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Thursday, March 13, 2014

Review: Kleancolor Femme Lipstick in After Hours (Navy Blue)

I know that a lot of us are anxious for the release of the NYX Macaron Collection of colored lipsticks this year but if you aren't already aware, there's another affordable line of boldly-colored lipsticks already on the market by Kleancolor (retail: $1.99 each).  Last year, Kleancolor introduced some very bold shades into their Femme Lipstick line, including olive green, lime, kelly green, several blues, gray, bright yellow and more. You can view some nice photos of all of these shades over at the 10dollarmall website here.

I finally saw a full display of the Femme Lipsticks at Diaso, a chain of Japanese dollar stores, a little while ago (many thanks to some kind readers on Instagram for letting me know that a Daiso opened up in San Diego recently) and the navy blue shade came home with me. Now that I've had some time to play around with this one, here are my thoughts!

Kleancolor Femme Lisptick in After Hours
(retail: $1.99, 0.12 oz)



The ingredients list is printed in a tiny font, so this was the best I could do to capture it:




One swipe on the back of my hand

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The photo above was taken after a generous (but not ridiculous) application of this lipstick. In extreme close-up there is some streakiness, but it actually looks pretty even in person, with decent coverage. Is it the deep navy blue that you see in the tube? Not on my lips. But it is interesting that, on my hand, this reads as almost a dark teal but, on my medium-pigmented lips, the color is much closer to navy than teal, with not nearly as much green coming through.

The texture of this lipstick is surprisingly nice. I had heard that the Femme Lipsticks tend to be dry and cakey, but I found this lipstick to glide on the lips easily, with a very smooth and creamy texture. It was FAR better than I was anticipating. The staying power, however, is poor with this one. In under an hour, the color on the entire center region of my lips was completely gone, leaving me with MAJOR ring-around-the-lips. Seriously, if you plan to wear this on its own, you'll probably need to check it vigilantly and reapply often in the center of your lips.

When it comes to flavor and fragrance, this is where it's really going to depend on your sensitivity to both of those things. Kleancolor is known for having a strong chemical scent to their nail polishes, and some can tolerate it while others cannot. This definitely applies to these lipsticks as well. Some of you have told me that you absolutely cannot stand the flavor and scent of these lipsticks, and that actually made me a bit scared to try them! Now that I have used this lipstick several times, I can tell you that it DOES have a strong chemical flavor and fragrance, and to me it both smells and tastes like hairspray mixed with a tiny bit of a fruity note.

I know that a lot of you can't understand the obsession that some of us have with blue lip colors. For me, part of it is a call-back to the 80s when brands like Jordana, L'Oreal, Maybelline, etc. all had blue lipsticks in their core collections. I'm not sure why blue lip colors are now often reserved for limited edition collections when it comes to the drugstore (and even then, the limited edition blue shades always seem to lack pigmentation) since there's still a demand for them. And if you are thinking, "I would just NEVER wear a blue lipstick!" you are not alone. I actually wouldn't wear one by itself either, but that's because I'm a bit older now than when the first wave of blue lipsticks came around, and I also don't have the skintone to pull off deep blues on my lips.

BUT: I want to show you what you can do with a blue lipstick, even if you have no interest in wearing it by itself:

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This is After Hours combined with a standard, medium-toned neutral red creme lipstick. For this look, I used Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Fifth Avenue Red, but any standard neutral red creme will do. I simply applied the red lipstick on top of the blue lipstick, and the end result is a gorgeous plummy-purple.

So my point is, even if you would never fathom wearing a blue lip color on its own, a blue lipstick can jazz up your existing reds and create some beautiful plums and purples.

FINAL VERDICT: If you can't wait for the NYX Macarons to come out and you need a low-budget bold lipstick fix, these might be worth it if you can tolerate the fragrance and flavor. I found the texture of this lipstick to be quite nice, and the pigmenation as well. But it is a high-maintanance lipstick in terms of wear-time. You will need to check it often for fading and reapply frequently throughout the day. Mixing this color with other lip colors is my personal favorite way to wear it, but the choice is yours!

Kleancolor Femme Lipsticks can be purchased via the Kleancolor website and also at 10dollarmall.com. You can also find them at Daiso stores and probably on Amazon as well. Do you own any Kleancolor Femme Lipsticks? I'd love to hear how they're working for you!

The products featured in this post were purchased with personal funds. For more information, click here.
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22 comments

  1. I love the combination of the red & that blue! And I would totally wear navy lipstick :) Thank you for the review!

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  2. I have ALL OF THESE! Some are more pigmented than others, but I love them ALL!

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  3. I have Kleancolors in Sealed Secret (dark purple), Teal Attraction (bright turqouise), and Sky Dive (sky blue). I get them from ShopMissA for $1. There is a definite chemical smell to these, but the colors are beautiful.

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  4. I don't love it on it's own, but I really love what you did by layering with Fifth Avenue Red.

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  5. That plum color is gorgeous! I never would have thought to mix it. Alone it totally has that 80's vibe.

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  6. Great review, G. I admit I would never wear blue lipstick, but I was very curious to see what it looked like on. It actually looks good on you! That's why I love makeup so much, because everybody has their own way of wearing different colors...

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  7. Oh darn. Where is the picture showing what you can do with blue lipstick?

    This week I saw a girl with blue lips on youtube. She had dark hair... it looked OK on her. Me? I'm way lighter... I'll stick to pink red etc. At least I think I will...

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    1. ??? The very last picture in this post shows what I did with the blue lipstick (mixed it with red). Am I misunderstanding your question??

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  8. I saw the pic... very pretty. I'm too fair for dark lips, but I could give it a try!

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  9. The pic was missing, but it's back... looks pretty. Maybe I'll try it.

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  10. that blue is not very flattering but over the red it does make a nice plum

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  11. Such a cool trick with the layering, G! And I actually recently ordered two lots of Kleancolor Femme lipsticks from eBay only a little while ago. :-P The smell is...definitely something to get used to. But getting to play with so many fun colors kind of makes up for it. Ooh! And another lipstick that's really good for layering (like, surprisingly good. I tried this over NYX Dolly Pink lipliner and it looked really quite polished) is The Golden Rule. Anyway, you're never too old for blue lips, G! Have fun with whatever you're wearing as long as you like it! :-)

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  12. I would be one to mix it with my other 'expected' shades of lippies. I just don't know about sporting blue lips, for myself.

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  13. I love After Hours, i wear it all the time with a copper type eye. But I always line n color all of my lips in with a matte blue lip liner by kleancolor also to give the color an opaque look. I also love to use a deep green lip liner and use After Hours over to give a blue green vampy lip, so pretty. Just like some of the Melt Cosmetic lipsticks. I also love Cast of Spell which is a lilac lavender color.

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    1. Ooh! I was wondering about lipliners for these! So Kleancolor makes lipliners too? And you like them? They perform well for you? Just curious because I really want to find a way to even out the color of some of the lipsticks.

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  14. I just picked up two of these from my local BSS! I haven't opened them up just yet because I'm waiting for there to be no snow on the ground. I'm afraid I'll look like I've got hypothermia!

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  15. Wet'n'Wild used to make a navy blue lipstick that I picked up on clearance at Rite Aid a few years back... Maybe I will have to pull that one back out and put it to use!

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  16. This lipstick would be awesome if you filled in your lips with a blue liner first and then applied this on top.

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  17. Very cool. love the idea of mixing it

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  18. I adore mixing lip colors, it makes me feel like I own even more products, when I dont need to spend a cent to do so!!!

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  19. They have lovely colors but I can't stand the smell of these Kleancolor lipsticks. It gets all over your teeth, your tongue, it's hideous!

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  20. I'm really intrigued by the thought of an olive lipstick like you listed... and for $2? I may need one, as impractical as it probably is! What the heck, right? =)

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