Make Up For Ever Aqua Rouge in 8 Iconic Red: Swatch, Review, and Photos

This review is quite overdue for me, I think I started writing it two months ago and neglected to finish it! Around the holiday season it's high time for red lips and parties so you'll want something that'll last throughout eating, drinking, and mingling with your friends. Enter Make Up For Ever's Aqua Rouge long wearing lip color.

Product Description: "A liquid lip color that provides the intense and long-lasting hold of a lip stain with the eye-catching shine of a gloss. Its intensely pigmented formula provides immediate, opaque color with extreme shine, and its creamy, non-sticky texture glides effortlessly on the lips for comfortable wear."

Packaging: This is packaged in a dual-sided cylindrical tube. One side houses the lip color with a doe foot applicator and the other side with the gloss with a brush applicator. An interesting note is that the outside of the gloss tube has a black gradient to it.

 

Where to purchase: Sephora*

Price: $24.00 for .08 oz of the gloss and .08 oz of the lip color.

Cruelty Free? They are not considered cruelty free because of their decision to sell in places that opt for animal testing but I don't believe the company itself tests on animals. 

My Thoughts on the Formula/Wear Time:

The color portion of the Aqua Rouge feels like a thin lip creme with great opacity, it is pretty much full coverage with one pass. I do wish though that the color portion came with a flat brush tip instead of a doefoot applicator because I think you can be much more precise with a brush than a doefoot. The gloss isn't thick or sticky but a little thin while still having some weight to it. 

The color portion dries down in about a minute and once dry, won't transfer to the gloss brush so you don't have to worry about having a stained brush. You'll know it's dry when it turns matte, if it's still glossy that means it's not dry yet. By the way, the color is pretty tacky after it's dry so I don't recommend wearing the color by itself, you definitely need the gloss for comfort. After the gloss was applied, my lips didn't feel dry, stretched, or uncomfortable by any means. The gloss lasted about six hours on me before I needed to reapply and the color lasted eight hours and beyond. I had to use an oil based makeup remover and a makeup wipe to remove the color.

The biggest drawback to the product though unfortunately is the scent of the color portion. The gloss doesn't smell like anything to me but the color smells like strong old lady perfume (I couldn't think of anything else to call it!) Luckily though, the scent is toned down once it's dry and the gloss is on top.

Iconic Red is a bright blue based red that definitely needs the gloss to make the color pop. 

Swatches ahead! I took all the swatches in natural daylight.

I also thought I'd show you how the gloss really brings the color to life.

Would I purchase more?

I love the rich red color and the longevity of both the gloss and color. I think the color but not the gloss will last through eating and drinking (with the exception of something oil-based). Red lips are pretty much synonymous with the holidays so I think you can wear this to a nice party without having to worry about touching up the color. I would get more but just have to hold my nose until it dries.

Disclaimer: I was sent these products for review. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for writing my review. The link marked with an asterisk contains an affiliate link which gives me a commission based off your use of the link and helps support the blog!

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This week is finals week for me and I've got four (well technically five but the fifth just requires me to pick up a grade) finals I've gotta worry about. One today, possibly one tomorrow (I can take it tomorrow or Friday morning), then two more on Friday. Wish me luck!