LipSense: A Test-Drive & Honest Review of this Gluten-free Lip System

 It felt weird putting on lipgloss before I went to bed, but I did it anyway.  No, I wasn’t in seduction mode (too bad for my poor husband!):  I was testing a product that fellow Instagrammer  Sandra Hudson @lifewithlipgloss asked me to try and opine on, no holds barred.  I love opining.  It’s what I do best.  According to Sandra’s claims:

a) the LipSense lip system would make my lips in better condition if I used it exclusively for at least 2 weeks, and 

b) the liquid lipcolor was way better at holding than any of the drugstore long-wear lipcolor systems. 

Oh, and I’d need to use LipSense exclusively, and stop using the carnuba wax-based lip balms. (I’m looking at you, Chapstick!).  I wasn’t completely convinced, but did I mention that I love opining?   So of course, I couldn’t resist this challenge.  (Please note:  there are no filters on my pictures, and they are not edited).  

I was sent a liquid lipcolor in a vibrant peony shade called “Sassy Z”, and a Glossy gloss. (There are also matte and other glosses with color or shimmer available).  
Before using, I dutifully exfoliated my lips.  The printed material accompanying my pretty little pouch said that the product works best when your lips are exfoliated, you may feel a tingle the first time you apply the liquid lipcolor  portion, and that the SD Alcohol in the ingredients will be exfoliating for you too…so expect peeling during the adjustment period.  Fine. I’m forewarned. 

I applied no lip balm, and stroked one coat of Sazzy Z liquid lipcolor across my bare lips. It’s wasn’t difficult, but required long stokes. The rush of an evaporating, slight-burning sensation surprised me! This was more than a tingle, but I loved the feeling.   But then again, I love the fast-dissipating burning feeling of lip-plumping lip glosses.  It’s very, very similar. This is what one coat looks like:

The taste and smell of the liquid lipcolor is a slightly bitter citrus–not unpleasant unless you hate citrus–that disappears as soon as the gloss is applied.  As you can see, one coat of lipcolor is actually really good!  But LipSense suggests three coats.  This is my second coat:

Ok, I do NOT need more coverage than this, (and yes I did try three coats at one point and in my opinion it was overkill, even for my unevenly pigmented lips).  The liquid lipstick portion is like nothing I’ve ever used before, and doesn’t coat your lips as much as become one with them.  Sandra used the term “molecularly bond”. I thought that was an exaggeration…it’s not.  Then came the gloss: 

The Glossy gloss is, in a word, superb.  It is not sticky like MAC Lipglass, but it has the same thick, glassy shine.  It does, however, have a smell a touch reminiscent of a wine cork or beer cap.  Not a deal breaker. Just unusual.  And the scent is short-lived, disappearing almost immediately. There’s no taste. After I slicked it on, I immediately pursed my lips. and scrubbed them back and forth. Fantastic. Very moist and slippery (sorry if that sounds gross..I ran out of adjectives).  My lips had a smooth vinyl finish even though they’re very textured.   MUCH glossier than CoverGirl Outlast, which I had been using previously. It is fast drying (like, three seconds) and doesn’t transfer color onto the gloss wand:

I ran a my finger over my lips to check for color transfer:

None. Just the gloss is on my finger.  I got more aggressive with a tissue: 

There was still no color transfer. Ok. So far, this product is performing up to its claims.  

I wore nothing but LipSense liquid lipcolor for two straight weeks as suggested, and extra Glossy gloss instead of lip balm during the same timeframe. It easily lasted 8-12 hours with no problems.  Now let me introduce you to Day 7:

Do my lips look like crap? Because they felt like crap! Yep…they were peeling.  Crinkled, dehydrated, flakey, and peeling off in strips.  

Just like Sandra said that they would. My lip “uglies” phase lasted for about four days (truthfully, the worst was over in 2 days). After that, here are my bare lips:

I started to get a little adventurous:  was LipSense and my CoverGirl Outlast cross-comparable?  Using the CG gloss stick was an utter disaster on the LS liquid lipstick.  It didn’t set it properly at all.  How about the LS Glossy gloss over the CG Outlast color 593? 

While it looked good, the finger test revealed color transfer.  The CG liquid lip color just doesn’t adhere to the lips as well as LipSense.  Not even close.  Plus look what happens to the LS gloss wand:

Even after a full minute of drying time, the CG lipcolor does just not adhere to the lips as well as the LS, which you can see by the color transfer onto the LS gloss wand.  It also fails the tissue test:

So no.  You can’t use Outlast and LipSense interchangeably with any success. 

Now, if you’ve tried CG Outlast or the other drugstore brands of long wearing lipcolor, you’ll know that by the end of the day you can rub/scrape  it off with your fingers.  It really settles into your lips’ texture and makes little chunks.  Not so with LS.  This stuff Will. Not. Budge. So even in the long term, it performed as promised. 

According to LipSense, you remove it with their Oops! remover, coconut oil, or witch hazel.  Since I didn’t have the Oops! remover or witch hazel, I tried the coconut oil, which did nothing, whether I rubbed it with a cotton round or let it sit for a while. 

You know what worked great? Hydrogen Peroxide 3%.  No itchy white dotting or stinging, and a soaked cotton round slowly passed over my lips removed it nicely. 

 Bottom line is that I really liked this product. Not having to carry around lipsticks plus lipbalms for color and condition touch-ups was great! No “clown mouth” (when you eat/drink away the center of your lipstick, leaving a thick perimeter of color and naked center lips) was great!    I applied the lip color once in the morning, then glossed throughout the day. No transfer on anything. 

My biggest criticism is just how much Glossy gloss I used in a two week period since I was replacing my lip balm with it. Here’s my consumption: 

Apparently LipSense makes a lip balm too, so obviously using that (or something with compatible ingredients) would add to the longevity of your lip glosses.  But given that my lips were, in fact, in better condition, I’m not really complaining.  

The other thing I noticed was that as time went on, I was not reaching for my gloss first thing in the morning or at night, and I’d often forget to use it during the day until I realized that my lips were feeling textured.  Formerly, I was applying lip balm at least 15-20 times a day, so this alone impressed me.   I  found that LipSense lived up to its claims, and was very convenient for a busy life.  

If you found this review helpful and want to try LipSense for yourself, I feel it’s only fair to refer you to Sandra Hudson since it’s because of her that I tried it. If you’re going through the main site, she’s Distributor #240789. Even if you’re international, reach out and she’ll help you get hooked up. 

***UPDATE: I went to order more from Sandra and we figured out that it was cheaper for Canadians to have a Canadian contact so I’m hers.  If you’d like to get some LipSense too and want to do an group order with friends a couple of times a year and get LS at a discount, you can sign up as a “distributor” here. 

And let me know what you thought! Did you like LipSense too? 

  Disclaimer: I received LipSense by Senegence from distributor Sandra Hudson for shipping cost only (she’s based out of the US; I’m in Canada). I was asked to try and review the product, but never once did she attempt to influence my opinion. This is a 100% honest review based soley upon my own experiences.