Five Urban Decay Vice Lipsticks Tested

Urban Decay Vice Lipsticks

When Urban Decay retired and re-released their entire lipstick line the choice of shades was completely overwhelming. I didn’t know where to start with the range and as a result, I just well… didn’t. As the hype around the Urban Decay Vice Lipstick launch it became something I’d had on my list to try at some point and never got round to it. But in the Boxing Day sales I managed to snag myself a quint of mini lipsticks to try, what I liked about the set was that there was a mix of different shades and formulas and four out of five of them looked like shades I would get frequent use out of and make their way to my every day lip wardrobe.

To start with a little mini review of the set itself. It came in a lovely cardboard box – and would have made a lovely treat of a gift at Christmas. The front is illustrated with lips which first off to me look studded and it was only at my third or fourth time admiring the set that I realised it was the lipstick bullets. If you can still find it somewhere in the sale, it’s great value and worth getting if you’ve wanted to try the formula too..

The packaging of these look like they should be metal, but they’re plastic, I was surprised to find out that the full sizes are no different as in the hand something about them feels somewhat cheap, maybe because it’s such a thin plastic, it’s a product that has barely any weight.

There are six different formulas available in the line, Cream, Comfort Matte and Metallized are all formulas which feature in the set whilst the Sheer, Sheer Shimmer & Mega Matte formulas are not to be seen. One thing I will say is that all of the lipsticks all three of these formulas apply very nicely and have very similar pigmentation, all of the swatches at the bottom of this post on my arm are just one swipe across.


Violate (Cream Formula)

Probably my favourite out of the bunch, and no surprise – it’s the closest to my preferred go to rosey toned shade. This is going to be a mini that I think will be really easy for me to finish. It’s incredibly comfortable to wear and applies well. Whilst it feels very creamy, finish wise I would compare it being closer to MAC’s Satin formula – it’s not completely flat and it’s not as balmy as say their Creamsheens. What I like about this shade is that it sits somewhere between a rose and a mauve – it reminds me of a more matte and pigmented version of MAC’s Syrup lipstick.

Lovedrunk (Comfort Matte)

I looked at Lovedrunk and thought – eh, it’s a pretty red, but as soon as I applied it I was like, “Oh Wow, no this is my red”. Apart from much darker red shades this is the red that I’ve felt most comfortable in. Lovedrunk is described as a deep red with tonal shimmer, to me this isn’t a bright, but it’s certainly not a deep and no matter how many times I’ve swatched this in every type of light possible, it took me a long time to see what the tonal shimmer they’re referring to, it’s got some extremely fine red shimmer that’s very sparsely distributed, so much so there’s barely any point in it being there. This wears decently, but I find because it’s such a bold colour I need to top it up about three times during the day, by the third reapplication it begins to ball up and drag on the lip.

1993 (Comfort Matte)

1993 is a shade I know my friend Molly loves, so I was excited to see it in this package. I remember her showing it to me and I was like, “oh, too grey for me” – but it must have been the light in the restaurant as in person whilst it is cool toned, it’s definitely still a lovely brown that gives me MAC Whirl vibes, which compared side by side  – 1993 is slightly darker and a smidge warmer. This applies really nicely, wears well an when it does start wearing off does so gracefully. Alongside Violate I can see this becoming one I get a lot of wear from.

Double Crossed (Metallized)

Double Crossed is the darkest and requires the most care when applying, I do find I have to go over the lips several times to make sure the coverage is good. This was the last one I’d put on the lips while I was doing the swatches an it feels like a semi-matte formula. In the tube this does look pretty sparkly, but it doesn’t translate as strongly metallic on the lips, it is really with movement and in certain lights where it’s most noticeable. This has decent wear time for such a dark metallic formula and it reapplies well on the lips without feeling dry or cakey. Funnily so far out of all of the shades this has been the one I’ve worn most often, it’s a winter shade for me and I want to suck it up it’s prettiness whilst I can.

Mad (Metallized)

I thought I was going to hate this colour on, but I’m actually a bit of a fan. I think this shade sums up Urban Decay, that gorgeous vivid lilac violet they gravitate towards in their packaging is what this reminds me of. This is easier to apply in the Metallized formula than Double Crossed, and it does have more of a sheen and is very comfortable and creamy. Out of all five this has the worst wear time, but it does last decently through eating and drinking if quite freshly applied.


Swatches Side By Side

Top to Bottom: Violate, 1993 Mad, Lovedrunk, Double Crossed.

Overall the Urban Decay Vice Lipstick formula gets a thumbs up from Me and I’m very glad that I picked up this minis set in the Sales. At full size these retail for £15.50 each which put them at the same price as MAC, which I think is a wise move on their behalf. The one thing I do wish is that the packaging was maybe a bit more luxe feeling and potentially it was in the iconic UD Purple. But if that’s the only gripe I have, that’s not a bad place to start. I’ll definitely think of adding more of these to my collection in future, the comfort factor of these are a huge plus point.

Have you tried the revamped Urban Decay Vice Lipstick formula?

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Helpless Whilst Drying

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18 Comments

  1. January 8, 2018 / 7:30 am

    How many grams do you get per lipstick? Violate and Double Crossed are so lovely on you xx

    • January 8, 2018 / 7:40 am

      The minis don’t have the gram listed on them, I’d say roughly they’re about 1/3rd the size of a normal lipstick!
      Thank you they’re my two favourites! Xx

  2. January 8, 2018 / 8:18 am

    I was going to get these in HoF in the sales but was put off by the metal finish. They actually look so pretty and not in your face glittery though that if I see the kit again I might pick it up! Xx

    • January 8, 2018 / 2:48 pm

      At full price I wouldn’t have picked these up for the Metallized formula, but they’re not as metallic as they sounded and would have missed out on them! Do keep an eye out on it, these colours would look great on you! xxx

      • January 20, 2018 / 7:39 am

        I’ll have a look online and see what I can find! 🙌🏻

  3. January 8, 2018 / 1:23 pm

    I haven’t tried the revamped vice line, but I was a huge fan of the orignal ones.

  4. January 8, 2018 / 7:29 pm

    I still much prefer the tube shape of their old lipsticks! They had such a nice hefty feel versus these ones. They do feel cheap.
    No surprised at all that you like Violate best! Such a YOU shade!
    I own the full size of the 1993 shade which I got in the Sephora Gimme Some Nude Lip kit… it sits unused in my drawer. I might pull it out to play tomorrow! Thanks for the reminder. 😉
    Minis are a fantastic way to try out a range of shades – even a metallic bright violet!

  5. January 8, 2018 / 8:35 pm

    The Vice formula is my HG!! But I didn’t pick up this set because I already own a few on the full sizes! Nice that you got this on sale 🙂

  6. Katherine Tran
    January 8, 2018 / 10:28 pm

    Gorgeous shades, but 1993 is my favorite on you!

  7. January 9, 2018 / 4:51 pm

    I’ve never tried any of their lips products, I am skeptical because they are always on sale, makes me think they have to mark down the price in order to sell them!

  8. Charlotte
    January 10, 2018 / 7:48 am

    Love these! I never find anything good in the sales. How much were they? X

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