Face Stockholm Lipstick Part III

I've been eyeing these Face Stockholm Lipsticks in the Veil finish for a very long time, since trying their collaboration with J.Crew in the color French Martini back in 2014 in fact. I didn't indulge until now that my routine has whittled down to a mere dusting of sunscreen powder and a quick swipe of lipstick, if even that. Blushes are rare treats.

This past Independence Day, there was a promotion for 25% off, so I jumped on it and picked up Veil Cranberry, Veil Friendship, Veil Raspberry, and Veil Rod.

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

So, so glad to have a few more of these awesome lipsticks--save for Veil Friendship (more on that below), the rest has a formula that's identical to that of Addiction Lipstick Sheer. I applied both side by side, FS on one side of my mouth (top and bottom lips) and Addiction on the other, so I could press my lips together and see if there's any difference on either side. There was no difference, not that I could tell anyway. Both are lovely smooth, balmy, and so moisturizing with a nice sheen. So unless there's a color you must have, I'd say skip Addiction altogether and just go for FS ^.^ Sure, these FS lippies contain only 3.4g versus Addiction's 3.8g, but they're better packaged, small, simple, and elegant metal tubes versus the plastic abomination that houses the Addiction lipsticks, better priced, $22 versus 3,000yen, and readily available, their online store ships internationally, why bother with Addition at all?

But FS is not perfect. Nothing is. I've found their pigmentation level inconsistent. Of the four colors I have, Veil Friendship is the most pigmented, then Veil Rod, Veil Raspberry, and finally the least pigmented is Veil Cranberry. Their translucency varies also, with Veil Friendship semi-translucent, Veil Raspberry and Veil Rod are translucent, and Veil Cranberry is transparent. Save for Veil Friendship, the other three are shimmer-free.

- Veil Cranberry: swatched more brownish red on the back of my hand but applies true to how it looks in the tube, a cranberry red. That said, the translucency allows my natural lip color to come through and pulls more neutral red. It's really an excellent everyday red, which explains why it's one of the best-selling shade on FS's online shop. And yes, it's my favorite color out of the four.

- Veil Friendship: this is the odd duck, significantly drier and waxier, with a balmy finish and a slight sheen. A vivid, fiery coral with scattered white shimmers and hot pink fine micro-shimmers that pull the whole thing pink on my lips but otherwise don't show. Urgh. What's with all these shimmers that don't show?! Despite the swatch, the color loses some translucency on my lips and gives me full coverage with just two layers, making it the most pigmented color. I'm still on the fence with this color as it's just too punchy for my taste. The upside is that it makes my teeth looks nice and white.

- Veil Raspberry: how on earth they came up with "raspberry" is beyond me. This is a very warm orange-coral, more orange on the back of my hand and more coral on my lips. Could it be because I'm so yellow-toned? Either way I love it.

- Veil Rod: warm red and even more love, even if it's on the pigmented side.

From left to right: Veil Cranberry, Veil Friendship, Veil Raspberry, and Veil Rod. See how Veil Cranberry is transparent?

See my previous posts:

- Face Stockholm x JCrew Lipstick

- Face Stockholm x JCrew Lipstick Part II