Lip glosses are all the rage this season. emmagem went out to test two highly recognizable brands in town. emmagem’s choice of this month, Kate’s liquid rouge from Japan  and Stila’s It Gloss.

Designers and makeup artist around the world has been raving and promoting lip glosses the last couple of years ever since the nude, au natural look made it’s presence in make up. Previously used as a top coat over lipstick, these days glosses stand alone in full glory against a girl’s lips making them more luscious and letting the lips make a statement by themselves. The beauty about glosses or liquid rouge is that it is easy to use, doesn’t look too heavily put on and gives a youthful fuller impression of the lips. The word kissable instinctively comes to mind.

emmagem sat a few friends down to try out both glosses and here’s what they had to say.

Nazya – 20s, part time writer, full time fashion junkie
Really love the way the Kate lip gloss glided ever so smoothly over my lips. (The color BR2, also suited her peaches and cream complexion to perfection.) Plus point for Kate that it is light and not so sticky and at RM45, wow, very reasonable. Stila’s It gloss is good except that the gloss took a bit of work to apply but it was thick and rich without being too sticky.

As for brush, I actually prefer Stila’s It gloss brush, it’s easier to apply. And love the packaging for It gloss as it is slimmer and takes up less space in my bag. I really hate glosses that will glue my hair to my lips every time the wind blows in the wrong direction. (Same here, girl!)

Angeline – 30s, new mommy, executive with Shell
Well, I like Kate better, it is easy to glide on, feels light when applied and the shimmer is nice. I also much prefer the sponge applicator to the brush one (It) as the control is better and application is more even. Takes me two seconds and these days the make up is applied on the go and the faster the better.

I have always been a lipstick person and only use gloss as a highlight and my first foray into lip gloss was a tube of glow gloss from Le Clerc, a birthday gift from my sister-in-law. As it was really thick and had shimmer dust in it, I use it only as a highlight after applying lipstick for special occasions.  But now I am really hooked by how easy and yet attractive it is to use lip gloss.

Amy – 40s, funky business owner
I have been using gloss for the last couple of years, ever since I started working on my own and my wardrobe had to be transformed from the usual corporate uniforms of suits to the casual smart set. I find that using lip gloss complements my overall look better.

I like both, Kate is easy to apply on and color is quite evenly spread, but it doesn’t last as long as It gloss. Also, the color tones are different, It’s colors are stronger so it looks like you are actually wearing glossy lipstick and not just a gloss. I would use Kate more for weekends.

It gloss, suits me better for work, as I am always on the go and don’t really have time to keep re-applying color on my lips. So, I did a little time test on both and found that even after several hours in which I have crammed in 2 meetings and a drink, the  It gloss still looked pretty fresh. And the more the noticeable tinge of color is simply delightful, it’s like liquid lipstick. It would also be my choice of lipstick for an evening out! But I would line my lips with a lip liner first to for a fuller more luscious look!

But It does have a minor drawback it is thick and the brush applicator can tend to have too much gloss on it, so it takes a little bit of time to actually smooth out the color.

Wong. YS – 50s, a  professional
Generally, I am very casual and don’t use much make-up. My only concession will be to apply lip color and I usually use lip gloss.  I tend to use the more natural colors like plum shades. I must say that I like It, it feels thicker and richer and the slight vanilla-ish after taste is pleasant. Kate would be too casual and light for me since I would depend on my lips for color! I love the names for It glosses  like energetic for bright rose hue, striking for rose ,interesting for nude rose ,enticing for light pink, wow, creativity at its poutiest.

I also think the price of RM65 for It gloss is fair, most of my other glosses are also priced as such.

Where to get them:
It Gloss by Stila- is available at Parkson Suria KLCC, U Parkson Bandar Utama and Parkson Grand Gurney Plaza

Kate from Japan- is available at all leading Watsons and SaSa retail shops

Possible related posts...

• Shopping: Stress Buster Or Just An Excuse To Spend?
• Living Carpe Diem
• Why Talking About Things Can Help
• Style Kandi Is Launched!
• It’s Time To CHANGE THE WORLD!