To Creamy Mattes and Beyond: Reviewing GoPlay Cosmtics’ Custom Lipstick Maker

Imagine having an entire lipstick collection in the palm of your hand.

While researching for our piece on personal color analysis, I came across the LIPSKIT, a custom lipstick-making tool created by GoPlay Cosmetics. GoPlay Cosmetics is a DIY (do-it-yourself) make-up brand that is looking to prioritize sustainability in the make-up industry without compromising the variety of your lipstick collection. The Disposal Company, India’s first plastic credit platform, has awarded GoPlay Cosmetics the seal of sustainability for their endeavor of recycling more plastic than they consume.

The GoPlay Cosmetics team was kind enough to cater to our interest in the product by sending us a PR kit to review.

Unboxing the Custom Lipstick Maker PR kit

The kit reached me in great condition. In keeping with the company’s sustainable ideology, the kit came in a padded paper bag, with a sticker on it stating that the bag itself was compostable. The cylindrical packaging is also very creative! When you rotate the inner cylinder, you see different lipstick colors through a lips-and-speech-bubble-shaped cutout on the outer cylinder. The device also comes with a small paper recipe chart that tells you how to create 20 common lipstick colors (i.e. the kinds and amount of pigments needed).

The kit contains:

• the warm undertone hyper-personalized LIPSKIT 2.0 (device shown in the banner image) with five color bullets;
• moisture drops;
• five reusable jars with attached brushes within the handle;
• bronze shimmer (add-on product);
• a purple color bullet (add-on product)

The LIPSKIT 2.0 device itself requires no assembly and comes pre-installed with five color bullets (black, white, red, blue and yellow) already set into their designated compartments and a protective cap with foam inside to protect the nozzles. 

On the inside of the device’s top lid, there’s a QR code that one can scan to access the online GoPlay companion application. The software asks the user to sign up and take a short personal color analysis quiz. It uses the resulting color family to suggest suitable lip shades for that specific skin tone and the recipe to create those shades. The application is easy to use and allows the user to also maintain a changeable catalog of ten of their favorite shades for easy access.

The lipstick-making process

To create lip colors, you have to unscrew the protective cap on the LIPSKIT device and replace it with one of the clean re-usable jars provided. When you press the individual color cartridges, it will deposit a measured quantity of pigment into the jar. Upon following the lipstick recipes and adding the required colors, you can unscrew the jar and manually mix them to create the desired lipstick shade. 

Before getting started, I had to first take each color bullet out from the LIPSKIT device and press them a few times to pump the air out. Once I had placed all the bullets back into their respective spots, I decided to test the classic red, pink and nude shades.

My first attempt at a red lipstick color was a bit of a learning curve. I got the quantities of the colors incorrect and ended up with a deep brown shade instead. 

I had better results with attaining the pink shade, as it required only one pump of each color involved. The shade was much more accurate this time around, but the small quantity made it a little difficult to blend. Hence, I ended up using the back of a toothpick instead of the provided brush for blending to not waste any product. 

With my second attempt at the red shade, I took the color bullet cartridges out and tried pumping without the LIPSKIT device. This resulted in a much more accurate shade, as I could visually monitor the quantities of the pigments. 

The process of making the plum shade was similar to the previous shades, only that it requires the use of the purple color bullet as well. The purple pigment is used to extend the shade range, as some color recipes cannot be made with just the primary colors that comes with the kit. 

I then decided to try creating glosses by adding the moisture drops to the matte shades I had already created. Adding moisture drops made the consistency smoother and slightly more watery, so it was much easier to apply with the brushes.

The shimmer add-on was next. The glitter dust is extremely fine, and it takes a sizable amount to be noticeable on the lips. The shimmer was easy to apply directly to the lip on top of the lipstick for a more glittery look.

Things I love about the product 

The software

• The online application is very user-friendly, with a clean and simple interface.
• It allows the user to keep track of their favorite shades so that they don’t have to look for them again.

The LIPSKIT device and lip color containers

• The device is entirely mechanical and does not require batteries, to be charged or plugged in. This further reduces the battery and plastic waste generated by the product.
• The device is compact enough to be held comfortably in one hand and would be quite travel-friendly due to its small size.
• The provided primary colors can be used to create a vast range of shades and adjust them to the user’s unique preference. The product could be extremely useful to makeup artists and enthusiasts, who could whip up the shades they need on the spot without having to lug a variety of different lipsticks. 

The formula

• The application is very smooth.
• The formula is fully waterproof. Putting the fully dried swatches on my arm under running water caused no run-off.
• There was almost no transfer on the blotting paper with the matte shades and very little transfer on dry gloss shades.
• The color payoff is really good, with the matte shades being nearly opaque. Even after adding the moisture drops to create glosses, the color itself doesn’t get less pigmented.
• The bronze shimmer is very subtle and blends easily without forming lumps.
• The formula is moisturizing; even the matte versions were not as drying as most liquid matte lipsticks. There is no stretching and cracking.

Things I feel could be improved 

The software

• While the online application fulfills its task well enough, an offline mobile application could be an added edge to already great software.
• The shades on the companion app have not been demarcated by any shade names or numbers, which makes them a little difficult to identify and keep track of.

The LIPSKIT device and lip color containers

• There is no locking mechanism for the color bullets. They tend to slide out of their holders if the device is tilted even slightly. This made things a little messy and also made me fear damaging the bullets.
• The quantities of the pumps are a little difficult to control with the LIPSKIT device itself. While this seems to be more of a learning curve issue than a mechanical problem, I had an easier time and could make more accurate shades by pumping the color bullets by hand. 
• The color cartridges can be used independently of the device, and with much more accuracy, which makes the LIPSKIT device itself kind of unnecessary.
• When I mixed the first couple of shades with the provided brush applicator, I found that the reusable jars were a little too deep to use the small brushes comfortably. A mixing tool, like a small spatula or stick, that can easily be wiped clean of the product would make the whole process much easier and waste less product in the mixing. 
• While the brushes themselves are of good quality, the short, rounded handle makes them slightly difficult to grip and maneuver precisely. A slightly longer, more cylindrical handle would make the brushes easier to use. 

The formula

• The consistencies of the colors seem to be different. One pump of red, which is more pastelike, appears less in quantity than one pump of black, which is a bit more liquidy than the red. This ends up darkening the shades from the depicted shade.

Overall, I found the product to be very innovative and interesting. It is something that would make for an invaluable addition to any makeup bag, and I’ll definitely be experimenting with it more in the near future.  

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