cr: 12 September 2024; lu: 21 September 2024 – page pushed live
Squad Cosmetics Mellow Matte Soft Matte Lipstick (shade: Timeless)
I thought Auburn Delight would be my last matte bullet lipstick but upon deciding that Auburn wasn't as bold as I want it to be, I looked for another shade. I wanted something darker like my Glass Stain in Naked. Brown is another color family that interested me next.
Sunnies rant
Initially I had checked out Sunnies Face Fluffmattes. I've always regarded Sunnies as some of the higher end Filipino makeup brands, so seeing their lipsticks were on a ~50% sale, I placed my order. It was a good thing that I did some extra research on the brand nonetheless. Sunnies Studios (the parent brand) seems to be holding well on to its reputation as a "rich kid" brand. Pretty branding, high prices, major online hype and subpar quality products. It so proudly presents itself as a Filipino brand when marketing itself internationally but it is not for the Filipinos. This Reddit post on r/beautytalkph convinced me well enough and I don't have the capacity right now to do better and not "knock it until I try it". It's ridiculous too considering the owner's possible connections to a problematic political family too (Marcos); although I want to boycott Sunnies Studios, it's mainly because of how fake they appear and less on the alleged political affiliations. It feels hypocritical for me to avoid Sunnies for that reason when I enjoy Ever Bilena Cosmetics whose CEO was very open about their support for some fart poop (Marcos). An alarming number of people have also shared their experiences with their Fluffmattes growing mold.
Squad Co.'s Mellow Mattes released very recently and seems to be the first product they released rebranded. I've had my eye on Squad for a long time since they have really cheap products yet many people rave about their quality. Their old branding was just really ugly, but their new one looks very promising. Minimalist and classy but even moreso than Squad's sister, Detail. I'd say it's up there with Issy and Chu Chu Beauty in terms of the impression they give.
There were barely any reviews online for Squad's Mellow Mattes since they were so new but I bought it anyway. Brown was another color that seemed fun to me and I was expecting the shade I bought to be way darker, basically something you wouldn't call an everyday shade. So if the product didn't turn out so great, it would be no problem since I wouldn't wear it that much anyway.
Timeless ended up being lighter than I had hoped but I'm not complaining because it's still a beautiful color nonetheless. It's a warm brown with a slight red tint. In various lightings, it appears quite red but it is very much a brown. It's dark compared to my EB K-Beauty lipsticks but I think it being a brown lets it be an everyday color anyway. It's beautiful paired with Dear Lily.