Huda Beauty Bombshell Lip Contour Matte Lip Pencil Review

Hello lovely ladies,

Back again with a lip product today, but instead of a liquid lipstick, this one is a lip pencil instead, from the much-hyped brand Huda Beauty. I picked up three shades from the collection, two to compliment the existing shades of Huda Beauty Liquid Mattes that I have reviewed earlier, “Icon” and “Trophy Wife.” Apart from that, I also picked up a n*de shade – “Bombshell” and that’s what I will be reviewing for you today.

Product Description:
A line of easy-glide contouring and filling lip pencils featuring intense color payoff and a matte finish. Balance and beautify your lips with the Lip Contour Matte Lip Pencil to address flat lips, thin lips, wide or narrow mouth, or uneven shape. These easy-glide lip pencils are simple to use and provide an intense payoff with a matte finish in a single swipe. Each shade is waterproof and transfer-proof and can be used alone or combined for the perfect lip look. It is formulated without parabens, phthalates. “They are literally the only thing I am using on my lips at the moment. The glide and payoff is so perfect and long lasting. They fit ideally in my mini bag too! My favorite combos are Trendsetter used as a contour plus Bombshell as a highlighter or Famous and Trophy Wife. But when I want to add drama to my look, I use Vixen combined with Famous.”—Huda Kattan, Brand Founder. This product is vegan and cruelty-free.

Choose your favorite shade: Vixen (poisonous deep brown), Famous (effortlessly chic burgundy), Cheerleader (delicately muted red), Gossip Gurl (everyday cute pink), Video Star (shout out pink red), Bombshell (subtle pinkish nude), Trendsetter (stylish brown nude), Trophy Wife (bestselling rose wood), or Icon (classic peachy pink).

Price:
$20 in US / GBP 16 for 1.2 gm. For perspective – a MAC Lip pencil is $16.50 for 1.45 gm. I compare it to MAC because MAC is a mid end popular and accepted brand of good standing.

Packaging:
The lip pencil is a regular sharpen-able wooden pencil, which comes packaged in a black cardboard box. The good thing with the packaging is that the plastic cap is snuggly secure and doesn’t come off easily. Also, the end of the pencil, as well as the box, are colour coded corresponding to the product shade, so it’s easy to identify in the stash. As is usual with pretty much all lip pencils – it does not come with a sharpener.

My Experience with Huda Beauty Bombshell Lip Contour Matte Lip Pencil:

I had mentioned a quick brief about this brand in my review of the shade “Icon.”

Color:  The shade “Bombshell” is described as a “subtle pinkish n*de.” To me, it seems more of a peachy-n*de color which works very well for our Medium skin tone. Honestly, about a year back, i wouldn’t even have bothered with a shade like this. Instead, i would be looking for hot pinks and reds. However, my foray in eye makeup has helped me appreciate a good nude lip colour – to balance out a heavy eye look. My all-time favourite n*de lip shade is MAC’s lip pencil in Boldly Bare and MAC’s prolonger lip pencil in “Absolutely It.”

This too is a lovely n*de shade and one which will look good, not just on fair skin tone, but also on medium skin tones. I am not sure, if this will work on deeper skin tone. I don’t generally wear it on its own. I feel it is likely to wash me out, but it works perfectly when I have heavy eye makeup on.

Since, Huda is such a propagator of connoting and the lip pencils are also called as Lip Contour, you can use this shade in conjunction with a darker one – in similar tone – to create contoured effect. The shade “Icon” goes very well with Bombshell being used as the highlighter shade.

There is a weird claim in the marketing mambo-jumbo – “Every shade reacts uniquely, depending on your skintone. Check the swatch details for further indication but there will be some color variation on your lips.” The shade does not “react” differently to your skin tone. The choice of words could have been better. It just means, that each shade will look slightly different on different skin tone, which is true for any lip product. Being a beauty blogger herself, Huda knows how things can appear different on different skin tones. And as a Company, they wouldn’t want customers to start with – “Oh! But it looks so different on her.” It will, if your skin tone is different from hers – it will look different..

Texture:  The Huda lip contour pencils are quite smooth and creamy. They glide on easily without tugging or pulling on the lips or dragging on. The flip side of it is also that the tip gets used up in just two uses and if you need sharp point to work with – then you have to sharpen it each time you use it. If you don’t, you will work with a blunt tip. And taken into account that the tip will disappear by the second application, you will anyway need to sharpen it post the second use. So, all in all, this will get consumed fairly quickly.

I know we write this when reviewing every lip product, the bottom line, which lipstick will actually look good without prepped lips? None! You need prepped and exfoliated lips. For a matte lip, the whole thing comes together so much better when your lips give a smooth canvas to the product.

Once on, this feels and looks like a matte lipstick. So, there is slight tight tightening – which isn’t too bad, but it definitely isn’t as comfortable as their liquid lipstick. It works more like a traditional matte lip. After an hour or so, you feel the dryness on your lips. If you move the upper lip on the lower one, you will get that dry sandpaper feeling. It will grab onto any texture on your lips and emphasise it.

It gets fairly drying by the end of its wear time; however, if used as a base for a lipstick, it feels fairly comfortable. The added moisture from the lipstick (regular ones/Huda’s liquid ones) – helps add comfort.

Pigmentation: The pigmentation is excellent. Considering how light and n*dish the shade is, it still covers all lip pigmentation very well and provides an even base.

Lasting Power:  The product lasted about 6-6.5 hours on me – on its own, but it does get fairly drying. However, probably not as drying as a traditional MAC lip pencil. It wore fairly well – did not budge with light snacks/ drinks; heavier meal does break it down. Still, it had much better wear time than the Huda liquid mattes. Also, it did not look patchy as it wore.

Pros of Huda Beauty Bombshell Lip Contour Matte Lip Pencil:

• A beautiful n*de colour – one which actually works for Indian skin tone! Surprise! Surprise!
• Lightweight matte texture.
• Once sharpened, it allows for clean and precise application.
• The pencil applies without tug or pull!
• No feathering or bleeding.
• Convenient packaging, easy to apply and easy to carry – doesn’t take much space in the bag.
• Decent wear time.

Cons of Huda Beauty Bombshell Lip Contour Matte Lip Pencil:

• Not a hydrating formula; however, considering they are supposed to provide an iron-clad base for lipstick – one kind of expects them to be drying.
• Tends to cling to dry patches. I would suggest exfoliating lips before applying.
• The creamy texture of the product makes the tip disappear in two uses.
• Sharpening with every use will result in this getting over fairly quickly.
• Price point. No, I am not putting “price” as a con. I am referring to the price point. When a new brand, with very little history, prices themselves over a well-established brand like say, MAC – you have to wonder what the thought process is? Is Huda Beauty a “premium” segment brand, I don’t think so. I do not believe they have the perceived value. Maybe, just maybe, the price is considering the mark up to sell in a place like Sephora and be able to get shelf space there. I’m sure there is substantial cost attached to that – which will obviously be borne by the customer.

IMBB Rating:
4/5
Overall, I think this is a good product. I will be reviewing a couple more shades from this line. I do believe that ashe has put out some great colours which will look good on most skin tones but will really flatter the medium skin toned gals. Considering she herself is medium skin toned, I don’t think this is surprising.
Do I Recommend Huda Beauty Bombshell Lip Contour Matte Lip Pencil?
Yes, as long as the price point works for you.

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