W7 Matte Lipsticks- Magic Matte Cheeky and Go West Perfect Pink & Powder Pink

 

For some reason in the winter more than the summer I have trouble keeping lipstick on. I'm a chronic lip chewer/licker so it might be that when they're more chapped I subconsciously think they need more biting, and my lipstick doesn't stand a chance.
Matte formulas are always more long-wearing on me than high gloss, and I prefer them over satin which can have a strange neither here nor there formula that can't decide what it wants to be. I picked up the W7 Go West Matte Lipstick in Perfect Pink (£2.50) and the Magic Matte Lipstick in Cheeky (£2.99) on a bit of a whim, and as lip swatches were few and far between I took a bit of a gamble on the colours.

The first thing to note about the Go West Perfect Pink lipstick is that it isn't really matte, despite being described as matte by the brand. You can see the sheen on the bullet in the photos compared to the texture of the darker lipstick and its something I wasn't expecting. I do, however really like the texture, it melts onto the lips and glides across them like a lipbalm while still having pretty good staining power. It's very much what I wanted the MUA number 7 Lipstick to be. When it has dried down a bit and been blotted, then it appears matte and I've shown Perfect Pink blotted on my lips in the top left swatch above. I think it takes better to blotting than some other lipsticks as it looses sheen but not much colour so you don't need to blot and keep reapplying. I'm a big fan of the colour, a bright bluey pink is just what I like, and even though the formula wasn't what I was expecting from a matte I've been pleasantly surprised by how moisturising this product is. You can see in the photos above it looks reasonably smooth even though my lips were quite horribly chapped when I took that photo, and it doesn't accentuate the flaky bits too much. This product has an RRP of £5.99 but it's discounted at a lot of places online and I bought mine for £2.50 from Xtras which I think is a pretty good deal! I'm not sure about the name though, Go West makes me think of the Wild West and cowboys, but I'm pretty sure I've never seen John Wayne in a nice bright pink.
I was recently sent the W7 Go West Lipstick in Powder Pink* (top right swatch above) which arrived while I was drafting this post and I thought I'd slip it in, which is why I have a swatch photo but no photo of the product in the tube. I have only worn this shade a few times so far but I really like the colour; it's very bright and also brightening to my complexion, it verges from a pink into a coral colour, and under artificial light it can glow almost neon. Unfortunately this colour isn't as forgiving on dry lips as Perfect Pink, it still glides across easily but has slightly less of a sheen when un-blotted and can clump around dry areas to look a bit chunky. The colour does, however, look lovely on smooth lips, or under a gloss like the the W7 Super Pout in Mady (I'm loving the Super Pouts and I'll write about them in another post). Wearing a gloss over the top slightly defeats the point of buying a matte lipstick, but you really can't sniff at £2.50 for such a gorgeous colour!

The colour of the W7 Magic Matte lipstick was the biggest gamble, and Cheeky turned out a bit darker and redder than I was expecting, but it's that deep berry that gets well-loved in the winter time. The formula of this lipstick is so much better than much more expensive matte formulas that I've tried, and it's hard to believe you can buy this for just £2.99. It glides over the lips with practically no tugging, and it has a beautiful velvet finish that makes it look almost strokable, although it does give a bit of a sheen in strong light. When just applied it smooths over dry areas, but when blotted it does make dry lips look a bit parched and crinkly as it turns into a super matte stain-like texture. (Bottom left swatch above- applied straight from tube, bottom right swatch- blotted). On normal lips it's a beauty, and I still can't believe the price. A lipliner or cotton bud swept around the lips is needed to achieve a really crisp line, but touch ups are easy peasy and it isn't all that drying when worn for a few hours. This really stains the lips which I like as it ensures the colour lasts for hours even when the product has worn off. Be careful when swatching this on your hand though, you'll need a good scrub or oil cleanser product to remove it!

I would really recommend trying the W7 Matte lipsticks if you're looking for a new budget matte, or if you want to test out a new range as an alternative to a pricier product. The Go West lipsticks are definitely worth a go as well as the colours are gorgeous even if they're not quite matte.

I've got a bit of a collection of W7 products to review, both that I've bought and have had sent to me, so keep your eyes peeled for posts coming up soon. Check out my review of the Africa and Candyfloss boxed powders to keep you going until then!