Celebrity makeup artist and founder of Makeup by Mario, Mario Dedivanovic, doesn’t like liquid lipsticks. “They’re drying and uncomfortable,” he shares on a Zoom event for the launch of his latest product, which presents as a bit of brain teaser before he explains himself.
Launching today, the Ultra Suede Cozy Lip Creme ($24) is nothing other than Dedivanovic’s own rendition of a liquid lipstick. And while the concepts are similar, the formula, payoff and science within the sleek black tube sets it apart from the pack.
Unlike the formulas Dedivanovic (and many of his clients) dislikes, his Lip Cremes are soft, smooth, comfortable and feel and perform more like a skin-care product than a color cosmetic. The velvet-meets-mousse formula includes passionfruit seed oil to nourish lips and a high dose of silicon elastomer to blur lip lines and help it appear smoother. Another differentiation: You won’t find every shade in the rainbow in the lineup. Instead, the curated collection was expertly edited to only include shades that closely match natural lip colors form real people.
“I wanted to mimic natural lip colors from humans around the world,” says the artist, known for creating gorgeous nude-lip looks on his celebrity clients, like Kim Kardashian. “I had my assistant pull me photos of women all around the world with no makeup on so we could see all different colors of natural lips.” After studying photos of real lips from every corner of the globe, Dedivanovic landed on his final 12 shades ranging from a light mauve to a deep red-toned brown. (Shades include Nude Suede, Muted Mauve, Naked Spice, Almost Bare, Pinky Brown, Miss Mauve, Rich Rose, Toasty, Mocha Latte, Brownish Pink, Chocolate Dreams and Vampish.)
Many liquid lipsticks are ultra-drying to the lips, making them an immediate no from those with more mature lips or lip lines they’d like to camouflage rather than accentuate. Dedivanovic assures us that the product won’t accentuate lines, and that this very issue was one he set out to solve with the launch. “That was my number one concern with this formula. It can’t enhance lip lines. It’s going to lessen the appearance of lip lines. It’s very moisturizing and nourishing. It gives you the look a liquid lip product but will feel more like a skin-care product.” Whether we’re dodging lip wrinkles or after a my-lips-but-better shade, what more could we ask for in a lip product?
