Review & Swatches: Lime Crime Velvetines in Cashmere and Black Velvet

Cashmere / Black Velvet

One of Lime Crime's latest release is their Cashmere Velvetine but I'll also be reviewing their Black Velvet Velvetine in this post! Velvetines are long-wear liquid lipsticks that are supposed to be touch-proof and transfer-proof as well. They dry to a matte finish and the packaging also says that the Velvetines are lip stains. Each one contains 0.088 fl oz / 2.6 mL and retails for $20.

I actually only wanted Black Velvet because I really wanted a black lipstick for some reason. As I mentioned in the intro of this post, Cashmere is one of their newest Velvetines and so I decided to get that as well. 

Cashmere is described as a "greige" - a mix of grey and beige. On me, it does look like a greige with the tiniest amount of pink. 

I feel like this color is greatly affected by the wearer's skin tone. (Excuse the ear buds. My roommate was sleeping and I needed some background music) I'm about an NC35 and I feel like the color by itself washes me out if I look at my whole face. It might also be due to the fact that I much prefer darker lipsticks. 

If I look at just my lips, I'm in love with the color. It's unique but still borders on a neutral / nude color. I've looked at so many swatches of this shade and it definitely changes on the wearer. For a lot of lighter skin toned people relative to my skin tone, it looks more pink / mauve. For those with darker skin tones than mine, it can look more ashy. 

I'm not saying that the formula is inconsistent though. I feel like it's a Adelson's Checker Shadow Illusion kind of thing where the surrounding affects the perceived appearance. 

The texture for Cashmere is lighter and thinner than Black Velvet. For me, I liked that texture because it was easier to layer on and even mix with other lip products. I've worn it with and without a lip pencil and the wear time was the same. It stayed on forever but didn't smudge, fade, or transfer. I was so impressed with it! It also stayed looking great! The only downside to the wear is that it was a bit drying after 5-6 hours. The lines in my lip also showed up more because of the lack of moisture. 

The applicator is a small slanted doe foot and helps with the precision of application. 

Black Velvet is a a straight up matte black. There are no undertones that make it lean cool or warm.

I felt so badass wearing this lip color. I also wore it when I went to a Disney Store and scared some kids....not intentionally of course. 

For Black Velvet, the application is more shaky because of the pigmentation. This was straight out from the tube, but it looks better if I touch up with a lip brush. I would also work in layers because the formula is a tiny bit thicker than Cashmere. 

I had more problems with Black Velvet because it seemed to "crack" and show my natural lip color. Again, that might just be a me problem because some other people have not experienced that. It makes me nervous that that happens, but I noticed that it happens around the 4 hour mark and so that helps me remember if I need to touch up or not. 

For touch ups, I just layer on the tiniest amount because the color is so pigmented and it fixes any problems I have. It also doesn't transfer or smudge. It has the same amount of dryness as Cashmere as well. 

Final thoughts: The Velvetines are now one of my favorite liquid lipsticks! I've tried Stila's version and although that one is more moisturizing, it does transfer more than the Velvetines. Out of the two, I recommend Cashmere because it's more wearable. Black Velvet is also a good choice for a black lipstick because it's less likely to become messy like some other "normal" lipsticks. The colors are definitely not for everyone, but I love mixing these into other colors. I recently mixed Cashmere with MAC Viva Glam I and the most beautiful muted red was created. You do get less product for the price compared to other brands, but that's a personal choice on whether or not to buy them. Other than that, I do highly recommend checking out the Velvetines because they met their own claims of being long-wearing, smudge proof, and transfer proof. Just make sure to put on a moisturizing lip balm beforehand because of the dryness!