Honest Lipsense Review from Someone who DOESN'T Sell it!

I DO NOT SELL LIPSENSE. I just want to say this right now. I did receive one of the colors in the article for free in exchange for my review, but I am not trying to sell this. This is my 100% honest opinion. The good, the bad, and the ugly. If you do want to purchase however, I am hosting a Facebook party from now until December 8th 2017 to get you guys some discounts and even some freebies! If you missed the dates of the party, you can still purchase through this link!

So, what is Lipsense? Lipsense is a lipstick made by SeneGence. It's actually not quite a lipstick, but it's not quite a lipstain either. It is something in between. I like to call it lip paint because it's the most accurate description I can come up with. It's similar to a lipstain, except it looks like a lipstick. It's the weirdest, coolest stuff I've ever seen.

Photo Credit: Pop Wedding Photography

Lipsense shade: Honey Rose

Lipsense is a super long-lasting, waterproof, kiss proof, and sometimes even makeup-remover-proof lipstick. Lipsense claims it lasts 4-18 hours. This is pretty true. From what I've seen, mine usually lasts around 6-8 hours before it starts flaking off a little. And yes, technically I've had mine last up to 18 hours I guess, but it was half way peeled off and did not look good anymore, so I'm not sure I would say that. Personally, I'd say it lasts 4-10 hours before you would want to take it off because it's not pretty anymore. Lipsense is kind of like a temporary tattoo for your lips. Temporary tattoos can look great for quite a while but eventually they do start peeling and you have to remove them.

There are a few things you can do to make sure your Lipsense lasts longer on the important days (like your wedding!). Here are a few tips I've found that work.

1) Cleanse lips before you apply. They suggest cleansing them with witch hazel. Personally, I never have witch hazel just laying around my house so I used my Garnier micellar cleansing water and it worked great. The trick is, you don't want to have any runaway foundation or anything else on your lips, so I like to put my cleansing water on a cotton swab and go over my lips with that before I put the lipstick on. (Bonus tip: That cleansing water can also help remove Lipsense!)

2) Get your lips used to it beforehand. For about 2 weeks before your big event, don't put ANYTHING else on your lips the entire time (especially waxy lip balm designed for chapped lips). Use your Lipsense as often as you can in those 2 weeks so your lips get used to it.

3) Make sure it's totally dry before applying the gloss over top. I've noticed that sometimes when I'm in a rush and apply the gloss when it's not 100% dry, it doesn't last quite as long that day. It's best to use several coats of color, letting each one dry between, and just as you do with fingernail polish, try to cover the surface with as few strokes as possible.

4) Keep reapplying the gloss throughout the day. The more dried out they become, the more likely the lipstick is to flake.

Photo Credit: Moonshadow Studio

Lipsense Shade: Honey Rose

A few other things to keep in mind about Lipsense...

* Lipsense is HARD to remove. If you make a mistake with it, you're pretty much stuck with it. I suggest practicing a ton well ahead of your event so you don't make any mistakes on the big day. If you do make a mistake, there is a nifty little product they sell called "oops remover." Honestly, the remover is only $10 so I would highly recommend you go ahead and get that with your color because let me tell you, this crap is insanely difficult to get off, especially when the mistake is just going a tiny bit outside the lines of your lips. The oops remover looks exactly like the lipstick and the gloss, it has the same kind of brush, so it's super helpful for removing the smallest mistakes. DO NOT use this to remove your lipstick entirely or you will run out of remover very, very quickly.

Lipsense Shade: Bravo

* You HAVE to let it dry fully before you let your lips touch each other. My sister had a not-so-fun experience of forgetting this detail and pressing her lips together. They got stuck and peeled a little skin off when she got them unstuck. DO NOT FORGET THIS PART!!!!!

Photo Credit: Sasha Lister Photography

Lipsense Shade: Fly Girl

* Lipsense colors can be overlapped with each other to create entirely new colors! I came across the problem during my wedding planning that Lipsense offered a super dark red and a super bright red but I really wanted something in between. I bought both and did 2 layers of the dark red (mulled wine) and 1 layer of the bright red (fly girl) to create my own deep but bright red for my wedding. You can really play with different variations and come up with your own color!

Fly Girl and Mulled Wine Combined Lipsense

Photo Credit: Pop Wedding Photography

Lipsense Shade: 2 layers of Mulled Wine, 1 layer of Fly Girl

* Lipsense truly doesn't kiss off. You can pose for all those adorable kissing photos on your wedding day without worrying that your new husband will look like he is wearing lipstick too! You can eat and drink and even wipe your mouth with your napkin without worrying that it will go anywhere. I applied this at about 3 p.m. on the day of my wedding. By 1 a.m. that night it was still going strong. That's 10 hours right there!

Photo Credit: Pop Wedding Photography

Lipsense Shade: 2 layers of Mulled Wine, 1 layer of Fly Girl

* It's not the cheapest option in the world, and you do have to use Lipsense gloss with your colors. Using other glosses WILL cause it to flake quicker. Each color is $25 a tube. The gloss is $20 a tube. The remover is $10 a tube. So for one "set" you're looking at around $45-55 depending on whether you buy the remover. However, one gloss will last you a loooong time, so you do not need to buy tons of them, even if you buy tons of colors. My advice is to start with one semi neutral color (I started with honey rose) that you could wear on a daily basis, one glossy gloss and maybe the remover. That way you can get your lips used to it without having to wear an obvious lipstick every day leading up to your day, and you can see how it works and decide whether you like it. Then start adding more colors to your collection. I am now up to 4 colors, 2 glosses and one oops remover. (There are different gloss tones.) I've been buying them for about a year. This is an investment, but I can't tell you how many times I'm so glad that I have these. I think it's worth the investment, but I also think you should start out small and build your collection in case you don't like it.