Giorgio Armani Lip Magnet Second Skin Intense Matte Colors

I was extremely lucky enough to receive nine of the brand new Giorgio Armani Lip Magnet Second Skin Intense Matte Colors a couple of weeks ago, and I’ve had the immense pleasure of testing them all ever since and I couldn’t wait to blog about them as they’re pretty darn special. There are an amazing 18 shades in total and each shade retails for £27 on the Giorgio Armani UK website, so there really is a shade for everyone within the collection.

I have become such a massive fan of Giorgio Armani Beauty over the last twelve months, and I’m yet to be disappointed by any of their products so I couldn’t wait to try them as I’d not heard anything about them prior to their launch so I headed over to the Giorgio Armani website to see what they had to say about the formula but they claim that the Lip Magnet formula was inspired by two of Giorgio Armani’s most iconic products; the ultra-thin film of Maestro Fusion Makeup and the colour intensity of their Lip Maestro Velvet Lip Colour.

Giorgio Armani;

An extremely fine texture, unparalleled sensation of weightlessness, intense color concentration, ultra-chic matte finish and flawless, long-lasting wear: LIP MAGNET is all this and more. LIP MAGNET is the first liquid lipcolor to offer unprecedented color concentration in the finest of textures, while perfectly fusing with the lips.

LIP MAGNET delivers incomparable results: intensity of color, extreme finesse and a makeup finish with a matte, second-skin effect. This long-lasting (up to 8 hours) matte lipcolor is never greasy or sticky; it does not migrate or dry your lips. Lips stay hydrated and perfectly defined for hours on end, with a very pleasant bare-lips sensation.

Two major accomplishments:
– After application, color is twice as intense thanks to a “gradual evaporation” phenomenon.
– The finish is four times thinner than a liquid lipcolor (40 to 10 micrometers).

Just like the entirety of the Giorgio Armani makeup range, the Giorgio Armani Lip Magnet Second Skin Intense Matte Colors are exquisitely packaged in clear plastic tubes with the trademark Giorgio Armani ‘red’ lids and silver ‘GA’ logo on the front of the lid.

The tubes are nice and compact so they’d fit into a pocket or small clutch bag very easily, and I really do appreciate the clear tubes as it’s so much easier to be able to see which colour is which from looking at the tubes without having to flip shades over to tell them apart.

Especially when the shades are ‘named’ with numbers like Giorgio Armani tend to do with their lip products. The packaging is just so beautiful, and they’re too beautiful to be stored away in my IKEA Alex drawers with my other makeup so they’re sitting pretty and proud on the top of my dressing table.

Each of the Giorgio Armani Lip Magnet Second Skin Intense Matte Colors have a very unique calligraphic applicator which was created by the Giorgio Armani laboratories exclusively for the Lip Magnets. The applicators are spear shaped with a precise, tapered tip which is covered in a very soft velvety material with the middle of the applicator acting like a reservoir holding a little of extra product so you don’t have to dip the applicator back into the tube to pick up more product.

The applicator looks a little strange compared to the typical liquid lipstick applicator but it is extremely effective at giving a smooth, even and precise applicator and the sharp point allows for extra precision around the lipline and cupid’s bow.

400 – a bold, true neutral red – the type of red everyone needs in their collection.

402 – a flattering blue toned red.

501 – a super bright (bordering on being neon) blue toned pink, which is the longest wearing shade from this selection as it stains the lips and lasts for at least 7/8 hours even with eating and drinking.

502 – a bright barbie pink which is lighter in tone than shade 501.

503 – a tomato orangey red shade.

504 – a very orangey red (slightly more orange than 503).

505 – a warm toned medium pink.

600 – a deep pinky red.

601 – an intense reddy toned plum.

Please can we just take a moment to appreciate how amazingly smooth these swatches are?! It’s completely down to the amazing little applicator as it glides across the lips, and smoothing over any imperfections and lines on the lips for a lovely, smooth finish. I wish more liquid lipsticks had an applicator like this as it’s just so effective, especially when dealing with shades as bold as some of these as you don’t necessarily need to use a lipliner as the applicator offers such a great level of precision.

I feel like one of a very few that don’t actually like matte lip formulas as I find their dryness to be too uncomfortable, but the Giorgio Armani Lip Magnet Second Skin Intense Matte Colors are *the* perfect solution as they offer the longevity and intensity of a matte liquid lipstick but with the comfort of a creamy lipstick; I’ve never used a formula quite like this before, but I absolutely love it.

When first applied to the lips, they feel more like a pigmented gloss which is buildable so you can add further layers to improve the colour intensity should you wish to, or you can opt for a sheerer application. Usually with matte liquid lipsticks, it’s all or nothing so I really like that the Giorgio Armani Lip Magnet Second Skin Intense Matte Colors allow you to build up your colour intensity without becoming patchy or uneven like some liquid lipsticks tend to become when you try to layer them.

I feel that the Giorgio Armani Lip Magnet Second Skin Intense Matte Colors tick all of the boxes – they offer comfort, buildable colour, impressive weartime of a minimum of five hours depending on the shade and easy application.

The shade range is brilliant with a good selection of cool, warm and neutral toned shades and you can even mix shades together should you wish to and I personally like to mix shades 502 and 505 together for the perfect mauvey pink. I did wonder whether the whole ‘Lip Magnet’ term was a little gimmicky, but I think it’s a great name to describe their formula as they don’t bleed nor feather, and they feel weightless on the lips whilst offering a long wearing, matte finish which is pretty much all you could want from a liquid lipstick and more, and I urge you to try them if you’re passing a Giorgio Armani counter as they’re simply amazing….

I’d love to know which of these shades is your favourite?

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