Beak & Claws: Clinique Pop Lip Shadow Cushion Matte Lip Powder in Pop Fushia (06).

 I prefer a matte lip and have tried out a variety of matte lip powders at various price points. Clinique launched their version - the Pop Lip Shadow Cushion Matte Lip Powder in late 2017 and although I am rather late to the party! I chose Pop Fushia (06) which costs £17 for 1.2g.

According to the Clinique website the Pop Lip Powder is a weightless matte powder that delivers highly pigmented, bold lip colour.  The product is free from parabens, phthalates and is also fragrance  free.Before first use the colour must be activated by unscrewing the clear cap from the silver wand and removing the white lid  from the coloured cylindrical cap. The sponge cap is pushed into the silver wand and twisted into place. This process seals and loads the colour in place ready for use. The sponge applicator cap is dipped into the lid to pick up pigment.

I found it was easy to activate the colour. Even though I don't have much grip or hand coordination I didn't find the process fiddly or hard to do.   The product was buildable, I found I could have a gentle blurred wash of colour, where it didn't matter if it was slightly wonky (as I cannot move my neck to check the sides of my face/lip I sometimes miss a spot) or the pigment can be built up for a dramatic, bold matte look. I really like the bright Fushia pink as it brought some much needed colour to my face. The silver wand does look very stylish but as I sometimes use a small clutch I wish it was smaller. I also found it hard to grip as it is so smooth and graduated in length. It was hard to maintain a precise line as I didn't find it as easy to manage as a traditional lipstick case. Staying time was around three hours and there was some transference of colour.

I loved the bold colour payoff and the matteness of the lip shadow powder. I like the elegance of the wand, although I also find it impractical when using smaller bags or when I want to put it in a small make up bag. Due to hand/eye coordination problems and grip issues I struggled to grip the wand and would probably get someone else to help me it on in the future if I wanted to go for a full on bold lip but I can do a lighter, blurred lip myself.




I purchased this item myself and all views expressed in my blog are my own. The lip shadows are available at all Clinique stockists.