Around Christmas last year, I took advantage of the sales going on everywhere. I got my hands on the Foxy mini Ultra Matte lippie set, (and scored two free full-sized metallic lippies as well in a special!). I had heard a lot of things about this formula, mostly bad things. A lot of YouTube gurus said that this particular product is very drying; some said it's the most drying formula they have ever tried. That's kind of why I hadn't tried it myself for so long; so much bad reviews. But ultimately, makeup is very personal, and what doesn't work for some people might work for me, so I decided to give it a fair shot.

The set costs $18.00 online, but I think I might have gotten it for $13.00 with a $5.00 off coupon. At full price, you end up paying just under $4.00 for each lippie, which contains .02 oz of product. That makes the lippie seem alarmingly empty, doesn't it? For comparison, a full-sized lippie costs $6.00 and contains .11 oz of product. Take that as you will. It took about three days to ship from the day I purchased it, and another five days to get to me in Hawaii.

Here is the official product shot from the website: 

And here are mine:

These are the colors (from top to bottom), as described from the website:

Tulle: Ultra Matte Lip; dusty burgundy

Clueless: Ultra Matte Lip; dusty mauve

Beeper: Ultra Matte Lip; greige rose

More Better: Ultra Matte Lip; deep wine

Creeper: Ultra Matte Lip; classic blue-red

Now, I had a hard time getting the white balance accurate to the actual colors of the product, so I apologize in advance. But I kept everything in the same order as the photo above for as accurate a comparison as I could manage. There are three nudey colors, one deep magenta, and one bright red. 

It surprised me how dark all the colors were. I expected the nude ones to be a bit lighter in color. It's not a bad thing, since I like bold, but it was just unexpected. The pigment is really rich, and it tried pretty nicely. Getting it off my of my arm with a makeup wipe showed that it does stain a little, especially the darker colors like More Better, Creeper and Tulle. 

Here are some lip swatches:

So first and foremost, these look great on. They are nicely pigment, there's no streaking, goes on easily, and is buildable. But, remember how everyone and their mother was saying how drying the formula was? Well they were not joking. Holy crap, you guys. These suck the life right out of your lips almost immediately after it dries. If you don't put down a balm or an oil first, and if you don't exfoliate before that, you're going to have a bad time. If you put down some sort of moisturizer, you'll be fine for the most part, But you shouldn't have to do that, you know? I know you know. 

As you can see in the last picture, and in the swatches, some of the colors stain. More Better definitely stains a bit. It reminds me of Jeffree Star Cosmetics Masochist, which is a similar color, and also stains. Might just be that kind of pigment. Be sure to use a good makeup remover! 

Let's break it down: 

Pros:

• Super affordable ($6.00 for full size)
• Many colors
• Very pigmented
• Not streaky
• Applies well
• Buildable 

Cons:

• Extremely drying
• Must apply moisturizer before applying product (inconvenient) 

I know my con list is much shorter than my pro list, but that one con is enough to make me not want to buy it again. My bff said the satin formula is really nice, and almost looks matte, and is not drying. I might give that a try because I do like the colors and pigment a lot. I just can't stand how drying the formula is. It's so uncomfortable! If you think this might work for you, by all means, give it a try. It's not going to break the bank, that's for sure. Couldn't hurt! And I sure hope it works for you. But as for me, I won't be purchasing again.