Holy Grail Lip Product: 3 Concept Eyes Lip Laquer (#Showtime)

Mai 22, 2015

Hey There!

Only three more shifts at my shitty part-time job are left, yay! Today I had to work without any break. Again. Because there were not enough co-workers present. I wouldn’t mind if there weren’t a bazillion other things going wrong at that place… it’s just cringe-worthy. A lot of small (and bigger) things adding up to each other and making it just not worth it. I can’t wait to return to my old workplace next month! ๐Ÿ™‚ Also, I’ve been trying to make more time for friends but my thesis has me in a stealthy grip. I really need to finish that beast so I can return into my social circles and just have a good time without worrying about X, Y and Z of my thesis. It’s slowly driving me insane.
A product that has saved my sanity a multiple times and is an absolute staple and holy grail in my make-up bag by now are the lip laquers from 3 Concept Eyes! They have received quite some love in the blogging world recently, so it was without question that I had to snatch something while I was living in Seoul – and I am so glad I did! (and regret I didn’t buy more :<)
Now, I am a difficult person when it comes to lip products and there aren’t that many that left me satisfied enough. My lips are very dry to begin with and to make it even worse, I am a bad picker at the dry parts of my lips (doesn’t help) and I tend to lick my lips when I doesn’t have a hydrating product around – makes the whole situation just worse! On top of that, I am a huge fan of vibrant colors but for the reasons mentioned above, most don’t even make it 2 hours in without being smudged/swept away or drying out my lips like crazy. To find a lip product that survives this and still looks flawless is quite a challenge but I probably don’t spoiler too much when I say the lip laquers perform amazing in all aspects.
With the founding of 3 Concept Eyes in 2009 by the Korean clothing platform Stylenanda a hype was born – the brand is the secret MAC of Korea with a cooler edge.  (in my opinion) They got especially popular for their lip products such as the lip laquer with is a (semi-)matte, super pigmented long-lasting liquid lipstick. 
I have always been interested in trying Kat von D or Anastasia Beverly Hills liquid lipsticks but shipping from the US is just atrocious (20$ for one lipstick.. err.. no.) which is why I stormed the 3CE store in Myeongdong and had to test out those little promising tubes. Oh, was I not disappointed.

             PACKAGING              
Like I said before, 3CE’s packaging looks just like the slightly cooler Korean sister of MAC. Everything is sleek and kind of geometrical while being minimalistic and mostly black. I love that one can see the actual color of the lip laquers as that makes it a lot easier to find the color I’m searching for. The tube is sturdy as is the doe-foot applicator.

              SWATCHES               
This is what one simple swipe of the product looks like; it’s pigment heaven!
Blending it out makes the color more even without losing any of the pigmentation. It’s love in a bottle. Originally, I wanted to get a completely different color. I was eyeing Desert Rose (purplish burgundy), Bubblegum (purple) and Bon Bon (nude). However, Desert Rose was very patchy and just looked weird on me. Bubblegum was lovely but I didn’t get the shade as I thought it was a bit too light for my taste. I kind of regret that now. Bon Bon just looked like concealer on my lips and probably needs a darker skin tone than mine to work. 
Official swatches from Stylenanda:

I went back and forth to the store contemplating what to get and swatching the hell out of those tiny tubes; in the end my choice was #Showtime which is probably the most vibrant color out of the bunch. What I love about this color is that it’s kinda coral but it’s not; it’s kinda orange but it’s not, it’s a red but not a pure one. Such a unique and fresh color! It just makes me look 1000% more awake when I put it on.
             PERFORMANCE             
This is just one thin layer of the product after drying, no base, no lip liner. 
How freaking amazing is the pigmentation?
….hey there.
As you can see, the formula is not completely 100% matte but with a slight shine, I really like the finish as it makes my lips look very alive instead of…..just dry.  The best thing, despite the pigmentation though, is the wear: It lasts forever! Okay, not forever maybe but it has the best wear out of all the lip products I have tried. I applied this at around 11am  and it still looked darn perfect around 8pm. I drink a lot of tea and eat even more so be convinced when I say: This stuff doesn’t budge. (It did wear off a little bit and didn’t look as fresh as in the pictures but there was no flaking off, no patchynes and still vibrant color on the lips. My mom actually demanded to know what kind of sorcery I used.)
Surpisingly, I didn’t find these too drying. They are a bit drying, sure, but nothing I couldn’t take. They feel light as if I’d wear nothing on my lips and quite satin-y. If you couldn’t tell, I am absolutely in love with this lip laquer! I really wish I got more when I had the chance in Korea. Judging from my swatching experiences in store, the darker colors appear to be more patchy than the lighter colors so keep that in mind if those caught your attention. I would totally love to get another color as I enjoy to wear this a lot; how great when you don’t have to worry to look like a joker after dinner! ๐Ÿ˜€
 If you want to shop for 3 Concept Eyes while in Korea, let me tell you: stores are rare. The one I’ve been visiting is in Myeongdong; however, don’t take the „Myeongdong“ exit but instead get off at Euljiro 1-ga Station (์„์ง€๋กœ์ž…๊ตฌ์—ญ), line 2, exit 5 to be on the opposite end of Myeongdong. There. go past Lotte department store and enter the street to your left. The first ( a bit smaller) department store has a Stylenanda store on the 2nd floor with an always crowded 3 Concept Eyes area. There are others (I think) but I haven’t been there. You won’t find them on the street like your usual Etude House though but most likely in „higher-end“ department stores.
If you aren’t in Korea, worry not: I have spotted these on Ebay for 19,90โ‚ฌ with free shipping (I payed 17,000Won so it’s not that bad) and also Koreadepart. I’m really intrigued by this brand and would love to try out other stuff in the future ๐Ÿ™‚
Do you have a holy grail lip product? What is the most important aspect when it comes to lip products? For me, I’d certainly say pigmentation & long wear. If any of those falls short, I will most likely toss it sooner or later. 
Happy weekend everyone!
Lots of love,

Sam

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