Inglot Matte Lipstick in 445

Back in the days (2005-2015)...I was once a huge fan of a certain Polish pianist, his interpretation of certain pieces was my idea of perfection and I would loop his albums none stop, use his voluminous headshot as my dumb phone's background, and spell his name with Hobby Lobby sticker on my TI84 (that's calculator). 

The fangirl's dream was shattered after hearing him live in NYC years later. While still pretty much perfection, his interpretation of those Chopin pieces were identical to those from 2005 (zero new insight, understanding or way of approach. I knew as I had looped them a thousand times). And his Beethoven was downright appalling (friend's piano professor was also there live-tweeting the event and he called it "not music") . Imagine coming to your highschool reunion and your old crush showed up with his letterman jacket and a beer belly...

 Disclaimer: I never liked an athlete nor attended highschool reunion. I transfer to US from Canada midway and didn't care for those GPA whores in my Texas highschool. I am still friends with elementary school buddies but our reunion involved going to restaurants shouting at each other "You've gained weight!")

This post isnt about pianist or highschool life, but a lipstick from an indie Polish makeup brand Inglot. At some point Inglot was mainstream popular, having its own store and shiny Billboard ad in Timesquare (this was my very first memories of the city). The counters are still there but now the attention are diverted to KBeauty, Glossier and the next Instabrand. 

Actually I went for this thanks to Glossier - While revisiting Weibo posts that enabled me on the Gen G Cake ...I saw some comments like "This shade/cake looks like Inglot 445!" (And the blogger was like "I am on my second tube of that"). After some digging. I found out that this particular shade has some of of cult status in China being the perfect milktea or something.

 If it's good enough for them,it's good enough for me. Let's do some research!

Since buying in store is not an option - I went on their site and picked two shades. 445 was on sale at 8 dollars, down from the usual 16 (but you have to pay shipping that's at least $7 via UPS).

The tube is a very sleek black metal tube. Simple but I like it. 

445 is a medium red brownish nude - Kind of milk tea like. It's matte, thus there is no sheen, shine or small glimmer particle (mentioning that part because some mattes have a weird dewy glow to it).

Glossier Cake, Inglot 445 (it's only a tad rosier, very close to Cake indeed) Inglot 428 and Innisfree poop brown red. The formula is a little on the dry side but I can use it light handedly to achieve a more natural, blotted look. 

According to Weibo posts, there are two versions of 445, the original is dryer and more crumbly (but supposedly more wearable) and the revamped version is slightly thicker and offers creamier glide. I have no clue which version I have. 

On the lips - Inglot 445 behaves like a conventional matte lipstick. When I add more layers, the white base becomes more apparent and it looks more done-up. It doesn't feel too drying (shrinking into lip lines) but on me it's less comfortable compared to Glossier. 

While I do agree this is a beautiful medium milktea that compliments fair-light east Asian coloring. I don't think I will reach for it as often as it feels a little heavier, the stronger pigmentation means I have to apply it with care (I can't slap on and go). It might look good 3 feet away or in picture, this looks out of place with no base makeup...Who the heck has time to put on a full face of makeup just to match a lipstick, in the middle of quarantine?

Great color, convincing formula, I don't like it at all. It might change during summer (when the stick soften up). 

It's not you, it's me. 

(The pianist in question- my friends and other internet concert buddies all agreed that it sucked ball). After being in NYC for almost six concert seasons, there are three pianists who always sounded convincing no matter what program it was (aka "will always repurchase" or names of my future cats) - Lang Lang, Leif Ove Andsnes and Nikolai Lugansky. 

You know they're real good as I am really particular about the music (as much as I am about lipsticks).