cr: 14 August 2024; lu: 21 September 2024 – added entry update
Ever Bilena K-Beauty Matte Lipstick (shade: Maple Candy)
original entry – cr: 14 August 2024I was looking for a bullet lipstick since I'm just not a fan of liquid and cream products. I also don't have a matte lip that I like in my collection. I have my Nichido matte lip but it's just terrible to apply and wear. I also bought it in a bright warm pink shade which I'm no longer digging. I wanted a bullet lipstick that was comfortable to wear, has good staying power yet not a struggle to take off, and was a warm red on the subtle nude-y side but not completely.
This lipstick is exactly that. I love the shade Maple Candy. It's a slightly brown red on my lips. I'm most happy about it being warm-toned. It's like a matte version of my Detail Glass Stain in Naked but it's more red than brown and lighter in value. It's a cute subtle light red when sheered, but its brown tones are more prominent as a full lip.
It's my favorite lipstick in my collection right now. This purchase was a leap of faith, having been decided on in a day with only online swatching videos as my references for the shades, but it's probably one of my best purchases ever.
new! updated entry – cr: 10 September 2024I've since started college and Maple Candy has become my daily driver. I wasn't fond of my other lip stuff mainly because the rest were liquid. I started to prefer matte finishes over glosses for daily use and I found that lip bullets are better for matte finishes than liquid matte lipsticks. Bullets are easy to apply, blot and blend, and they're not annoying to remove. I'm greatly impressed with its longevity and transferproof-ness as well. I bought another shade from EB's K-Beauty lipstick line since I like the collection's color selections.
Maple Candy is a red orange that appears muted red on my warm yellow undertone. It's a bit "soft" on the look since it blends well with my undertone.
Though I wasn't keen on having it as my only lip bullet option. Naturally I wanted more options, particularly because I felt Maple Candy didn't 100% feel right when paired with my Sweet Missy blush so I bought Auburn Delight.
new! updated entry – cr: 21 September 2024Kind of nuts how Maple Candy completely fell from the highest ranked lipstick in my collection. I've been using it more now, this time out of pity. Somehow it's now too muted for my taste. I still wear it from time to time like it's an old friend who I never want to get tired of.