Ellis Faas Milky Lips in L203 and L207

I bought these lipsticks a while ago as part of a bundle from Ebay. Both of the lipsticks are the Milky Lips formula which is described as being a more fluid and translucent finish. The colours I have are L203, a deep reddy brown and L207, a caramel nude. Having looked at the swatches on the Ellis Faas website, I would say that the swatches aren't entirely colour accurate. I was surprised by this as the swatches for my Creamy Eyes eyeshadow are true to the real colour. I think I actually prefer the online representation of these lipstick colours.

I included this to show how the product dispenses.

If you haven't come across Ellis Faas products before, they're all presented in this stylish silver bullet shaped pen. Depending on which product you have, the pens are tipped with a brush or sponge applicator. The colour is loaded by twisting the pen at the base. This system does have it's downsides, it can be tricky to load some of the cream formulas if they are not used regularly. The product has a tendency to dry up and form a plug inside the applicator making it very hard to prime the pen.

I haven't suffered this problem with either of the Milky Lips (I do have this issue with my eyeshadow). However I do find that I usually 'over-prime' the brush as they are slow to load and there will be a blob sitting at the tip when I go to re-apply. Fortunately it doesn't dry up because of the consistency of the lipstick and I think the lipsticks probably benefit from the fact that you will apply several times in a day unlike an eyeshadow.

The lipsticks have a lovely feel on the lips and they're pleasant to apply. The formula, although described as fluid, isn't runny. I do find when I look at the swatch pictures that my application looks a little sloppy. I'm not sure if that's because I'm not used to applying with a brush or whether it's because of the formula. In person, I'm sure no one would spot the fact that my lines weren't crisp.

I have included two sets of swatches to show how the colour looks with a heavy application as well as a more sheer application.

I wanted to show you how both colours looked in the context of a full face shot*. I think both lean a bit too brown for me to feel entirely comfortable, although I think the darker L203 is the more flattering of the two.

Overall thoughts: I really like the texture of these lipsticks. These particularly colours aren't perfect for me so I would like to visit the counter in Liberty sometime to pick up a better shade. I'm also very pleased to report that these don't have the same applicator issues as my Creamy Eyes pen.


*My apologies for the slightly pixelated look of these pictures, if you click to enlarge they don't look like that at all. Picasa seems to be doing this to my images a lot lately. I will do my best to sort it out!