Lipstick can be incredibly sexy — until you get to the actual sex part. Unless you're planting a cautious peck — which is about as exciting and passionate as it sounds — the stuff gets everywhere. But a new generation of extreme long-wear lipsticks claim to withstand your raunchiest makeout sessions — with one even promising to last through 90 kisses. (Which might be a little excessive, but maybe that's just us.)
We enlisted five real couples to swipe 'em on, make out, and report back on the results. What started as a test of cosmetic longevity turned into an adorable love fest, proving something we knew all along: Lipstick isn't just a makeup product — it's a symbol of passion, a vehicle for self-confidence, and a hell of a lot of fun. Check them out in action in the slides ahead.
The Couple: Coco & Mars Mars, 23, (left) and Coco, 24, (right) share an apartment in Bushwick, Brooklyn with their adorable but admittedly “super clingy” Dachshund puppy. Coco is an assistant editor at the art magazine Glitterati Incorporated and Mars is a tattoo artist — and their art collection is what makes their house a home.
“We actually met on Tinder two or three weeks after I moved to New York,” says Coco. “The first thing that attracted me to Mars was his bowl cut [at the time].” Now, the pair have been together for a year and a half. “I remember being really excited when Coco talked about how they could read palms on our first date,” says Mars.
The Lipstick: Sephora Collection Cream Lip Stain in Dark Forest (on Coco) and Cherry Blossom (on Mars), $14, available at Sephora.
Their First Kiss:
Mars: "I think it was on our first date. I remember a feeling of terror. I was really nervous! I thought Coco was super cool."
Coco: "We were at Happy Fun Hideaway in Bushwick. I had just moved here, so I had asked my roommate for a cute place to go on a date. We met there and just talked for a really long time and went to another bar and I might have made Mars play scrabble with me."
Mars: "I won!"
The Verdict:
Mars: "Before we started kissing, this lipstick was super comfortable. It now appears to have traveled a little bit..." [laughs]Coco: "I thought it was really comfortable...I'd wear it again!"
The Couple: Emani & TanginaEmani, 28, (right) owns a skin-care line called Stripped Ego and Tangina, 25, (left) is a singer, so their home in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn is always bustling and bursting with song. The two were set up by Emani's cousin. "I saw pictures of Tangina and I was like, 'Okay, she's cute! Give me her my number,'" says Emani. Four years later, they're happily engaged.
"Tangina beat me to the punch and asked me to be her girlfriend, so I was not going to be outdone twice in a row," says Emani. "I got her a custom ring. Her father [who passed away] is really important to Tangina and me, so when I made the ring, I had the birthstones of her father, myself, and Tangina put in so that way he's still part of the engagement even though he isn't here."
The Lipstick: Urban Decay Vice Liquid Lipstick in Mad (on Tangina) & Tryst (on Emani), $18, available at Sephora.
Their First Kiss:
Tangina: "Emani gave me such a hard time about kissing her. She knew she was fine. She said, 'I know you want to kiss me, but I'm not going to kiss anybody! And don't think when you do finally kiss me you can put your tongue down my mouth because that's not happening!' Every time I thought I was ready, I would back down! But I did kiss her eventually."
Emani: "I was wearing hot pink lipstick when we first kissed. Nowadays we have lipstick that you can wear and it won't come off, but at the time it wasn't around yet."
Tangina: "That's how she played me!"
Emani: "I was like, 'You're not going to kiss me and mess up my lipstick!' Lipstick is important!'"
The Verdict:
Tangina: "I am very feminine but I'm also very androgynous... I'm not saying it's okay to determine someone's gender based on what they're wearing, but people often think I'm a guy, so when I'm wearing lipstick it's the only thing that makes [them think] it's me embracing all parts of myself. And this lipstick is pretty good. Some of mine smeared on Emani's lip, though."
Emani: "I think the color is still there, but it's a little smudged. But I think it's great — I like it a lot."
To look at the rest of our test subjects, click here!