After Rimmel’s Apocolips range of liquid lipsticks, there came Provocalips (see what they did there!) a double-ended wand with highly pigmented colour, and a balm/shine fixer at the other end. These wonder sticks are available in eight shades and promise 16-hours of wear time. As a lipstick-lover with a busy schedule I’ve been waiting for a product like this – but does it actually work? I set my self the challenge (excuse) and ordered a massive pizza to see if this power-pucker promise was true to its word. 

My good friend Hannah (also a make-up junkie) gave me this as a gift. Having seen tons of other blog posts on it I was super-keen to try. I tend to struggle with matte lipsticks or anything that claims “long-wear” as I find they tend to be drying and can make my lips sore, in turn making the product crumble – which of course looks awful by midday and defies the whole point of wearing it in the first place. 

Here I applied the fun red shade “Kiss me you fool”. The formula was quite liquidy but was easy to apply with the doe-foot brush, smoothing over the lips evenly. I would say be really careful here as the tester swatch from my hand has not budged all day! I find if you turn the brush around so the smoothest side is facing outwards you can use the more pointy edge to fine line your lips for greater precision.  

This part is quite important. As the colour dries it will start to feel quite sticky, avoid the temptation to close your lips or rub together like with a lipstick as it will mess it up. Instead keep your lips parted (try not to drool!) and wait around 60 seconds for them to dry before then adding the step 2 lock and shine. Smooth over like a lipgloss to add a little moisturisation and shine. I really like how Classic and vibrant this shade looks!

This part is an incredibly scientific experiment so pay attention! I was willing to volunteer myself to test the Provocalips out on this huge stuffed crust pizza. You don’t need me to tell you how much delicious, but potentially lipstick-ruining grease is on this sexy pizza, but can the lip colour stay put as it claims? I love wearing colour in my lips but often won’t bother if I’m going out for a meal or on a date as I don’t want the stress of wondering if it has slid off my face or disappeared completely – and no one wants to be checking a mirror constantly – so in the comfort of my own home, with Daryl Hall & John Oates on my stereo, I didn’t hold back. (For science of course!)

After consuming almost half of the pizza (don’t judge me!) and swilling back a few glasses of water, it was so nice to not see a lipstick mark on my glass – this will be ace for work meetings as I hate leaving that tell-tale kiss of a lipstick on a coffee mug. As you can see from the photos above, this product proved itself with top marks under tough test conditions. I was able to eat, drink, lick my lips and plant non-transferable kisses on Roxy without leaving a mark, or smudging the look. Pretty incredible. 

Any downsides? The colour does start to vacate on the insides of your lips, which is perhaps less noticeable with a more neutral colour but for a vibrant red like this it would require touch ups before 16-hours! I would also recommend reapplying the balm end to keep moisturised and avoid cracks or crumbles.

£6.99 from boots.