Review & Swatches: Fyrinnae Lip Lustres in Shangri-La and Visual Kei

Continuing with the promised Fyrinnae Lip Lustre review; see how good I am? Despite what you might have gathered from the past couple reviews, I'm very skeptical when it comes to independent make-up brands - I definitely believe in product development and mixing a couple pigments on your kitchen counter will not cut it for me. However, Fyrinnae was such a pleasant surprise for me; I loved their eyeshadows... and I think I love their Lip Lustres even more.

According to their website, Fyrinnae Lip Lustres ($6 for 8 ml) are 'non-sticky lipcolour, leaving moisturizing colour on your lips but no goopy tackiness' so nothing like a regular lipgloss. Even though they come packaged in lipgloss tubes, they feel more like a liquid lipstick, although much less creamy. To be honest, they feel a lot like what their ingredients suggest they actually are - a mixture of natural butters and oils with densely packed pigment. The consistency is rather on the dense side as well, but the product spreads very evenly and thinly on the lips.

The two shades I ordered, Shangri-La and Visual Kei, are some of the more wearable options to choose from; Fyrinnae also make turquoise, blue, mint and lavender Lip Lustres, but I'm not that brave really. Both of my Lip Lustres have a very yummy vanilla cupcake scent to them and are richly pigmented.

Shangri-La is very vibrant warm purple shade, no shimmer. It's not some wimpy purple-tinged lip shade like Milani's Sweet Grape; no, it's a super punchy pure purple. Weirdly enough, it looks a lot better on than it might seem in the tube, and a lot better on me than something like the aforementioned Sweet Grape. It's a very flattering shade that doesn't make your teeth white. Two thumbs up for Shangri-La from me, even though I'm not daring enough to wear it in the daytime.

Visual Kei is described on Fyrinnae's website as 'a rather bright pink with a slight shimmer', but to me the shimmer part is pretty much indiscernable. Visual Kei is a very hot yellow pink to me, a bit too warm to be called a fuschia. Again, this is a beautiful flattering shade, though not quite as unique as Shangri-La.

Both Shangri-La and Visual Kei are long-wearing and non-fading on me as well as non-drying. What I would say, however, is that after a couple hours wear they 'gunk up' a little on the edge of my mouth, so I have to make sure to dab that away with a napkin or something and reapply some product for more glossiness. They do however feel more comfortable and lighter on the lips than a typical lipgloss or lipstick.

Overall, I'm very happy with all of Fyrinnae's products that I've tried so far and their Lip Lustres specifically occupy a unique niche in the lip product market. Have you tried Fyrinnae's Lip Lustres? What is the most unique lip product formulation you've come across?