Review: Huda Lip Contour Matte Pencils

Beauty trends in 2015 and 2016 have been all about precise definition of facial features, achieved through some of the years' most popular trends: highlighting, contouring, and LIP PRODUCTS. Lips have been having their major time in the sun for quite a while now, which is why the stage was set perfectly for the latest launch by Huda Beauty: Lip Contour Matte Pencils.

Hudda Kattan, the gorgeous and internationally known Dubai-based beauty blogger has gained international fame primarily for her stunning false lash collection. When she announced that she'd be adding makeup to her brand, the beauty world immediately began counting down.

Source: @hudabeauty on Instagram

Earlier this year, Huda announced her Lip Contour Matte Pencils, which she proposed could be used to take the hottest trend of contouring straight to your lips. The pencils could be used to shade/lighten the contours of your lips to dramatically enhance the shape, while still looking natural and believable. 

Source: Huda Beauty and http://www.glamour.com/story/huda-beauty-lip-contour-review-sephora 

My initial reaction to news of this launch was simple -- "Sooooo...it's basically just a lip pencil?" I am intrigued by the idea of using different light/dark shades to manipulate the shape of your lips. For the most part, the life of the lip liner has been reduced to just defining the lips, and, for the more makeup-obsessed, pairing different liners with different lipsticks to transform colors. But when you take out all of the information about this pencil's technique, use, and potential, and look at it solely for what it is, it is just another lip pencil. 

This is not to say that I was not still curious as to what sets this product apart, what makes it more than just a lip pencil, and most importantly, what validates the $19 for .042 oz. 

When the product launched on Sephora.com, I picked the two shades that I thought were most unique to the collection, and also the most wearable for my day-to-day use: Trendsetter and Bombshell:

Left: Trendsetter, right: Bombshell

Packaging:

The lip contours come in a simple but elegant matte black box with the signature white and hot pink Huda Beauty logo. The pencils themselves are very simple -- matte black casing with the bottom tip indicating the color of the pencil.

When I swatched each pencil, my initial reaction was that I was very impressed with how smooth the product was. Traditional lip pencils have a reputation of being dry and patchy. This Lip Contour literally flows like a smooth pen onto the lips, and completely effortlessly lines and fills the lips. Overall, the formula reminded me of my favorite lip pencil, the Pro Longwear pencils by Mac. 

As for the color payoff, it's smooth and pigmented, and true to swatches I had seen in the promo pictures. On my skin, Trendsetter is a medium brown with very subtle caramel undertones. Bombshell is a light peach with subtle pink undertones.

  Top: Trendsetter. Bottom: Bombshell

PROS

• As I mentioned, these pencils are extremely smooth and a pleasure to use. There's no dryness or dragging, and the smooth texture makes it easy to shade/contour.

• The pencils are truly mate  and transfer-proof without being dry. I've gotten 6 hours of wear without transfer or fading.

• These Lip Contours come in 9 colors, which does not seem like a lot, but the 9 colors that do exist are a beautiful range of nude, pinks, reds, and even a burgandy and a deep, vampy brown color.  

CONS

• Availability is an issue simply because the product has so much hype. For US customers, the product is available online only at Sephora.com, but has been sold out for several weeks. To be fair, Huda did announce at the launch in April that there would not be another restock until July, but one of my biggest pet peeves is when products are hyped to the skies without consistent production. Could it be a marketing tactic? Maybe. Probably? I was an English major, so couldn't tell you, but for anyone wanting to test these out, not only will you have to buy without trying, first, but you'll also need to wait for another hyped launch.

• My biggest turnoff for this product, interestingly enough, is also the best part of this product (hello, moral dilemma!): the creaminess. These pencils are so, so smooth, but the downside of that perk is that it yields one-use-per-sharpen (technical terms ftw!). For anyone with bigger lips, or those choosing to over-line, it would likely be even less than that. Since the product is so creamy, you lose a lot of it per use, which means more frequent sharpening, which means more frequent need to re-purchase. I mentioned above that these pencils remind me a lot of the Pro Longwear pencils by Mac in the sense that both have very similar textures and longevity. The Mac pencils are equally creamy and long-wearing, but a have a less frequent need to be sharpened. To be fair, the Mac pencils are also two dollars more expensive for the same amount of product (.04 oz), but I would rather pay the $2 and have the pencil last longer, than have to re-purchase the whole thing over and over.

Overall, the Huda Beauty Lip Contour pencils are nice. They are fun and easy to use, and come in some pretty colors. But, at the end of the day, they don't do anything more than any other creamy lip pencil. The biggest selling point here is that yes, you can use them in different shades to contour your lips, but you can do that with any lip pencil. While Huda deserves major credit for bringing the concept of lip contouring to such a big stage, I think the product itself is not worth the hype. Maybe if the "lip contour" was a pre-made kit that came with a contour shade, another pencil in a lighter highlight shade, and maybe a blending brush, etc, the overall product and concept would stand a little more independently, but for what it is, I don't think it's anything unique. 

Overall rating: 

B+

Have you tried the Huda Beauty Lip Contours? Are you waiting for the July re-launch to pick some of them up? Let me know your thoughts! :-)



Follow me on on Instagram and Twitter!

Follow @makeupismycatnp