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“We live in a lip product economy,” a beauty writer friend told me recently — and she’s right. These days, you simply can’t open TikTok without accidentally swiping some kind of lip product that’s gone viral that week. There’s the Summer Fridays Butter Balm and the often-sold-out Rhode Peptide Lip Tint, not to mention a variety of lip color combinations, all clamoring for your attention. Even in such a crowded space, it’s clear that two types of products remain firmly in the imaginations of makeup lovers and beginners alike: stains and lip tints.
The lure of high-impact pigment and staying power (with very little effort and skill required) is arguably why lip stains and tints are so popular right now. Old-school classics like Benetint are making a comeback, while brands like Milk Makeup and Tatcha have unveiled their own unique ideas.
To sort out the winners from the time wasters, I road tested seven popular lip stains and tints. Since a long-lasting formula tends to be the main selling point of this lip category, I’ve included photos of how the lip colors looked by the end of the day, after plenty of eating and drinking. Spoiler alert: The most affordable option took the crown.
Milk Makeup Cooling Water Jelly Tint in coral$24
If you’ve spent enough time on TikTok makeup lately, you might have seen people doing crazy things with these jelly shades, namely biting into them to see them. (FYI: even though it looks like candy, the brand says it’s not edible.)
I got my hands on this often sold-out product and let’s just say the hype is real. It’s like a rubber stamp for adults: I only had to press the tip gently against my lips to transfer the most vibrant coral ink. The color dries very quickly, so be sure to blend it right away with your fingers. The stain remains visible throughout the rest of the day, even without any top-up. My favorite feature was that it feels so cool; the minty feel was divine as I traveled to some hot and humid places recently.
Store Makeup with milk
Benefits Benetint Cheek & Lip Stains$24
If you came of age in the ’00s, Benetint probably rings a bell: this lip and cheek stain has recently had a resurgence thanks to TikTok and is still very much a makeup staple, IMO. Out of all the products I’ve tried, this has the lightest formula and subtlest look (don’t be fooled by the deep red color you see on the bottle). Wearing two coats made me look like I’d just bitten my lips and pinched my cheeks – and that affected the photos quite nicely.
You can build up the pigment by adding as many layers as you like, but patience is definitely key: Because of how thin the shade is, you have to let one layer dry completely before you top it off. It’s like painting your lips and cheeks with watercolor. I’ve heard people rave about how well this stain stays put without transferring, and while it doesn’t smudge easily, my color faded quickly and required several re-dos between meals. I think I prefer to use it as a liquid blush for a natural, rosy glow on my cheeks.
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Tatcha The Kissu Lip Tint SPF 25 in Carmellia$34
This lip tint is Tatcha’s latest product and as someone who loves all of Tatcha’s skincare, I was super excited to try it out. The main selling point of the product is that it is a super hydrating lip tint that offers SPF 25 protection. It definitely lives up to its promise by filling in any dry cracks on my lips and blurring them. Ingredients such as botanical lanolin and silk protein form a protective layer of moisture on the lips.
However, I’m not too sure why it’s marketed as a lip tint: This product looks like your typical satin finish lipstick, and the lack of staying power reminds me of that as well. It is quite expensive, although the packaging is very premium. I love how the color Carmellia turned out on me, but just a warning: The packaging and description are way off from the actual color. This shade turned out to be a softer brown-purple on my lips, while the packaging showed brick red.
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elf Cosmetics Glossy Lip Stain in fiery red$6
This is basically the TikTok “Bold Glamour” filter for my lips. I’ve been battling a cold for the past couple of weeks and as a result, my lips are much more dehydrated than usual. Just one swipe of this product has hidden all the dry patches I was feeling confident about and gave my lips a delicious and healthy sheen.
The formula sits somewhere between a lipstick and a lip balm and has a buttery, soufflé-like texture. I am totally obsessed with how it sparkles in the light. It made my lips look so juicy. A little goes a long way and I only needed one top up after wearing the color for a full day. At just $6, this is a lucky winner in my book. I just wish it came in a larger size as the lightweight tube makes application of the color more difficult than it needs to be.
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Huda Beauty Lip Blush Creamy lip & cheek stain in Apricot Kiss$25
I’ve heard great things about it Huda Beauty Lip and Cheek Tint — but alas, it wasn’t for me. Despite containing moisturizing ingredients like hyaluronic acid powder and coconut extract, this was by far the driest product I tried. The formula felt light and non-sticky when I applied it, but it made my lips increasingly dry as time went on and formed a line around the inner corners of my mouth. My bottom lip felt tight and flaky by the end of the day and the stain made the creases on my lips look even more obvious.
On the plus side, I loved the subtle yet noticeable color I achieved with just one coat, and the matte finish gave a matte lipstick effect without having to do the blotting myself. It did a good job with minimal carryover after eating. But if I don’t happen to wake up perfectly hydrated and soft that day, I’ll think twice before I do.
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Fenty Beauty Poutsicle Hydrating Lip Stain in Zesty Bestie$28
This lip stain is a longtime bestseller in Rihanna’s makeup collection, and the name pretty much says it all: Your lips will look like a juicy, melting glass, thanks to moisturizing squalane. If you’ve tried a lip oil before, this one has a pretty similar viscosity. I was very pleased with how pigmented it was and it stayed very moisturizing hours later.
Despite the product claiming to be bleed and transfer resistant, I found the opposite to be the case. Because of how watery the lip stain is, it’s easy to accidentally overcoat your lips, and I find that it gets into the corners of my mouth and onto my teeth quite easily. However, the ultra-vibrant colors have more than decent staying power, so it still gets pretty high marks from me.
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Wonderskin Wonder Blading Lip Stain in Romance$22
This is one of those hidden gems of Amazon beauty that I kept seeing all over TikTok in 2021, and I’ve been intrigued by the case for a while. It gives a funky metallic blue color when you first apply it on your lips. You are meant to clean the blue layer of the skin with a wet cloth after it dries, et voila — your painted lips will be revealed. As per our previous Wonderskin review, the longer you leave the blue layer on, the stronger the color will be.
The brand highly recommends exfoliating your lips before using this lip stain, and I can see why: The color will come out unevenly if you have any kind of crease or blemish on your lips. Unfortunately for me, as I was dealing with some pretty bad peeling on my lips, I didn’t get the best results.
My lips were painted a lovely shade of rose petal, but the spots were painted bright red. I wish it was less demanding on the condition of my lips, since the stain itself has top-notch hold and lasts all day. Everything is fine if you use an oil-based makeup remover, but cleansing wipes will require more effort. I’ll have to try this again when my lips are in better shape, as I was really impressed with the longevity.
Store Amazon
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