Too Faced Melted Fuchsia lipstick review, swatches

My four-year-old Canon T1i or 500D has finally gone to the place where all good cameras go after being thoroughly ill-treated and exposed to snow, rain, shine, mist and everything else you can think of. Until I get a decent replacement (and I have a trip in the way), I will be using a Cybershot point-and-shoot, so picture quality will be worse than usual.
The Too Faced Melted Liquified Long Wear Lipsticks are probably the most talked-about lip products launched in 2014 so far. I picked up just two - Melted Fuchsia and Melted Coral - because the ones I really wanted (Nude and Peony) were out of stock at the time. I also want a couple of the newer releases - Marshmallow. Which means more of these lipsticks will be featured here soon.
These are supposed to have the "shine of a lip gloss", the "lasting power of a stain" and the pigmentation of a lipstick. What more can anyone want?

Here is my review and swatches of the Too Faced Melted Liquified Long Wear Lipstick in Melted Fuchsia.

Packaging of the Too Faced Melted lipsticks

I love the neat squeezy-tubes, which make for a nice change from the usual cylindrical tubes. The external box and the tube reflect the colour of the product inside. And there is a lot of product at 12ml!

The applicator is a sponge-tip. Reminds me of the Etude House Rosy Tint Lips, which have rounded sponge tips and are reviewed here.
One thing I do not like about these sponge tips is that the white tips are stained with the colour which then stays on them for life. On the other hand, you can control the product that comes out very precisely, as you can see below.

Formula and staying power of Too Faced Melted lipsticks

These are super-pigmented, intense colours. A little goes a long way. They are supposed to use exclusive technology to "keep cauldrons of melted lipstick creamy". That gives me images of people stirring cauldrons in a dark room, for some reason. The formula is lightweight and on the creamier side. You need to exfoliate and smoothen the lips before application, as these do show up any hint of dryness or flakiness a mile away.

The glossy-shine part of it does not last long, and the lip colour transfers as long as there is shine. But once the shine is gone, the colour stays put for around five hours, even with eating and drinking. I have not had pizza recently and cannot tell you how the lipstick would cope with such a grease overload. But I can tell you that fading is even, there is no flaking and the stain is actually long-wearing!

These are cruelty- and paraben-free and contain castor seed oil. They feel lightweight on the lips, contrary to my expectations.

Swatches of Too Faced Melted Fuchsia lipstick

These are super-bright. And then some. Even that connoisseur of bright fuchsias, also known to me as my mother, agrees. You can manage to get away with a semblance of normalcy by seriously reducing the quantity of product applied. I find that if I go in for a thin layer with a lip brush, there is a risk of seriously uneven colour, but the colour is tolerable and not virulent.
Swatch outdoors, in natural light.

On-lips swatch outdoors, natural light. Mind you, this is a very mild, thin application with a lip brush.

Summary
The staying power of the Melted lipsticks is really good for a non-drying product and the glossy shine is something I can live with. Formula is nice and lightweight. Again, these are not for the faint of heart, unless you get Peony or Nude, both of which are milder, everyday shades. Coral is another shocker which washes me out a bit while being super-bright. You can make them work somewhat with a thinner application using a lip brush and half a drop of product. You can get them here and here or from Sephora for $21, or more, depending on the Sephora in the country where you buy. The US is the cheapest! At 12ml, you cannot complain about the quantity included here.
Disclosure: Paid for by me; affiliate links. 
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