Jeffree Star just released his massive Summer Chrome Collection, including a whopping FIVE Lip Ammunition lipsticks ($18 each, Jeffree Star Cosmetics). And, trademark lawsuit aside, they've been getting a LOT of hype on Instagram.
So because they're all classified as nude shades — and because Star made it a point to talk about how universally flattering his lipsticks are, no matter your complexion — I decided to put them to the test on three different skin tones.
Will they be worth it for me? Or anyone else, for that matter? Let's find out.
I called in Revelist babes Jessica and Mary for this test, and when we swatched each shade on our arms, they held a lot of promise.
Every single one glided on seamlessly and without a single patch. They also smelled really, really good, thanks to the ice cream fragrance Star threw in there.
But when we eventually got to putting them on our lips, we faced some serious issues.
Birkin Suede is the lightest shade of the bunch, and it's inspired by the inside of Hermes' iconic Birkin bags.
I'll give Star this: The shade is a dead ringer for the suede interior of a Birkin bag, as he intended. I'm just not sure that color is suited to wear on the face instead of a purse.
Being the only person in this experiment with a skin tone comparable to Star's, I thought I'd be the only one this shade looked good on. I was wrong.
Birkin Suede was light enough that it practically erased my lips, and its yellow undertones washed me out completely.
Things only got worse for Jessica — the shade melted into her skin tone and completely erased her mouth.
It almost looked as if she were wearing concealer on her lips rather than lipstick. Not a good look.
Mary knew just by looking at Birkin Suede that it would NOT work for Black women by any means, and she was right.
Mary felt downright disrespected by how this shade magically sucked the color right out of her skin — and how heavily she had to apply the lipstick for it to even show.
Skin Tight is so similar to Birkin Suede, it's difficult not to confuse the two.
This shade has peachier pigments, so it worked in favor of my pink undertones — however, it was still light enough to cause total mouth erasure.
Pale people beware.
On Jessica's medium skin with pink undertones, Skin Tight looked almost identical to Birkin Suede.
Still not a great look.
But on Mary, Skin Tight looked WAY different. On her deep skin, it jumped out like a pastel peach nightmare.
Mary likened this look to Dave Chappelle's infamous Tyrone Biggums character. You know, the one who's addicted to cocaine. Ouch.
Birthday Suit is, as Star describes, a "warm-toned brown," but it's certainly the closest this collection gets to pink.
Birthday Suit is the only shade in this collection I'd classify as a "nude" — or at least a nude that looks good — on me.
And I'm not going to lie, I really dug it. But I must warn you, it doesn't look that pink, but it will stain your lips VERY PINK. Like, Jeffree Star-brand hot pink.
Things started to look up for Jessica with Birthday Suit, too. It wasn't the most complimentary shade, but it wasn't entirely insulting, either.
We take what we can get, I guess.
But Mary still struggled to find literally anything she liked about this shade.
Birthday Suit was straight-up bright pink on her, and it made her question how any of these shades could be considered "nude."
Thick As Thieves is by far the darkest shade of the collection. It's meant to be a mid-toned brown, but it definitely has some cherry undertones.
On my pale AF skin, this shade's red pigments really popped, and I kind of loved it.
For me, this shade felt subtle enough for every day, but bold enough to separate itself from "no-makeup makeup."
Thick As Thieves was by far Jessica's favorite shade — its warm hues complimented her perfectly.
Although this shade was definitely the most flattering in the collection for Mary, she still was not convinced of its value.
She just knew she could do better for the same or a lower price point.
Star Witness is a "coral nude" and is by far the most out-there shade of the group.
It's the farthest thing from nude on me, but holy shit, it looks fantastic.
Jessica was not feeling nearly as enthusiastic about it, though. It played up the undertones in her skin way more than she desired.
Much like Mary about Thick As Thieves, Jessica knew she could find something better for her at the drugstore.
And Mary needed a coral lipstick that's a little less neon and little more neutral...
… which is what she thought she might get from a collection claiming to be entirely nude, but it was not the case.
At the end of the day, I really wanted to give these lipsticks a Revelist stamp of approval, but I just couldn't.
Sure, most of them worked for me — as they worked on Star. But I'm a pale white woman; almost every lipstick will look good on me because the beauty industry considers my skin tone the default. Anyone remotely darker than me is going to have difficulty making these lipsticks look as good on them as they do on Star.
If you're going to boast the inclusion of your own cosmetics brand, Star, then you should start doing better by your darker-skinned customers.
Because right now, they don't have much to work with.
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