Last winter, Face Stockholm celebrated their 35 years anniversary with a No. 35 Lipstick Collection. While at it, they also held a 35% off site-wide promotion, which I made good use of and picked up five colors from this collection to try: Atra, Glod, Lattsam, Om, and Velvet. I also got
one more Lipstick Veil and another Lip Care Treatment. Will get to these later.
Initially, I wanted to hoard more of their fabulous Creme Blush. However, in the past few years they'd updated the formula--and changed all the blush names along with it. There used to be a list of old versus new blush names on their website but it's since been taken off. So I went for the lipsticks instead as I didn't want to order blush duplicates and deal with the hassle of returning stuff...
...And then I ended up returning all five of the lipsticks anyway. Yes, all five. But there's a good story to go with it so I decided to write this post and at least show you the swatches.
All pictures taken in natural light without flash.
I like Face Stockholm. I think it's a great brand that makes great products with efficient but sleek packaging. I also think their website sucks. It's just so broken. Whatever that's not broken lacks sufficient item descriptions and the provided color swatches are just way off.
For example, this is the descriptions of the No. 35 Lipstick Collection: "Classic, cream lipstick available in a perfect palette of lip-loving sheer, shimmer and flat-finish shades. With enough color options to cure every craving, you could change your shade morning, noon and night."
Sounds great, only they note just three matte shades (Cocoa, Dawn, and Pecan) and nothing else. There's no other indications of the sheer or shimmer shades and I was left to blind-guess base on what the website gave me (or not). I searched high and low online but couldn't find swatches or reviews of the colors I'm curious about either.
And what do you know, when the order arrived, only two colors Atra and Glod turned out as expected. Even then, they both were opaque creams which was not at all the finish I was hoping to get. The other colors were just so...wrong. To add to the injuries, they messed up the Lipstick Veil and forgot to include the Lip Care Treatment. That order was a total mess T.T
So I contacted Face Stockholm to air my grievances. What I didn't expect was for them to go way out of their way to make things right with me. By the end of the whole thing, I was so impressed with their customer service I completely forgot how badly they messed up my order and how much I hate their website. In fact, I would even say they'd cemented my loyalty to the brand.
First, they were really apologetic and were super nice about amending all the mistakes. They sent me the correct Lipstick Veil and the Lip Care Treatment. They told me that instead of just sending all five of the lippies from the No. 35 Collection back, I should just sample them anyway and see if I like anything. They even went the extra mile and offered to send me swatches of all the lipsticks in the collection so that I don't ever have to guess again. Wow.
I declined swatches of all the lipsticks in the collection. I figured they'd be on tissue paper or something and it won't help me in terms of finishes. However, I did sample the five lippies I ordered. I didn't like any of them, but at the very least I have some swatches to show you. Afterwards, I sent these five back and exchanged them for five other Lipstick Veils, so I'll have even more to show you later ^.^ That's what I call a win-win!
- Atra: opaque yellow-based red with cream finish. Shows lots of coral on the back of my hand.
Initially, I wanted to hoard more of their fabulous Creme Blush. However, in the past few years they'd updated the formula--and changed all the blush names along with it. There used to be a list of old versus new blush names on their website but it's since been taken off. So I went for the lipsticks instead as I didn't want to order blush duplicates and deal with the hassle of returning stuff...
...And then I ended up returning all five of the lipsticks anyway. Yes, all five. But there's a good story to go with it so I decided to write this post and at least show you the swatches.
All pictures taken in natural light without flash.
I like Face Stockholm. I think it's a great brand that makes great products with efficient but sleek packaging. I also think their website sucks. It's just so broken. Whatever that's not broken lacks sufficient item descriptions and the provided color swatches are just way off.
For example, this is the descriptions of the No. 35 Lipstick Collection: "Classic, cream lipstick available in a perfect palette of lip-loving sheer, shimmer and flat-finish shades. With enough color options to cure every craving, you could change your shade morning, noon and night."
Sounds great, only they note just three matte shades (Cocoa, Dawn, and Pecan) and nothing else. There's no other indications of the sheer or shimmer shades and I was left to blind-guess base on what the website gave me (or not). I searched high and low online but couldn't find swatches or reviews of the colors I'm curious about either.
And what do you know, when the order arrived, only two colors Atra and Glod turned out as expected. Even then, they both were opaque creams which was not at all the finish I was hoping to get. The other colors were just so...wrong. To add to the injuries, they messed up the Lipstick Veil and forgot to include the Lip Care Treatment. That order was a total mess T.T
So I contacted Face Stockholm to air my grievances. What I didn't expect was for them to go way out of their way to make things right with me. By the end of the whole thing, I was so impressed with their customer service I completely forgot how badly they messed up my order and how much I hate their website. In fact, I would even say they'd cemented my loyalty to the brand.
First, they were really apologetic and were super nice about amending all the mistakes. They sent me the correct Lipstick Veil and the Lip Care Treatment. They told me that instead of just sending all five of the lippies from the No. 35 Collection back, I should just sample them anyway and see if I like anything. They even went the extra mile and offered to send me swatches of all the lipsticks in the collection so that I don't ever have to guess again. Wow.
I declined swatches of all the lipsticks in the collection. I figured they'd be on tissue paper or something and it won't help me in terms of finishes. However, I did sample the five lippies I ordered. I didn't like any of them, but at the very least I have some swatches to show you. Afterwards, I sent these five back and exchanged them for five other Lipstick Veils, so I'll have even more to show you later ^.^ That's what I call a win-win!
- Atra: opaque yellow-based red with cream finish. Shows lots of coral on the back of my hand.
- Glod: bright opaque naval orange with cream finish.
- Lattsam: opaque barbie pink with fine white shimmers with a cream but frosty finish. The online picture for this color shows zero indication of any shimmer at all. Urgh.
- Om: translucent lotus pink with lilac undertone and fine silver shimmers. This color is both sheer and shimmery, and the online photo reflects neither. In fact, in real life it was nothing remotely close to the photo online :(
- Velvet: semi-opaque mauve pink with cream finish. Had this color been sheer, I'd totally keep it. It's a pretty color!
From left to right: Atra, Glod, Lattsam, Om, and Velvet.
See my previous posts:
- Face Stockholm Lipstick
- Face Stockholm Lipstick Part II
- Face Stockholm Lipstick Part III
2 comments:
I need to be on the look out for their codes since their phydical store/closet in ny closed sometime last year...now I want the cheek tint badly (after I couldnt have it) ha. Their lipsticks are good but I rarely reach for stuff that's this pigmented.
Hey Mina,
Me too, which was why I returned them all in exchange for the Lipstick Veils, which have sheer finish (though still decently pigmented like Lipstick Queen Saints).
I definitely love their Creme Blushes. In fact, I just wrote them an email asking whether the four shades I own are current or have been renamed, so I won't accidentally buy duplicates ^.^
Cheers,
D.
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