ULTA Beauty Collection Weightless Water Lip Stain

Most Helpful Positive Review

This is a TRUE lip stain!

When lip stains first came out in the late 90s/early 2000s, this is what they were about. They were either a water or gel consistency, and they provided a dry, long-lasting wash of color to the lips that lasted all day. (Ulta actually used to carry a very good gel stain in a little clear tube that h...ad a great doe-foot applicator and I would love for that to come back, but I digress.) However, things evolve and these traditional lip stains were ultimately replaced by other products calling themselves stains when in reality they were heavier matte lipsticks. They lasted all day like the stains did, but the gel or water lip stains offering the simple wash of color were pretty much gone. Other than Benefit's Benetint, there was nothing like the OG lip stains on the market for about 10 years, when the K-Beauty companies (bless them!) finally resurrected the concept. Now that the OG lip stains are back, it looks like the water type is our only choice because the gels are nowhere to be found. No worries though; this stuff is great! Anyone who says it is dry (or dries out their lips) doesn't understand what this is, or has an expectation that it will be similar to "lip stains" that were actually matte lipstick or balm-based. This formula is not intended to be moisturizing! It goes on very wet so that you can get the coverage of color you need; one coat for a sheer wash of color, more coats for more vibrant color. Once the product is totally dry, you can layer it with something as simple as lip balm and BOOM! -you've got color all day. Or, you can layer it with lip oil or lip gloss, or you can even layer it with lipstick, because the lip stain will still be there when your lipstick eventually wears off so you never have to walk around with naked lips. My point is that I don't understand any negative reviews for this product, because this stuff works exactly how the OG lip stains worked and that was something I was really missing in my life. It is fantastic, and it should be available in WAY more colors...a dark brick red would be outstanding. ;)