Long wear, no cares: Milani Amore Matte Metallic Lip Creme swatches and review

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press sample

The liquid lipstick train is chugging along at full speed, and I am on board. From couture to drugstore, every major brand has done iterations on the trend—but leave it to one of our faves, Milani, to put a fun spin on matte mania. Milani Amore Matte Metallic Lip Creme ($9) is available in a collection of ten gilded and glimmering shades; they’re described as “waterproof” and “kiss-approved,” with longevity claims of up to 16-hour wear time.

Can these metallic beauties stand up to a day in the life of yours truly? They’re up against constant talking, water drinking and coffee slurping, so let’s put them to the test and see what happens…

It took me a while to actually put these on, because I kept huffing them: they have that Milani signature sweet buttercream scent, and it is delicious.

Every shade is metallic as all get out, meaning each color is shot through with glimmer. The applicator on these is a flat, curvy doe-foot, that kind that lets you hug the lip line, but the texture is thick and heavy so you have to smooth them on carefully. I found the best method of application was to sleek on the thinnest of layers and then smooth the excess out with a lip brush; these take a good five minutes to set, so you do have time to perfect the shape while it dries down. (And make sure you exfoliate well beforehand, to avoid emphasizing any flaky bits).

Milani Amore Matte Metallic Lip Creme swatches

01 Chromatic Addict – peach beige
02 Materialistic – rose copper
03 Matte About You – hot coral
04 Cinematic Kiss – deep magenta
05 Dramatic Diva – hot pink

06 Matterly in Love – fire engine red
07 Automatic Touch – bright plum
08 Raving Matte – deep purple
09 Pure Mattness – plummy chocolate bronze
10 Pretty Problematic – deep red

I got to try out four shades: Dramatic Diva (a Barbie fuchsia), Mattely in Love (a warm, bright red), Pure Matteness (bronze-tinged chocolate plum) and Automatic Touch (a dark berry). Coverage varied on these: the fuchsia Dramatic Diva was patchy and streaky in places, while the three darker colors provided more uniform coverage.

Check out that color!

And in terms of colors, these four shades are not for shy violets—your metallic lips definitely become the center point of the face, in a striking way. To pull these off, I’d recommend going pretty lightly on your other makeup, letting your glamorous-robot lips do all the work. The only shade I couldn’t make work was Pure Mattness; my lips are on the smaller side, and the chocolate metallic made them look even smaller. It could be a gorgeous look on the right mouth and skin tone, however.

In terms of longevity, I was hopeful but skeptical. Although I love liquid lipstick, it tends to not love me back—even with primer underneath, most matte liquid lipstick does a vanishing act a few hours in. This is partially because I struggle with dry lips, and also because I talk all day at my job and swig coffee and water constantly. But I have to shout out how long these babies hung in there; once they set, it was a good five-six hours before they started getting tired. They will leave marks on your straw or cup, but the majority of the color stays on. As the color starts to break down and dissipate, it leaves a glimmery cast on your lips (Milani is NOT kidding about the metallic part). Also, if you are prone to bleeding around the lip lines, you will want to use a clear lip liner to combat that.

I have to shout out how long these babies hung in there…

Comfort wise, these did get a little tight by the end of wear time, but that just comes with the liquid lipstick territory.

Final verdict? I liked the formula and scent of these, and thought they did a respectable job in terms of longevity and wear. Due to the dramatic metallic finish, they seem well suited for special occasions—I can definitely see the scarlet-gold Mattely in Love for a holiday party, for example. As a whole, these are a fun spin on the liquid lipstick trend.

we heartsters: Have you tried these, or Milani’s other line of Amore Matte Lip Cremes? Any tips or tricks for making liquid lipstick behave?

Amity writes and teaches in Central PA. Her obsessions include: Rodarte (she can’t afford any Rodarte, mind you, but a girl can dream), espresso, books, vintage/thrift fashion and fountain pens. She thinks you should dress like a weirdo once in a while, just to shake things up.