Lips: Eve Pearl's Dual Performance Lip Color in "Pink Stiletto"

The product being reviewed in this post was purchased by me with my own money. The opinions stated further are my own opinions. I am not affiliated with the brands featured in this post. 

Hi everyone. If you read my IMATS haul post, then the product in the above picture may be familiar to you. It's Eve Pearl's Dual Performance Lip Color in "Pink Stiletto," and it's the best of the deals I came across at IMATS NYC.

More than that, it's one of the biggest surprise purchases I've had, as this once-unknown-to-me lipstick is now my absolute favorite of all the lip products I own.

I will say now that my preference in lip product texture can vary on a day to day basis, but I still feel confident when I say that this lipstick tops all the rest for me overall. So, if you want to find out why I adore this lipstick so dearly, then keep on reading to find out!




THE CLAIMS

The claims as they appear on the box packaging.

I'm providing above a picture of the claims as they appear on the box packaging of the product, but will restate all of what is said in that picture now as I outline the claims from the Eve Pearl website. Eve Pearl claims that this lipstick provides long-lasting color, is hydrating, glides onto the lips, feels silky and light on the lips, and won't feather during wear. They also suggest using the lipstick as a complimentary blush, but I cannot comment on how that would work too much since I did not test the product in that way.


THE BASICS

Name: Pink Stiletto (204)
Net Wt.: 0.147 oz./ 4.2 g.
Price: $24 retail price, $12/two for $20 (in which case $10) IMATS price
Finish: Glossy

Eve Pearl's Dual Performance Lip Color comes in a matte black box with white font. I'd be lying if I said it didn't instantly remind me of MAC packaging when I first saw it. This 'external' box packaging contains the product/company names, claims (as shown above), color name/number, ingredients, and other product information.

The 'main' side of the box packaging, with a good deal of the product information.

Ingredients, which I feel compelled to include pictures of ever since I discovered my sensitivity to benzyl peroxide.

The actual lipstick packaging does not scream 'MAC' quite as much. It comes in a shiny black tube with nothing other than "Eve Pearl" written in silver text. The bottom fifth of the tube is transparent and reveals the color of the lipstick inside, much like the NYX Black Label lipsticks. This coupled with the fact that the packaging is made out of an extremely light plastic made me initially think (when I was at IMATS and only knew the IMATS price of this product - and had yet to test the product on my lips) that this brand - Eve Pearl - was a lower end brand. While it looks rather sleek, it feels incredibly cheap.

The bottom of the tube shows the color name and number only. The top of the tube has the initials of the brand - E.P. - in silver text.

LEFT: The top of the tube.
RIGHT: The bottom of the tube.

As far as I can tell, this product has no fragrance whatsoever.


COLOR/SWATCHES

"Pink Stiletto" (204) is a deep medium pink in the tube. I want to say it's neutral but I am terrible when it comes to undertones. I can say, however, that if I had to pick between warm or cool, I'd say it's warm. You probably won't notice this in any of the pictures/swatches below, but "Pink Stiletto" does seem to contain extremely fine shimmer - so fine that I only notice it when looking at the color with great concentration. It does not translate out of the tube.

When swatched on my hand, "Pink Stiletto" appears the same as it is in the tube: a deep, medium pink.

The same swatch of "Pink Stiletto" at two different angles.

The color is fairly opaque - I did run the product over my hand a few swipes for the above swatches but I did so for the sake of evenness. The intensity of this color is easy to build up enough so that it is identical to the color in the tube.


WEAR (WITH LIP SWATCHES)

I will say now that "Pink Stiletto" appears on my lips much the same as it appears in both the swatches and the tube. The following lip swatches are available for reference:

Just applied.

Just applied from a different angle.

Just applied in better lighting to more satisfactorily display the product's glossy finish.

While I adore the way this color looks on my lips (it is perhaps my favorite everyday shade of pink), what really has me in love with the product is it's formula. I'll just get to the point: when it comes to how it wears and feels on my lips, it lives up to every claim. The incredibly creamy formula glides effortlessly onto my lips, feels silky when I rub my lips together, is lightweight, and makes my lips feel as emollient as they appear in the above pictures. The only minor drawback that comes with such a soft, creamy formula is that application does require precision - that is, a steady hand and a mirror - as the color could slip out of the lip line if applied carelessly. The next few lip swatches, taken some hours after initial application, verify the last two claims I have yet to mention:

2 hours after initial application.

2 hours after initial application.

4.5 hours after initial application.

The only thing that wore off throughout the first three hours was the glossy finish. The last picture above, taken 4.5 hours after initial application, is much more faded (though the color is definitely still evident) because I drank an entire glass of water while eating dinner before the picture was taken. It is now an hour since that picture was taken - 5.5 hours total after initial application - and I still see the color on my lips, though obviously not as fresh looking as before I ate dinner. I will also note that I barely feel the product when I rub my lips together now - though my lips do not feel dried out at all.

Considering how hydrating this lipstick is and feels, I think four solid hours without eating or drinking is amazing, and therefore agree that this lipstick provides long-lasting color. As for feathering, well, again, I was surprised it didn't feather since it has such an emollient formula. I realize I am young and don't have visible fine lines around my lips, but I thought it would be worth mentioning that I've still had other lipsticks feather on me in the past (though, yes, they were few).

Before proceeding to my overall thoughts, I thought I'd do something different and include a partial full-face picture with this lipstick on, so you can see how it wears against my skin and affects my overall look. Here you go:

Eyes: Forever 21 Neutrals palette,
Lancome Hynose Drama Mascara,
Maybelline Line Stiletto Eyeliner.
Face: Bare.
Lips: "Pink Stiletto" 2 hours into wear.

OVERALL

Eve Pearl's Dual Performance Lip Color in "Pink Stiletto" is without a doubt my favorite lip product in terms of both color and texture/formula. The color - a deep medium pink - is a flattering everyday color and the texture is amazingly creamy, comfortable, and long-lasting at the same time. It lives up to all of its claims, which is often hard to come by in a product.

Now, with all of that being said, I do still have my gripes with this product! The first, and perhaps most obvious, is the PRICE!

As I mentioned in my "The Basics" section earlier, when I took this product out of the box and felt how lightweight the packaging was, I thought this lipstick had to be $15 tops. What made me feel that way even more was the fact that it was $12 at IMATS, and could be part of a two for $20 deal at IMATS as well. So, since I took up the deal and essentially purchased it for $10, I thought, hey, it can only be $15 considering most of the discounts at IMATS run in the 30% to 40% range.

Then I tried it on, and was shocked by how amazing it felt, looked, and wore. I started wondering what the actual retail price of this lipstick was, partially out of curiosity and partially because I wanted to purchase more colors.

Well, you can imagine how shocked I was when I pulled up the Eve Pearl website later that night and discovered the regular retail price of $24! I was thrilled because I got such a great deal on it, but I was also devastated because there was no way in hell I could purchase more colors at $24 a tube.

So...is this lipstick worth $24? I would say yes, it is...but at the same time, I will also admit that as much as I love it to pieces, I don't know if I would be buying a backup the second I start running low on my current tube. I might wait a few months to save up instead.

This somewhat leads to my second gripe with this product. If you visit the product page for this lipstick on the Eve Pearl website, you'll see that there isn't a huge range of colors available. Most are deep, neutral browns, with the occasional red and berry, and the limited selection of pinks of which "Pink Stiletto" seems to be the only one to suit my taste in pinks (the others look quite pale). Even if it were more affordable (or I, richer), I don't really know what other colors I'd purchase. I can only see one or two of the nudes and another pink potentially flattering me the way "Pink Stiletto" does.

With that out of the way, it's probably not surprising that I'd recommend this to anyone that wants a moisturizing, long-wearing lipstick that feels luxurious on the lips if it won't break your wallet to buy it. I'd also say that if this sounds like your kind of product, but the price is out of your league right now, well...if you ever decide to embark on a luxury splurge, you may want to consider this as part of it. I will probably buy this lipstick again, but since it is so expensive, I'll be using it sparingly, so repurchasing it won't be an issue for a while.

Whew...that was kind of lengthy, haha. But I do hope this post was helpful and I'm glad I finally got to share my favorite lip product with all of you makeup lovers out there (especially the lip junkies like me, lol). Thanks for stopping by, and 'til next time. ('<>')>

~nikki

What is your favorite high end product, that you think is totally worth the hefty price tag? Have you tried any Eve Pearl products? This brand was completely new to me when I came across it at IMATS!

The product in this post was purchased by me with my own money. The opinions stated are my own opinions. I am not affiliated with the brands featured in this post.