Deborah Lippmann Lipstick in Sexy Back

It's Women's March today. While I have no pink hat, there is a pink lipstick for y'all. I did have a matching hot pink scarf on while I was out and I (was clearly overdressed for this warm day) could feel the heat.

I first heard about Deborah Lippmann Lipstick on Lena's Blog, the finish and formula was totally my kind of thing (moisturizing jelly balm) but I wasn't keen on paying more than 20 dollars for packaging I don't love. Let's face it, after certain price point, it costs more to design and manufacture the packaging than to make the actual lipstick.

A few months later, I ended up spotting the set (with matching nail polish) for 10 bucks at TJMaxx (the one that's a block west of Carneigie Hall)! I didn't need the polish but it was a decent price for toy. 

The tube is a somewhat clunky black tube made with textured light weight plastic, it's highly prone to oil and dusky so mine already look a little yucky after a year. Since the texture is on the soft side, it wobbles a lot and get cut by the interior easily. By the third use, it looked like it was chewed by a dog.

I practically live under a rock when it comes to pop culture/music, but I think all of the Deborah Lippmann lipsticks are named after hit songs (I just needed google to know Justin Timberlake was the singer, I told you I live under a rock). Sexy Back is a bright magenta, with a color and name that's strangely fitting for today.

I am very apprehensive about bright magenta (this one also has some purple pearls, is that an industry standard?) and Sexy Back is not what I like to wear during day time, especially with my paler winter skin tone.  My mouth probably enhanced the purple in it since it looks like a brighter berry pink on Lena. 

The formula of Deborah Lippmann lipstick must be one of my favorite. It's not completely opaque but can be build to a stronger color. The finish is on the jelly side of cream but it doesn't have that white base like many other western brands (Too Faced and YSL). There is a high shine but it doesn't look like oil slick. Of course, it felt incredibly comfortable and moisturizing with the soft, glossy balm formula (scented like vanilla) . It certainly feels like a pricier lipstick (better than the best of drugstore ones), once you ignore the packaging. 

I am really impressed by the formula and have another shade (I bought the coral one first actually, I got a yuuuge backlog to go through) with me. I would love a red one but it's hard to convince myself to pay full price when I got two at a discount.