Australis Luxe Lips and Velourlips Review

Australis Cosmetics recently launched a range of 6 new pigmented lip glosses called Luxe Lips. I went and bought a couple to review for you today and I also swatched all the colours so that you can see what they have on offer. I figure it is also a good time to review the Australis Velourlips Matte Lip Creams and the new About That Base Lip Primer. Australis are an Australian brand who are accredited by Choose Cruelty Free, so they definitely don’t test on animals. They have quite a few vegan friendly products and label them all on the website so that they are easy to find – The Luxe Lips, Velourlips and Lip Primer are all vegan.

The Australis Cosmetics Luxe Lips lipglosses are advertised as long lasting pigmented lip glosses that you can pair with Velourlips or wear alone. This is a lipgloss product that is designed to have lip care benefits too as it contains Vitamin E, Rosehip and Apple Seed Oils to help moisturise your lips. There are currently 6 shades in the range which are nth shore, eye-full-tower, sth-beach, big-ben-efits, good-times-square and at-lantis. I swatched all 6 in store and then chose to buy eye-full-tower and big-ben-efits. My arm swatches show how pigmented the glosses are and they look very similar to that on the lips. At-lantis applied patchy to my arm so I don’t know how well that would apply to the lips. The lipglosses are very pigmented and can easily be worn by themselves because of the colour pay off. The texture is quite thick and sticky so it can be hard to apply them along the lip line, but being lipgloss, they aren’t hard to clean up. The applicator looks like a flat paddle brush which picks up enough gloss for one application. There is quite a strong sweet smell but it doesn’t put me off, however it may affect those sensitive to strong scents. The thick, sticky texture seems to be the reason why the gloss stays on the lip for 3 hours. Many of my other lipglosses have disappeared well before then. They do disappear when eating and drinking but they don’t end up all over my face by the end of it. I really like the colour of eye-full-tower and I can see myself wearing it again, big-ben-efits however is too much of a barbie pink for my liking. I don’t mind sticky lip glosses if they work well but the stickiness will put certain people off the Luxe Lips range. My lips don’t feel dry or flaky once the gloss has worn off, which I really like. I hope they bring out more wearable shades, like a much more muted version of big-ben-efits. They are on the Australis website and in stores now, selling for $12.95 each.

Australis have had the Velourlips Matte Lip Creams in their range for a while now, and they frequently add new colours to the line up. I own ro-ma, bar-tha-lona and shang-hi! but I went in store to swatch the whole range so that you can see all the colours they sell. The Velourlips are advertised as a highly pigmented, long wearing lip cream (with doe foot applicator) that gives a full coverage velvety matte finish. When I first bought my Velourlips, they were the first liquid to matte lip product I had tried. At the time I thought that my lips must just be too dry to wear matte lips products, but I have since tried many other brands including Jeffree Star, Dose Of Colors, theBalm, Colourpop and Anastasia Beverly Hills, so I can now compare how different formulas perform. With all liquid to matte lip products, you want to start with freshly exfoliated lips and it is best to work as quickly as possible when applying them as they can dry really fast, but you also want to ensure that you only apply one thin layer for the best results. I do this with my Velourlips, but I find that when they dry down, my lips end up feeling like a desert. Liquid matte lipstick formulas all tend to be drying but the Australis (along with Colourpop) are the worst for my lips. After a little while, I have found that the Velourlips can start flaking off my lips, so the formula just doesn’t work well for me. The release of the new Australis lip primer has given me a chance to give them a second go. I can now wear Velourlips out of the house, as long as I have put the About That Base lip primer on first. Some of the colours can stain (shang-hi leaves a slight stain for me) but the majority of the colour will come off with an oil based cleanser or makeup remover.

There are a lot of people who do like this product and don’t mind the drying feel but there are also many who are like me and don’t enjoy the formula. If you don’t mind the dry feeling then these products are great as the shade range is huge, they are one of the easiest matte lip creams to get a hold of in Australia and the price point ($10.49) is a lot lower than some of the other brands making liquid to matte lip products. Not included in my swatch picture are the 4 limited edition AC Gems Colours (moon-stone, quarts and all, to paz or not to paz and em-ruled city). In the picture below I have swatched (left to right) mel-burn, mum-bai, san-fran-disco, bae-jing, los-angel-es, doo-bai, buda-pash, bar-tha-lona, shang-hi!, ro-ma, ny-cee, rio-d, mi-a-mee, mal-i-boo, ho-chee-min, tok-i-o, lun-dun, par-ee, hon-o-loo-loo and mil-a-no.

There are 4 new shades being added to the collection rad-elaide (greige), phenom- penh (purple based nude), oh-saka! (dusty rose) and mo-zam-chic (classic brown). They have already launched in stores but most have sold out of them. Australis expect to have the 4 new shades restocked in stores in 2-3 weeks and they cost $13.95 each. I loved the colour of oh-saka! so much that I bought it.

Alongside the Luxe Lips, Australis have just launched a new lip primer called About That Base. About That Base is advertised as being a smooth, transparent base that can be used under any lipstick or lip cream to help the colour last. It can also be used by itself as a conditioning lip treatment as it contains Vitamin E, Jojoba and Shea Butter. It comes in the same packaging as the Velourlips, with the same doe foot applicator, but it is in a white tube, not a coloured one. It is easy to apply and has a nice light formula that dries down to satin texture. It’s not moisturising enough for me to use it as a lip treatment alone (I have so many lip balms for that purpose) but I really like it as a lip primer. I have been looking for a cruelty free lip primer for a long time now. The ones I have tried previously have either been really drying, chalky or chunky, the Australis one isn’t like that at all. It does make application of lip products easier and helps to smooth lip lines slightly. As I said above, I can’t wear Velourlips by themselves, but I can wear them with this primer. It makes a barrier between the drying lipstick and my lips so that they don’t immediately feel like they are as dry as a desert. I can’t wear them for many hours but I can now use them for short trips out of the house. The price point of the lip primer is slightly more expensive than the other two products I mentioned at $16.95, but it is well worth it.

Australis have just installed new product stands/displays in stores to accommodate the new products they are releasing. They have new colours in their contour kit range, new cream blushes called “cheeky tiny”, eyeliners, brow products and a range of makeup brushes. I swatched the 4 cheeky tint blush colours and the new ac on tour cream contouring and highlighting palette in cool and the ac on tour powder contouring and highlighting palette in lighter than light on snapchat but I can do a blog post on them if anyone is interested. The Australis Cosmetics Luxe Lips range, being a sticky gloss, may not be a favourite for some people but it has a good amount of pigment for an affordable gloss. The Velourlips line has a colour to suit everyone, but loving this product will depend on how well you deal with the feeling of dry lips. About That Base is a good lip primer that should suit everyone. I have previously blogged about one of my favourite Australis products, the Fresh and Flawless Pressed Powder, but I also want to do a blog post where I list my favourite and least favourite products from the brand. If that would interest you, let me know. Don’t forget to sign up to email updates to be notified when my next blog post is up. Will you be getting any of the new Australis products?

P.S. You can see links to other beauty bloggers recent posts at Fabulous and Flawless.