Of Toys and Co: Paul & Joe Lipstick CS Part V

From the Paul & Joe 2016 spring collection, I picked up two Lipstick CS: 097 Sun-Kissed and 098 Flower to Flower as they went on sale briefly last summer. The colors look nice from the online photos, but stock photos are always off and blogger photos are rare to come by, so these lippies are often a gamble for me. I'm buying blind after all, having no idea what kind of finish they have even.

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Luckily for me, this is one of the few cases where I'm rewarded for taking risk. These lipsticks are drop-dead gorgeous! The colors are beautiful, and they have a finish that's a big departure from Paul & Joe's Sheer, Natural, or Full Coverage lines--they're soft mattes! May be P&J are taking cues from Lunasol Stain Color Lips, because these lippies aren't just soft mattes, they also have some translucency akin to the LE releases of the Stain Color Lips, only less thick in texture.

The less thick texture doesn't mean they go on any less creamy or wear any less comfortable. They're pigmented as you can see, and they do fade to a nice stain. I'm totally going back for the third color 096 In Bloom, and when I have it I'll do a comparison for these three Paul & Joe's versus Stain Color Lips EX-01, EX-02, and EX-03.

- 097 Sun-Kissed (Soft Matte): beautiful shimmer-free peach-coral. It may appear slightly milky in the swatch but there's no milkiness whatsoever on my lips.