ALL SHADES of Careline Better Than Basic Mattes | Review and Swatch

Yet another Filipino-owned cosmetic brand is featured in this article. Careline has been around for as long as I can remember and, is housed under the umbrella of Ever Bilena Cosmetics that is owned by Dioceldo Sy. EB Cosmetics also includes fragrances of Blackwater, skincare line of EB Naturals, and a sleeker version of EB Advance.

Careline Cosmetics is somehow Ever Bilena’s little daughter and mainly caters to younger consumers who would like to start trying makeup, providing student-friendly prices. Their packaging tends to be more chic and playful, perfectly suited for teenagers and the likes. The cosmetics are said to have light ingredients on them so as not to put pile of chemicals onto young skin.

Read Review of Careline Better Than Basic Melted Metallic Liquid Lipstick

Recently, the brand has taken a big turn rebranding their products and developed new ones. First of which is their Better Than Basic in matte liquid lipstick and matte metallic liquid lipstick. In this blog, I will be sharing you my first impressions and thoughts about their mattes. This post will be a bit different than my other lipstick reviews.

I will be reviewing TWELVE shades so I cannot promise that I will be thorough and very detailed in giving my opinion. Unlike in the other reviews that I only do four or five shades, this will be more on first impressions and tiny tad of wear test. But rest assured that everything you will read is honest and descriptive.

My mother got these from SukiCentral in Shopee for Php179 (U$3.6, A$4.6) each. They are a direct seller and official partner of Ever Bilena, selling their other brands as well.

QUICK FACTS

Packaging: Inside its box is a clear, cylinder acrylic tube with a silver-coated lid/wand handle.

Pricing and Size: Retails each tube for Php179 in 5.5ml, giving you Php32.5 per ml. You can get Careline Better Than Basic for recommended retail price of Php210 at malls. Their Facebook page mentions that price may vary depending on the distributor/seller.

Scent and Texture: The liquid lipsticks have this raw ingredients scent which kind of give you a plastic-like smell. It also has a creamy and opaque consistency for a liquid lipstick.

Ingredients: Better Than Basic lipsticks do not contain any paraben but they are not cruelty-free.

They have curated six nude shades of different undertones and six bold shades for their Better Than Basic Liquid Matte Lipsticks.

These are the claims for Careline Better Than Basic Liquid Matte Lipsticks:

• ultra pigmented
• ultra matte
• creamy and easy application
• comfortable to wear
• long-lasting

 

THE NUDES

Glaze (pale mauvey cool nude), Tutu (deep nude with cool undertone), Brick’d (deep nude with warm undertone), Normcore (neutral to cool nude), Semi Sweet (peachy nude) and Gotta Go (warm nude).

The nudes are the one perfect for those who want to keep it simple and straightforward. These are everyday shade that anybody can wear. Shades are available for both warm and cool undertones.

SEMI SWEET. This colour compliments people with fair skin tone, either warm or cool. I needed at least 5 coats to get the pigment I desire. Even so, it is still patchy and streaky that I can see the dark lining on edge of my lips. It can get very sticky even though it has dried down. There is a big chance that this will go away quicker than you thought.

 

GLAZE. This shade is preferred on those who have a cool undertone. It dries under a full minute with a sticky feeling. It has a decent pigment and spreads evenly on the lips but needs at least two coats for full pigmentation. One thing I noticed with this is it gets stickier as time goes by. Really uncomfortable

 

GOTTA GO. This is probably the most wearable nude for those who have warm undertone like myself. I only needed a single dip to cover both my lips and is never looking patchy. Like the other nudes, this has an uncomfortable sticky feeling when you press your lips together. Still, this is my go-to nude shade for quick errand runs.

 

NORMCORE. It has been said that this is apparently their best seller for the nudes. This compliments both cool and warm and undertones. It has a nice even pigment but you may need two layers to achieve full coverage colour. This dries the quickest and has less sticky feeling to it.

 

BRICK’D. This is perfect for warm undertones that does not want to go full red. It has a beautiful, single swipe full pigment with zero patchiness. On the other hand, the sticky feeling does not go away. Still, this lip colour has held longer than any other nude shade.

 

TUTU. This is better worn by cool toned but can be worn but almost everybody. It has a lightweight feeling to it but still sticky like the rest of the nudes. I only needed a single coat to achieve a full coverage pigment and no patchiness whatsoever. Unlike Brick’d, it is transferrable and can flake instead of fade.

 

 

THE BOLDS

Upper Hand (burgundy red wine), In Bloom (true red with warm undertone), Wall Flower (grey with cool undertone), Pop (neutral pink magenta), Dark Matter (deep dark eggplant) and Craving (classic brown).

I admire Careline for releasing bold colours, not just the usual reds and pinks. This is ideal for teens who want to try something new and drift away from the mainstream colour for one bit. The shades really do compliment every skin tone and undertones!

UPPER HAND. Even with its dark shade, this colour can still be a bit patchy and needs at least three layers to show the proper pigment. Also, I noticed that it settled slower than the rest of the bolds. Like the nudes, it has that unnerving sticky feeling

 

WALL FLOWER. It has a very nice pigment but I felt that I needed two coats at least to achieve a full solid pigment. It still has that sticky feeling during and after it dries. Just be careful when eating because this one fades so quick.

 

 

DARK MATTER. With its dark shade, this baby here still needs a bit more coating to achieve a good pigmentation. Unlike the others, this does not have that annoying sticky feeling. Also, this has a good staying factor all throughout the day for around eight hours.

 

CRAVING. Rarely that I find a brown shade that I actually like. It has a pretty good pigment that can be tiny bit patchy but dries nicely without that sticky feeling. This is perfect if you want to create that 90s grunge look.

 

POP. This is a playful pink that will make everyone in the room stare at your beautiful pout. This shade has by far the best formulation from the twelve shades. It settles quickly, pigmented, full coverage single swipe, and most importantly, it is not sticky.

 

IN BLOOM. This true red is perfect for neutral to warm undertones. It has a nice pigment payoff in just one coat. It dries beautifully as well but can be a teenie tiny bit sticky in the middle of the day. It has a strong staying power so there is very little to zero touch ups

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THE BEST… The best part of this product is their availability and affordable price point. Anybody can easily get one for him/herself without putting a hole in your pocket. I never put makeup when I was a teenager (no powder nor lip even lip balm/gloss) but if they had Better Than Basic before, I would totally consider doing makeup at an earlier age (I started when I was 20).

There are plenty of shades to choose from. There are a couple of nudes and bolds that are perfect for any occasion or event you will be at. It has a fairly good pliability and applies really easily with their classic liquid lipstick doe foot.

THE WORST… They stay for a decent amount of time at average of six hours but just a reminder: this does not stay the whole day. You have to be extra conscious when eating as these lipsticks are not bulletproof per se.

If you have pretty dry lips, this might not be for you. Better Than Basic can actually suck the moisture out of your lips. On the other hand, you can lessen that by moisturising your lips beforehand. For its price, you really have to work in the product and not the other way around.

SO… This brand is perfect for students and other people who loves to experiment with makeup looks without investing too much. However, if you are a serious makeup lover and makeup artist who really invests on makeup, it is not a harm passing on this one.

I see myself using Better Than Basic only when I run quick errands or a quick trip in the supermarket. Apparently, I do not 100% trust its resilience all throughout. So if I am just out for a couple of hours, this is my go-to liquid lipstick range for that matter.

I just hope that they made all the shade consistent with Pop’s formulation. From all of these, let us check which of their claims actually happened:

• ultra pigmented – JUST A COUPLE OF THE SHADES
• ultra matte – VERY MATTE… BUT ALSO TOO DRYING
• creamy and easy application – CAN ATTEST TO THIS
• comfortable to wear – BARELY
• long-lasting – AVERAGE OF SIX HOURS

SHOULD YOU BOTHER? If I have a younger sister who would like to try makeup for the first time, I would definitely buy this for her. I know that she will totally love the range of lip colours can experiment on number of looks with these. But as (drugstore) makeup collector myself, I would rather chip in a bit more cash and get a better matte liquid lipstick. Considering its price, I am not mad with the fact that in does not really stick with all of its claim. I think this product is brilliant and if I am seven years younger, I would definitely give this a try.

 

Be bold,

B♥

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