands on these if you were interested in trying them.
What do these lipsticks have to offer?
The reason why I wanted to try these was because they promised to be a mix between the Lip Ink liquid lipsticks and Maybelline’s regular matte lipstick formula. In short, these lipsticks should stay like a liquid lipstick but go on and be as comfortable as a regular lipstick. I noticed immediately how these lipsticks are very skinny and narrow. This makes the application super precise, but also a bit more arduous as you cannot quickly cover lots of lip surface with the lipstick. I’d have preferred these a bit thicker: they are too much like a lip pencil for me, but at the same time they are too thick for function like one of those.
How do these lipstick swatch?
When I looked at these in store, I noticed how dark many of the shades were. There were barely any great lighter toned nudes and so I opted for a nude that appealed to me and a red, because you know I love my reds. The formula feels creamy when you swatch it on the back of your hand, but on the lips I found these oddly drying. And I am someone who usually loves a slightly drying texture! Not sure what it is about these, but they just don’t feel nice on the lips. After a while, when they wear down, they also have a tendency to leave a ‘ring’ of color while the rest of the lipsticks wears off. Touching up is possible but very difficult as the color will look more saturated on the places where the lipstick did not yet wear off.
Maybelline SuperStay Ink Cray 05 Live on the Edge
Maybelline SuperStay Ink Cray 55 Make It Happen
While these shades are both gorgeous I also thought the overall shade range was a bit lacking. They all looked so similar, which is odd, because Maybelline is very capable of making great distinct lipstick shades in their other lines. Live on the Edge is one that I know I won’t wear much beyond this trial: I just find it too dark of a nude for it to be super wearable on the daily. Other than that, I do really like Make It Happen, but I already own so many reds and the formula just doesn’t stand out to me enough to really keep this around for much longer than necessary.
My final thoughts
Maybelline can do great lipsticks, but the SuperStay Ink Crayons did not fall into that category for me. The shade range is odd, the availability of these beyond the US is a mystery and the texture is one that I find very unpleasant. I hate doing negative reviews, which is why I put off writing this review for so long. I had this blog post planned in many many times in the past, but I just couldn’t do it. I really wanted to love these, but they just didn’t work for me.
Would I recommend the Maybelline SuperStay Ink Crayons?
No I would not. I am usually not this harsh in my general assessment of a product when I don’t like it, but these are some of the worst lipsticks I have tried in a long time. Maybe I am just spoiled but I know for sure that these items will be on the chopping block when I do a new makeup decluttering series in 2021.
5 responses to “Maybelline Ink Crayon lipstick review”
I as well was not fond of these! Although these shades look stunning on you and so holiday-like! I enjoyed the Superstay matte lip inks wayyyyyyy better!
I fully agree! Those are so much better.
Ironically it looks amazing on you and like it applied easily. The color is awesome. I don’t like thin lipsticks either. One product that disappointed me recently is L’Oreal Voluminous mascara in burgundy. I thought I’d try a color other than black for fun, since it was on sale and that the burgundy might bring out the green in my eyes. But the color is really dull- it’s more like a brown than a burgundy, and doesn’t show up very well on my black lashes. Plus it’s flaky.
Ugh I hate flaky mascara. I have had similar experiences trying different colored mascaras. The only thing that worked for me was a bright blue but that is a very particular look.
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