The Hunt For The Perfect Lipstick -- Playboy Beauty Products

I reviewed a Playboy Beauty lipstick I'd gotten as a freebie from Beauty.com way back when I started this hunt. It was their "Calendar Girl" line, and frankly, it sucked. Worst lipstick I'd ever tried.

But, when Beauty.com offered another "Buy x Playboy Beauty items, get y gift item", I decided it was worth trying another product to see if I'd written the line off too soon. Boy, had I ever. Their Red Carpet Lipsticks and Hef's Favorite Lip Glosses are truly the stuff of legends. I'm saying here and now that Hef's Favorite Lip Gloss in Centerfold Red is the best lip gloss I've ever used, bar none. As for the lipsticks, they've got potential.

Here's a write-up on five of them...



Candidate Lip Gloss #1: Playboy Beauty Hef's Favorite Lip Gloss (Centerfold Red)

Purchased: http://www.beauty.com/

Cost: $16.00

Candidate Lip Gloss #2: Playboy Beauty Mood Gloss (In The Mood)

Purchased: http://www.beauty.com/

Cost: $16.00

Candidate Lipstick #1: Playboy Beauty Red Carpet Lipstick (Charade)

Purchased: http://www.beauty.com/

Cost: $14.00

Candidate Lipstick #2: Playboy Beauty Red Carpet Lipstick (Couture)

Purchased: http://www.beauty.com/

Cost: $14.00

Candidate Lipstick #3: Playboy Beauty Red Carpet Lipstick (Paparazzi)

Purchased: http://www.beauty.com/

Cost: $14.00

Brand Info: Playboy Beauty Cosmetics by Playboy, Inc.
You don't have to use your imagination here; yes, this is lipstick designed by Playboy to "convey the sex kitten status of the Playboy Bunny".

The Tube: All Playboy Beauty lip products are hot pink (lipstick) or clear plastic (lip gloss) cases with silver Bunny silhouettes down one side. The lipsticks are silver tubes inside the plastic case with a Bunny on the adjustment knob. The lip glosses have silver tops with the Bunny on the top. All products have a black label on the base with the Bunny prominent and the color name in tiny print.

The Product: Gloss #1 is red, red, red. Gloss #2 is translucent pearlized pink. "Charade" is a dark red; "Couture" is a mauve; "Paparazzi" is brick red.

The Application: The three lipsticks are matte finish. Their shapes are traditional bullet with concave teardrop delivery point. (See previous rants about concave delivery points.) They go on heavy with great coverage. Each stays true to tube color on the lips, a nice change of pace from my previous experience with this brand.

Hef's Favorite Gloss has the traditional sponge tipped wand and goes on very smoothly. It's shiny, shiny red and goes with pretty much any reddish lipstick you put it over.

Mood Gloss also has a sponge wand and goes on slightly sticky. It starts out pale pink and darkens slightly (the "mood" part of the mood gloss, like "mood lipstick"). It's much more of a highlighting lip gloss, better on bare lips than over a lipstick.

The Taste: Except for the Mood Gloss, they all have that 60's cosmetic drawer overly-fragranced taste. (That's the only thing I dislike about HFG, for what it's worth.) The Mood Gloss is very citrus-tasting, like a grapefruit/lemon mix. Grapefruit has a tendency to turn foul-smelling and tasting on me, so that's a bad development.

The Blot: All the lipsticks blot the same way--heavy first blot, light second blot. The two lip glosses blot very heavy with the first blot, which takes away most of the product, so you should really let them both sit a moment and "set up" before blotting to avoid removing too much.

The Wear: Lipsticks are typical edge-of-the-cup, water bottle, etc. stainers, but they do stay on pretty well (I got about 2 hrs. wear before needing to touch up most of the time). Hef's Favorite Gloss needs time to set up before you do anything to it, but it has the same wear issues as the lipsticks. That said, it's really one of the most intensely red lip glosses I've ever seen; it's almost opaque enough to go as a solo lip covering. As for the Mood Gloss, it's cute, and wears decently enough for a lip gloss.

The Verdict: Hef's Favorite Gloss is spectacular, and I now stick it in my pocket pretty much every day. As for the lipsticks, I've actually had co-workers say "wow" when I wear them, so that's a good thing. Still don't like concave lip delivery points, though.