Orange vs. Orange

Orange is one of my favorite colors to wear, but it's not always that easy to find. There isn't typically a huge amount of orange clothing in most stores, and orange makeup is even less common. So, when I found out that I could buy such unconventional lipstick shades as blue, green, yellow and (gasp!) orange from Lime Crime, I was thrilled. Along with a few tubes of Carousel Gloss (which I will certainly end up talking about in the future), I bought "My Beautiful Rocket", a bright orange opaque lipstick.

Since last winter I've been occasionally wearing my orange Lime Crime lipstick, and I'm quite happy with it. It's fully opaque with only one coat, has a wonderful scent (I think it smells like marshmallows), and the color stays bright for quite a long time. It doesn't fade or rub off easily once you've applied it. On a few occasions I've eaten a meal while wearing it and found that my lips were still fairly orange afterward. I think that's mostly the case if you've applied it a good length of time before eating, so that it has some time to sink into your skin. Of course, some of the lipstick does come off when you eat, but a surprising amount of the color remains. And it was fairly uniform, too; it wasn't just the edges of my lips that stayed orange, it was the whole surface. Sometimes I find that if I eat or drink while wearing a bright color, most of the lipstick comes off and I end up looking like I'm just wearing lip liner.

Anyhow, just recently I discovered orange lipstick from Maybelline at the drug store. I was very surprised; most brands typically stick to more standard colors. There were maybe three shades of orange. I think they were something along the lines of "Peach Nude", "Apricot Nude", and "Orange Nude". I might be wrong about those names, though. So, out of curiosity I bought a tube of the Maybelline Water Shiny Milky in OR615 (Orange Nude). 

Since this is a color comparison, I figured that I'd better try to get some photos in better lighting than the usual yellow glare of my bathroom lights. I took these pictures in my bedroom, in afternoon sunlight. I'm not particularly knowledgeable about photography or lighting conditions, but I think the colors came out pretty true in these shots. For the sake of comparison, I'm wearing "My Beautiful Rocket" (Lime Crime) on my upper lip and "OR 615" (Maybelline) on my lower lip.

Unless you look very closely, the shades are quite similar. But it seems to me that the Lime Crime is a truer orange, whereas the Maybelline has a slightly more papaya-y color to it. It's just a tiny bit peach-tinted, though I'd still definitely call it orange.

Some other differences between the two lipsticks are texture and opacity. The Lime Crime lipstick is high pigment, so it's somewhat softer and has a creamy texture. The Maybelline lipstick has a fairly standard texture, and feels a little more glossy, if that makes sense. It goes on in thin, smooth coats. For opacity, the Lime Crime is definitely much more opaque and solid. I'm only wearing one coat on my upper lip in order to get that shade, and there are no thin spots. The Maybelline goes on somewhat sheer, so I put on maybe two or three coats to get it to the intensity I wanted. 

Other considerations: The Lime Crime lipstick is higher pigment and higher quality, and as a result, it is more expensive. One tube is $15.99, plus whatever you pay for shipping. I can't do a direct price comparison because I don't know exactly how much the Maybelline lipstick would cost in the U.S., but looking at the prices in Rite Aid's online store, it seems that it costs around $7 for one tube. I think the price in Japan was somewhat higher, but that's a different matter.

Durability is possibly another issue. Because high pigment lipstick is softer, it can melt more easily. I've been hesitant to carry the Lime Crime lipstick in my purse on hot days for fear it would be ruined, possibly staining my purse in the process. I don't know at exactly what temperature you should start worrying, so I've been erring on the side of caution. 

This has been a very wordy post, so for my conclusions I'll just boil it down to the basics.

Maybelline Water Shiny Milky in OR615 (Orange Nude)

Pro: Inexpensive, easy to control color intensity by layering, widely available, as durable as most lipsticks

Con: Less long-lasting, lower pigment/quality

Lime Crime "My Beautiful Rocket"

Pro: Very true orange, high pigment, great smell, extremely long lasting, fully opaque with one coat

Con: More expensive, less widely available (purchase online), higher risk of melting 

Personally, I'm very pleased with both lipsticks. I'll continue using each of them, though for slightly different purposes. The Lime Crime is perfect for when I want a major pop of color and don't feel like reapplying often, and the Maybelline is great when I want more control over the intensity of the color and need something sturdy enough to chuck in my purse and forget for a while.