Lovely Lip Review: Ellis Faas Creamy Lips L102

The other day, I introduced you to my first Ellis Faas purchase...Creamy Lips L101. I fell in love with the lipstick  at once. Luckily for me, when I purchased L101 I also purchased a Fall kit that contained L102, along with an eye shadow and a mascara. Now, I've got two great Ellis lip products to play with!

For those of you who are not familiar with the Ellis Faas, it's a very interesting concept. The motto behind the line is "Make up not war," an idea I can get totally on board with! In line with that message, Ellis Faas developed a special pen dispenser that is reminiscent of a bullet: 

The concept continues with a couple of main points: first, all of the colors in the line are inspired by those colors found naturally in the human body. As a matter of fact, Ellis Faas calls the line the "Human Colours Collection." Inspiration comes from things such as the peachy tone of a freckle or the vivid red of blood. The reasoning for this is that human-inspired colors are universally flattering and can be used to create a variety of looks, from the most subdued to highly theatrical depending on the method of application. The second major facet of the Ellis Faas concept is that all products are fluid, not only so they can fit into the bullets, but also because the human body is largely made of water. Therefore, according to the people at Ellis Faas, fluid makeup blends with the skin better than powders. Interestingly, the website currently states that they will soon be adding holographic, metallic and other powdered products, so I'm not certain how all that will fit in with the overall brand concept. However, I'm personally a fan of powders, so I can overlook this little discrepancy. 

Okay, now that you know all about the brand, let's talk lips. Ellis Lips come in three textures...Creamy (opaque and moisturizing), Milky (glossier and more translucent) and Glazed (ultra wet and translucent). I personally favor the opaque Creamy Lips, although I do plan to head on over to the Milky side soon. However, with reds you need to be careful about shine, as shine+red can leave you looking like a hooker if you aren't careful. 

Creamy Lips 102 has been described as a deep cherry. I agree with this description, but my initial issue with it is that cherries, last time I checked, don't grow on the human body. So when I first opened it and took a look at the color, I really had to mull over the possibilities for a while before I finally decided what L102 resembles. In my opinion, it's the exact color of a deep portwine birthmark. It has a great depth of color with a definite strong blue undertone...it's almost into the purple family. On my fair skin, it just barely escapes being goth, saved only by the fact that Ellis Faas is obviously telling the truth when she claims that she takes great pains to make sure each shade is universal and of the human body. I've tried other similar shades in the past and had much less fortunate results. 

Here's a swatch on my arm: 

And on my lips:

As deep as L102 is, it still manages to look "right" with my pale complexion. Ordinarily, this color would be scary dark for me, but with L102 the undertones work with my skin tone and allow it to be totally wearable. Now, don't get me wrong, it's dramatic...but it's wearable. 

As for the particulars of the formula: As with L101, the texture is creamy and moisturizing, but not glossy. The finish is satiny. Wear time on me is an average of 4-6 hours, with a very even fade-down that means I don't have to rush to the mirror to reapply on the fly. There is some feathering, so you will probably want to use a liner with this one, or at least a good lip base. 

Bottom Line: Once again, I'm impressed with the Creamy Lips formula. I also greatly appreciate the obvious thought and painstaking care taken with these shades to make certain that they are truly universal. Now that I have two of these babies under my belt, I'm heading back for more. One caveat that deserves mentioning is that these pens take FOREVER to load for the first time. Just be prepared to click and click and click until you are absolutely, positively certain the color will never appear and that you have a defective pen...then keep on clicking. It will come, and it's worth the wait.