I Tried The Best Drugstore Liquid Lipsticks So You Don't Have To

Maybelline New York's first liquid matte offerings were nice, but they were not the true liquid matte. They were a soft, pillowy liquid with a satin finish, pretty comfortable, best worn with a liner. Fine, easy to wear, nothing groundbreaking, no real staying power.

The Super Stay Matte Ink is a completely different story. It's like Maybelline New York studied all of the shortcomings of its first liquid, and then used them to create this, which is like a liquid lipstick on steroids. The formula itself is kooky, very concentrated to the point that if a drop falls from the wand onto your sink, it will shrink back in on itself and create a perfect little liquid sphere, instead of making a splat like most other, thinner formulas. I'm not sure this makes any sense, but I'm just trying to spell it out for you.

Because of the thick texture, I had to spend a little more time on application, making sure to get an even line when tracing my lips in color. It's worth taking the extra 20 seconds to get it looking perfect because when it's on, it's not going anywhere. And I mean really not going anywhere. Out of all the formulas I've tried, drugstore or otherwise, this has everyone else's stay power beat without any question. I expect good lipsticks to stay through everything short of a meal, because, realistically, food contains oil and oil is the enemy of makeup. But this? This stayed, so much so that it almost freaked me out. It was awesome.

It's comfy, too! It's not drying, it remains flexible on the lips, and feels great until you take it off. The darkest shades are best worn with a liner to avoid patchiness, but unlined, they all look killer and wear beautifully. I think our longest-staying liquid lipstick option was just given to us by a drugstore brand, and I'm totally Mr. Krabs-ing about it.

$10 (Shop Now)