Summary: Annabelle TwistUp Lipstick Crayons

Hello! I'm finally back with more swatches and my overall thoughts on the Annabelle TwistUp Lipstick Crayons.

As previously mentioned, I was incredibly excited to be a part of Annabelle's #24Days bloggers' swatch project celebrating the addition of 12 new shades (24 total!) to the TwistUp family. Even though the project coincided with a bad eczema flareup, it was really fun anyway: I got to try shades I never would have picked for myself before, and unexpectedly fell in love with a few.

In general, I found the TwistUps to be very comfortable and non-drying to wear, even at the worst point of my eczema flareup, when the skin around my lips can become very dry and sensitive. It glides on without tugging, and the crayon shape helps apply colour precisely. Annabelle calls them a lip liner and lipstick in one, and I agree! I wore even the most intense, bold shades without lip liner and didn't experience any bleeding or feathering.

Without eating or drinking, I probably get about 5-6 hours of wear; the colour does transfer very easily on to coffee mugs, other people's cheeks, etc. I still think it's a great little crayon to pop into your bag, but I have to warn you that the clear caps are a bit flimsy. Some of my crayons have caps that come off a little too easily, and the cap on the Kinky Pink I kept in my makeup bag cracked altogether and came off, coating everything else in the makeup bag bright pink.

Several shades are quite close, so I've sorted them as best as I can figure by colour family and swatched them. I can't guarantee how true to life the colours will appear on your screen, but hopefully my kinda-crappy descriptions help too.

Beige shades in artificial light

Naked is a bit more pink-orange, Havana is more brown, and Absolute is leans very pink. Honestly, all of three of these basically look the same on me, and were rather unflattering for me personally. I think in general, beige shades like these fight too much against the gray-coloured areas of my lips, so the "nude lip look" ends up more like "strange corpse/zombie".

Sidenote: I've realized that referring to colours like these as "nude" is kind of exclusionary, as they are only "nude" for certain shades of people. Just a thought.

Orange shades in artificial light

Orange Pop is a bright red-orange, and the boldest of this set. Mai Tai is like a sheered-out version of Orange Pop. Mimosa and Kiss look very similar in the tube, but Kiss is more orange and a bit more pigmented. Tease is a shimmery brown.

Pink shades (part 1) in artificial light

Absolute also appeared in the beige swatches, but it leans very pink, so I included it here too. Romance is a subdued mauve; Breeze is pinker/less brown. Although it kind of looks red here, Bubble is actually a bright salmon pink. Divine looks brownish on my monitor, but it's actually a dusty rose with a hint of orange. Sorbet is an intense, bright pink, deeper and redder than Bubble.

Pink shades (part 2) in artificial light

Fizz is a shimmery red-pink with a pearly gold look. Bazooka Pink is a bright, bubblegum Barbie-pink. Fuchsianista and Plump It Up are close, but Fuchsianista is a brighter pink and Plump It Up is more muted. Kinky Pink is somewhere between Fuchsianista and Plump It Up: redder than Fuchsianista but brighter than Plump It Up. Royale is a deep berry.

Red shades in artificial light

All of these shades are beautiful and intense. Monroe is a bright pink red. Flirtini is a deep, almost brick red when built up. Red Carpet is brighter than Flirtini and closest of the bunch to a "true red". Cherry looks almost brown in the tube, but is actually a beautiful deep cherry red. Vamp is the darkest shade, a dramatic oxblood-maroon.

Some shades provide more of a sheer, lipgloss-like look, while others are much more pigmented and can be built up to have medium coverage like a traditional lipstick. Lipgloss-like shades are Kiss, Mimosa, Tease, Mai Tai, Royale, Divine, and Fizz.

My favourite shades are Orange Pop for a fun, bright orange lip, Divine for a pretty my-lips-but-better look, Fizz because of the pretty gold pearl, Royale because it becomes a badass purple on my lips, and ALL the reds (but seriously, if I had to choose, I'd take Red Carpet and Cherry.)

Annabelle TwistUp would be an amazing product even at a department store price points, but it's even more amazing that they're $9.95 CAD (or less, if you wait for a sale!) I would recommend them to anyone, and with 24 beautiful shades, there's something for everyone. Having reached the end of this post/series of posts on the TwistUps, I'm sure you're ready to bolt to your nearest drugstore and grab one or two or six ;> Hopefully this post has helped you narrow down your picks; I know it's tough to choose!

Giveaway reminder! - ends November 5, 2013 at 11:59 PM, PST
Enter to win your own full set of Annabelle TwistUp Lipstick Crayons (US and Canada only, sorry!) by commenting on this post! If you haven't yet already, you can earn an entry for every comment on each of my Annabelle #24Days posts listed below. You may also earn one entry each day by tweeting "I just entered to win all 24 shades of Annabelle TwistUp lipstick crayons from @dowantmakeup #dowantTwistUp http://bit.ly/1ae7MIE"

Annabelle #24Days of TwistUp posts:

• Annabelle TwistUp in Flirtini feature
• Days 1-9 Recap
• Days 10-16 Recap
• Days 17-24 Recap

Ingredients (taken from label on Fuchsianista): diisostearyl malate, polyglyceryl-2 triisostearate, dipentaerythrityl hexahydroxystearate/hexastearate/hexarosinate, caprylic/capric triglyceride, phytosteryl isostearyl dimer dilinoleate, C16-18 hydroxyalkyl hydroxydimerdilinoleyl ether, Candelilla cera/Euphorbia cerifera (candelilla) wax, microcrystalline wax, Butyrospermum parkii (shea butter) fruit extract, hydrogenated polyisobutene, ceresin, silica dimethyl silyate, synthetic wax, polyethylene, sorbitan olivate, silica, Theobroma grandiflorum seed butter, hydrogenated rapeseed oil, lauroyl lysine, sodium hyaluronate, caprylyl glycol, ethylene/propylene copolymer, 1,2-hexanediol, propanediol, Illicium verum (anise) fruit extract, BHT, calcium aluminum borosilicate May contain: Red 7 Lake, titanium dioxide, Red 6, mica, Yellow 5 Lake, Red 28 Lake, iron oxides, Red 30 Lake, Ultramarine, Carmine, Red 33 Lake, Yellow 6 Lake

Available at Annabelle, London Drugs, Shoppers Drug Mart, Target: ~$9.95 CAD / 0.05oz (1.5g)

This post contains sponsored products. I have been sponsored to photograph lip swatches of all 24 TwistUp shades. All opinions/awkward shade descriptions are my own.