I've been pretty excited about the launch of Pout Paints, €7, from Sleek. We previewed them a few weeks ago and as an affordable dupe for OCC's cult Lip Tars, these are pretty much pure, saturated satin-finished pigment for lips. Paint on a tiny bead (ideally you need to use a brush) and get full opacity; mix shades to create custom colours or use straight as is from the tube. If you've ever been let down by the promise of a gloss shade in the tube which turned out to be a wishy washy see-through disappointment on the lips, you will love these.
While this isn't a full-on review because I haven't had time to really give these a run for their money, first impressions are that Pout Paints are the hybrid love child of a full-on opaque lipstick with the ease of application and comfort of gloss and the staying power of a good liquid lipstick. In short, they seem to be pretty damn good, actually. Oh - and they're cheap. Bonus!
Even better, like OCC, Sleek has included a couple of mixing shades in white and blue to lighten and darken the other colours available - so you can really play makeup artist to your hearts content. Not got *quite* the colour you're after? With a couple of these and the base colours above, you'll be able to create any number of new lip tones.
Here are the five of the available nine colours (there are 11 in total with the white and blue) which I was sent for review by Beautyemporium.ie, which stocks the brand. From left to right, shades are Lava, Mauve Over, Pinkini, Milkshake and Minx. The tubes themselves are surprisingly small - I'm not sure why but I was expecting them to be bigger going on pictures I'd seen online, though they hold a respectable 8ml, and unlike the OCC tars which are minty (and which I dislike), these have a faint fruity scent which is pleasant.
So, swatches: this is a *tiny* bit of each on my hand and you can see how opaque they are. They're flippin' fab.
But I mentioned some experiments in the title, didn't I? Oh yes I did. One of the really great things about the Pout Paints is how versatile they are, and the fact that they can act as mixing mediums for themselves and other products. And, well, that all allows you to play, basically.
So I did.
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The most obvious playtime game is to mix up some custom colours - here are a few whipped up using the basic shades together, and some mixed using the blue and white colours. Interesting the new tones you can get, eh?
Next, up, and inspired by Fee at Makeup Savvy, who DIYed herself some tinted Vaseline lipbalms using Pout Paints a few weeks ago (check her tutorial out here) I decided to mix myself up some high-pigment gloss. I don't write about it much but it's not that I hate gloss as a product, it's that I inevitably have a problem with payoff. I want the colour from the tube on my lips and. It. Never. Happens. Or hardly ever anyway.
Can Sleek Pout Paints save the day?
Yup. Grabbing a tube of Bobbi Brown clear gloss I had to hand, I got busy - you need a very small amount of Pout Paint mixed into the clear gloss to get a very pigmented result, which is great news. The proof is in the swatch-based pudding:
You could mix these as you go or decant them up into little sample pots, and always have them to hand - the bonus is you've got a super-shiny result; the basic finish of the Paints is satin, but certainly no reflective mirrory shine.
And there, ladies, endeth my Sleek Pout Paint-based experiments for today. I look forward to giving these a proper in the field test over the next couple of weeks, so stay put for a few on-the-lips looks.
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