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I must confess, I have had brand new tubes of Lipstick Queen's Jean Queen Lipstick and Jean Queen Lip Gloss sitting unused, unswatched, and unloved in a drawer since some time last year. I guess that neither looked overwhelmingly exciting in their tubes so they just sat and sat and sat- that is until the other day when they both caught my eye when I opened that overstuffed drawer that has turned into a no man's land for makeup that isn't in rotation, and hasn't yet been reviewed. So I pulled them both out of the drawer for the sole purpose of reviewing them. What I didn't expect is that I would really love both them both a great deal!
They just seemed rather blah, and too muted for my cool pale coloring, but the lesson learned: don't make assumptions- looks can be deceiving! On my lips this is the quintessential MLBB lipstick. It is a pink with just enough red to make it a very interesting hue. If that was not enough, this lipstick really excels with respect to texture: It is a soft, smooth, creamy, shiny sheer lipstick with enough slip that it just glides on my lips like satin. It is so unbelievably comfortable to wear that I find myself rubbing my lips together just to feel the silky texture (of course that reduces wear time, but I don't care!). The formula is so sheer that it is it really more like a tinted lip balm than a lipstick. It is less pigmented than many of the Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters, and the Chanel Rouge Coco Shines (notwithstanding the darker shades in both lines).
It is weightless, moisturizing, and unscented- which are traits seldom found in the same lipstick. Lipstick Queen suggests that this is a universally flattering shade, but I have a hard time buying sweeping generalizations that one color will be equally flattering on all skin-tones- I just don't see how that is possible given the vast disparity in pigmentation, hue, undertone, texture etc. That said, this is a lovely color that livens up my lips, and it is sheer enough that I can apply it without a mirror without looking like a clown gone wrong!
Lipstick Queen describes Jean Queen as, The Ultimate lip color to wear with jeans! Jean Queen is a lovingly created special pink that offsets the blue in the denim and lights up your whole face at the same time. Special emollients and moisturizing ingredients provide a super silky feel on the lips and just the right amount of shine to contrast with the very matte nature of denim. The lipstick is super sheer and glides on for that pouty stain look.
Jean Queen Lip Gloss is nearly identical in color to the lipstick, though it is a touch lighter, a touch more sheer, and seems to be a little bit more blue-based than the lipstick. Like the lipstick, the lip gloss is ridiculously comfortable to wear. It is neither sticky nor goopy, and it isn't too thick. They are formulated to be worn together or separately, and are intended to be the perfect accompaniment to jeans.
I varied the outdoor lighting in the pictures below in order to try to capture the colors as realistically as possible. Additionally, I really applied the gloss very thickly- so while it appears quite pigmented in these swatches be assured that it is actually quite sheer when applied to the lips in a normal fashion.
$18.00 each at Barneys New York