Maybelline Color Whisper Lipsticks - Review & Swatches!

I'm so excited to be able to write this post today. Ever since the very first sneak peaks and news of Maybelline's newest lipstick line has surfaced on the internet, I have been waiting eagerly for them to finally land in the drugstore. Here is what Maybelline has to say about their newest lip product in Spring 2013:

"Pure color pigments suspended in a weightless gel. No heavy waxes or oils. Soft, sexy gel-color." - maybelline.com

I purchased these for $7.96 + tax at Wal-Mart, which also happens to be where I found the new permanent display. Up until now I have not found a trace of these lipsticks at other drugstores yet, but I'm sure they will surface soon.

Today I share with you the 12 shades I have of the 20 available shades :)

Packaging: The lipstick tube of the Color Whispers are very sleek and pretty. They have the same build as all the other Maybelline lipsticks, BUT it's a teeny bit taller and quite a bit skinnier when compared side by side. I especially love the cursive logo on the side of the cap and I find it to be a very pleasing visual to the overall look. The cap is secured nicely at the bottom with grooves yet is still removable easily. I do not feel like it would accidentally pop open in a makeup bag or purse.

Color Whisper lipstick is noticeably slimmer than the regular lipsticks...

...and a bit taller!

The "Bright and Light"; swatches below

45 Who Wore It Red-er: Cream. This color is the most "red" color of the entire range, and it still transcribe to the lips with a strong hint of pink. The more it is built-up, the less pink it appears and becomes more red.

50 Cherry On Top: Cream. Similar in color tone to #45, but it is about 1 to 2 shades lighter. It gives a beautiful just-bitten look to your lips and is a great intro colour for anybody who is looking to venture into bright lipsticks. 

65 Pink Possibilities: Cream. A sheer mid-tone pink. It is a great my-lips-but-better (MLBB) colour. Very similar to #60 if worn sheer, but when it is built up it becomes redder than #60

60 Petal Rebel: Cream. This is the most "Barbie-pink" color of the entire range, and also happens to be the colour worn by the model in Maybelline's promotional poster. However, this one is difficult to show true to colour if you happen to have pigmented lips that are redder in tone, because the colour of the lipstick is pretty sheer. However, if you have lighter colour lips, about 3 swipes across should give you a nice pastel pink.

70 Faint For Fuchsia: Cream. This is pink with purple undertones. If you use it sheer it is definitely an MLBB colour, but it can be easily built-up to become a brighter colour that is eye-catching yet not overwhelming.

90 Oh-La Lilac: Cream. Don't let the lipstick tube scare you! This really is not as purple as it looks...if you wear it sheered out :P Because there is enough pink tone in it, when worn sheer there is hardly much purple that is noticeable and the colour becomes one that can give a healthy flush of color to your lips. 

The "nudes and darks"; swatches below

95 Mad For Magenta: Cream. Borderline purple berry colour, quite a bright pink if worn with several layers.

75 Rose of Attraction: Cream with sparkles. This is the only lipstick in the range that I have seen so far that has actual sparkles inside. The sparkles are noticeable in lights but I couldn't feel it on my lips; it had no gritty feeling to it at all. The base color is a rosy coral color.

80 Made-It Mauve: Cream. Sheer brick red. It ventures into the brown tones but still has enough red to make sure your lips are still healthy looking.

20 Mocha Muse: Cream. A sheer brown colour with a hint of red-undertone. It is quite sheer and doesn't really build up easily to show up on my lips, which are pretty pigmented on their own. 

25 Lust for Blush: Cream. Pinky-nude colour. I thought I would really love this particular one, but unforunately it, again, doesn't really show up on my lips, just gives it shine but that's about it.

85 Berry Ready: Cream. Berry Colour, just as the name suggests. This one is amazing, the pigmentation is so great. The swatch was just ONE swipe, where as all the other ones were 2 swipes. Of course, to get the colour on the lips it does require a couple swipes back and forth, but the opacity it produces rival that of lipsticks!

Scent: The Color Whisper lipsticks has no detectable fragrance as far I can smell. It has a very very faint sweet barely-there smell, but nothing more.

Taste: Similar to the scent, there is hardly any detectable taste to the lipstick after it is applied to the lips.

Texture: I feel these lipsticks really lived up to the claims of being lightweight. Wearing them, my lips felt hydrated without the feeling that I'm wearing a lip colour; I had no dry lips as the product wore off. There is just a very slight stick to the product that I can feel at the center of my lips when I talk. The texture and feel of these lipsticks are definitely on par with Revlon Lip Butters, L'Oreal Balm, and L'Oreal Caress Sticks, I may even like the Maybelline best out of the four.

Coverage: The coverage of these lipsticks are awesome! They are MUCH more pigmented than Maybelline Baby Lips without sacrificing to a dry texture. These are not to be confused with tinted lip balms, because they are much better than that. Maybelline Color Whispers are light lipsticks with strong color payoff and excellent moisturizing properties. Some shades, especially those lighter one and those leaning more brown and nude, will require multiple swipes across the lips to achieve the color in the tube. 

Wear-time: Wear-time is rather short for Color Whisper lipsticks. Since they are so lightweight, they hardly cling to the lips. Therefore, it wears off after about 2 hours, or 1 hour with lots of talking, or about 30 minutes if eating is involved. The shine is maintained quite well. The dark colours wear better than the lighter colours, likely because it is easier to still see it as it starts wearing off. I do not find that these produce a stain on my lips after wearing off, even for the dark colours. However, one downfall is that they do ACCENTUATE DRY LIPS, so make sure your lips are nicely moisturized prior! Also, because the product is so lightweight, it is actually quite slippery too and will move around the lips and is especially obvious with the light pinks.

Final Thoughts: Overall, I really enjoy this new line from Maybelline. I know that I love the deeper shades a bit more than the lighter shades. There are about 2 shades from the range that I know will be just TOO light to show up on anybody's lips and will just end up serving more of a shiny lip balm, so I will not be purchasing those shades. With most of the colours, a mirror is not necessary for application which makes reapplying on the go very easy. The lipstick feels so nice on my lips that I really don't mind having to reapply about every 1-2 hours. If you enjoyed the Revlon Lip Butters or L'oreal Caress Sticks, or found L'Oreal Balm underwheming, I HIGHLY recommend trying out a couple of the Maybelline Color Whisper Lipsticks! Favourite shades so far: BERRY READY, WHO WORE IT RED-ER, PINK POSSIBILITIES, CHERRY ON TOP.

Have you tried these? Let me know!

Joanne