In this post, I have 27 liquid lipsticks available on the market today with data from Sephora, Ulta, and brands' websites. For each lipstick, I have the full name, retail price in USD, ounces of product in the tube, and the price per ounce, sorted alphabetically by brand. Using price per ounce (PPO) lets us compare apples to apples and find out which liquid lipsticks are a good deal and which ones are more expensive.
The chart above shows 5 price categories and the number of products available in each category. Based on this data, you should be excited about the price if you pay less than $50 per ounce and feel good about paying up to $100 per ounce. Once you are paying more than $150 per ounce, make sure you really love the color and formula of the lipstick.
| Liquid Lipstick | Price (USD) | Ounces | Price Per Ounce |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipstick | $20.00 | 0.110 | $181.82 |
| Ardency Inn Modster Long Play Lip Vinyl | $23.00 | 0.280 | $82.14 |
| Bite Beauty Cashmere Lip Cream | $28.00 | 0.230 | $121.74 |
| Butter London Lippy Liquid Lipstick | $18.00 | 0.240 | $75.00 |
| Ciate London Liquid Velvet Matte Lip Slick | $18.00 | 0.220 | $81.82 |
| Colour Pop Ultra Matte Lip | $6.00 | 0.110 | $54.54 |
| Estee Lauder Pure Color Envy Liquid Lip Potion | $30.00 | 0.200 | $150.00 |
| Guerlain Rouge G De Guerlain L'Extrait | $53.00 | 0.200 | $265.00 |
| Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick | $28.00 | 0.100 | $280.00 |
| Jeffree Star Liquid Lipstick | $18.00 | 0.190 | $94.74 |
| Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick | $20.00 | 0.220 | $90.91 |
| Laura Geller Luscious Lips Liquid Lipstick | $21.00 | 0.200 | $105.00 |
| Laura Mercier Paint Wash Liquid Lip Color | $28.00 | 0.200 | $140.00 |
| Lime Crime Velvetine | $20.00 | 0.088 | $227.27 |
| Milani Amore Matte Lip Crème | $8.99 | 0.210 | $42.81 |
| NYX Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick | $6.99 | 0.130 | $53.77 |
| NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream | $5.99 | 0.230 | $26.04 |
| OCC Lip Tar | $18.00 | 0.330 | $54.55 |
| OCC Lip Tar RTW | $15.00 | 0.140 | $107.14 |
| Rimmel Provocalips 16Hr Kissproof Lip Color | $6.99 | 0.240 | $29.13 |
| Sephora Collection Luster Matte Long Wear Lip Color | $16.00 | 0.140 | $114.29 |
| Shiseido Lacquer Rouge | $25.00 | 0.250 | $100.00 |
| Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick | $24.00 | 0.100 | $240.00 |
| The Balm Meet Matt(e) Hughes Long Lasting Liquid Lipstick | $17.00 | 0.219 | $77.63 |
| Too Faced Melted Liquified Long Wear Lipstick | $21.00 | 0.400 | $52.50 |
| Too Faced Melted Metal | $21.00 | 0.400 | $52.50 |
| Ulta Matte Lip Cream | $9.00 | 0.120 | $75.00 |
The cheapest liquid lipsticks
The best deals out there for liquid lipsticks are the brands that you would expect - the NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams, Rimmel Provocalips, and the new limited edition Milani Amore Matte Lip Creme.
Where it gets interesting for me is the placement of the Too Faced Melted liquid lipsticks - at $52 per ounce, they are a relative bargain and the cheapest liquid lipstick from a mid or high end brand. In fact, the Too Faced Melted and Melted Metals come in cheaper than the new NYX Liquid Suede Cream lipstick and the Colour Pop ultra matte liquid lipstick!
The OCC lip tar (standard packaging) is also relatively affordable, as are liquid lipsticks from Butter London, the Balm, Ciate, and Ardency Inn. I would pass on the Ulta brand one as it is over double in price to the Milani.
Middle of the pack priced liquid lipsticks
Mid price on the market today are liquid lipsticks from Kat Von D, Jeffree Star, Shiseido, Laura Geller, and the new packaging of the OCC lip tars. Bite Beauty and Laura Mercier are on the higher end of the mid tier pricing, but within range. Surprisingly, the Sephora Collection liquid lipstick ends up in the higher end of the mid price tier.
The most expensive liquid lipsticks
It should come to no surprise to anyone that Guerlain's liquid lipstick is one of the most expensive, but it did surprise me that Hourglass was more expensive. Estee Lauder's liquid lipstick is new to the market and is on the lower cost end of this category, but not too much more than Laura Mercier.
The real surprises of this category are the mid end brands that have priced themselves well above their competitors - the $20 price tag of Anastasia Beverly Hills and Lime Crime Velvetines looks comparable to the Kat Von D (also $20), but the Anastasia and Lime Crime are much more expensive per ounce. Similarly, the Stila liquid lipsticks are overpriced compared to Kat Von D or Jeffree Star.
Note: I am having a moment of schadenfreude for the Lime Crime Velvetines. Not only are they super expensive ($227 per ounce!), but there are so many better companies out there to buy from. Please do your research before deciding to spend your hard earned money on Lime Crime.
Overall, NYX, Rimmel, Milani's liquid lipsticks are quite affordable, the best mid end value is the Too Faced Melted line, and the most expensive offerings come from Lime Crime, Stila, Guerlain, and Hourglass. Market price for liquid lipsticks is $50-$150 per ounce. Happy shopping!
I plan to add the new MAC retro matte liquid lipsticks to this post when they come out, but if I have any errors or missed a brand you love, please leave me a comment!
Edit: The Colour Pop website lists their Ultra Matte liquid lipsticks as 1 ounce while numerous blogs and reviews (notably Temptalia) list this product at .11 ounces. I will be updating the post to reflect the weight of .11 ounces as it seems the Colour Pop website is in error.
This is fascinating! I love when you create posts like this. :) We tend to use a lot of ColourPop and NYX at our house, so I guess our taste in lipstick leans towards the inexpensive. Estee Lauder is fairly high in price, but so creamy and amazing that I find their products to be worth the money! XOXO, Erin
ReplyDeleteThanks, Erin!
DeleteThis post was so helpful, thank you! I recently purchased one of the Lime Crime Velvetines but I think next time I may choose an alternative thanks to this post. I have just discovered your blog and I absolutely love it. xo
ReplyDeleteSo happy to help!
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