The Allure of Matte Lipstick
Featuring my favorites from Maybelline, M.A.C., Smashbox & Violette FR
When I was growing up, beauty meant skincare and makeup mostly meant lipstick. So it’s no surprise that through the years till this day, I have always felt supremely confident in nothing but bare skin (no matter how my skin might be behaving in the moment) and a really good lipstick. In the last decade, I mostly always stuck to matte lipsticks, swearing I would never touch a gloss or even a lip balm with a glossy finish. This might also have to do the fact that lip glosses in those years were just plain bad. Sticky, drying, and extremely uninspiring in terms of shade range and packaging, the experience was nothing short of uncomfortable.
And then, came the era of lip gloss 2.0.
It’s impossible to find a beauty brand today that does not have a lip gloss amongst its product offering. Whether you call it an oil, balmy gloss, jelly (gelèe?) or something else, it’s hard to stay away from the allure of a juicy, nourished pout. And not without reason: a theory claims that the combination of glossy lips and blush creates a youthful appearance (by mimicking healthy, glowing skin) while balancing out your features and can be perceived as attractive.
The above theory withstanding or otherwise, I eventually did jump on the lip gloss bandwagon. But because I am a skincare girlie first, I also prioritised ingredients such as peptides, butters and hyaluronic acid in my glossy posse. From homegrown brand Inde Wild’s Dewy Lip Treatment and Maybelline’s Lifter Lip Gloss to Hailey Bieber’s Rhode and the influencer-founded Summer Fridays, I have tried them all. Safe to say, I was converted.
There is, however, something so innately beautiful about a matte lip that no matter how many lip glosses you might own (2? 6? 10?… 100?), you always need a good matte lipstick. And through the years, I have tested plenty of them. If you love them too or are looking to give your glosses a matte counterpart, then my curation below is perfect for you.
Maybelline’s Super Stay Teddy Tint
Talk about a perfect combination of lipstick and lip tint. The Teddy Tint comes in a really cute, super sturdy packaging that is a delight to hold and the tint itself swipes on beautifully, leaving a gorgeous matte finish in its wake. Plus, it’s buildable, so you can customise your finish without worrying about any clumping or drying.
M.A.C.’s MACximal Matte Lipstick
My curation is incomplete without the OG — and my first — matte lipstick: the MAC Macximal Matte Lipstick. As a young girl, Mehr was the one that I aspired towards and when I was finally able to afford it, it felt like I had won the lottery (it was also the one that I wore for my wedding)! If you buy just one — make it count and make it MAC.
Violette FR’s Bisou Balm
Before I went from matte to glossy, there was a brief period in between when I was sampling products that did give a matte finish but also were closer to a tint than an actual lipstick. This was around the same time that the OG queen of French chic, Violette, who I had followed since her YouTube days — had launched her eponymous brand that were one of the first outside of K beauty to offer balmy lipsticks that beautifully blurred lips and deposited just the right amount of gorgeous, nourishing color.
Smashbox’s Always On Lipstick in the shade Gula-bae
As a custom shade created specifically for the Indian audience and its wide range of skin tones, Gula-bae has always been a favorite shade of mine over the years since its launch in 2020. The perfect shade of pink, long-lasting and super easy to apply, this one deserves a spot in your vanity and works both day and night.
SHOP HERE / Also available as a mini.
M.A.C.’s Retro Matte Lipstick in both shades
I first tried both shades — Warm Wishes and Firewerk — in this range last year, close to the onset of the festive season and they became my constant companions as I navigated my way through weddings, dinners and annual reunions with family and friends scattered around the world. While Champagne is a beautiful pinkey brown nude that works across skin tones (currently sold out!), Firewerk (still available) is a highly versatile and wearable festive red that would work for everything from weddings to date nights.
I would love to know if you have a go-to matte lipstick! Share your favorites in the chat below or DM me @sohajoshi — I look forward to hearing from you.