Hi, I’m Christina and I’m a cosmetic chemist.

Today, we’re going to be comparing lipsticks to see

if I can tell which is a more expensive product.

I can tell this is a satin-finished lipstick.

I’m looking for,

does it have good payoff?

Does it glide well?

And also on top of that, does it still wear for a long time?

A definitely has a better mold quality finish.

You can see all around everywhere is a smooth shiny surface.

Whereas B, you see the shiny surface on the sides

of the bullet, but on the surface it has more

of a rough texture.

Right now, I feel like this is the more expensive one,

but you can’t really tell always by just looking at it.

You have to take a swatch.

When I swatch this, I’ll put A on this diagonal direction

and then B, on this diagonal direction.

I like to call it the quadrant method.

[upbeat music]

B. Okay, so, right off the bat, much less payoff.

This one you can really see the pigmentation,

but this is very sheer.

Pigments are one of the main cost drivers of lipsticks.

B might be the less expensive lipstick.

A definitely felt very creamy

and almost like a hug to the skin,

versus B, it glides okay,

but it’s not like a luxurious experience.

So, I’m gonna go ahead and try it on my lips.

So, when I’m comparing two different lipsticks,

I like to test half and half.

It’ll also look different on bottom lip and top lip.

It’s not a ton of payoff,

but these are not meant to have a ton of payoff.

I couldn’t tell as much on my arm before,

but definitely on my lips this is feeling like,

I don’t know, like a rock or something on my lips.

Yeah and it’s not giving me payoff as I glide.

I don’t like it.

‘Cause it’s like kind of gathering in like lines of my lips.

Another thing that we look

for when we formulate lipsticks is the longevity.

Let’s see how well these perform under a swatch test.

Okay, that barely swatched at all.

B, over here, it’s just a slight difference,

but you can tell that B swatched more.

I’m guessing that A probably has some film formers

that will help the formula stay put where it’s at.

I’m going to say that A is definitely more expensive than B.

A is definitely without a doubt, a higher quality.

Ooh, big price gap over there.

That’s almost actually more than three times.

So yeah, I’m not surprised with that one.

To me, this has a really nice luxurious payoff.

So, I would say for $34, it is worth the extra bucks.

If it was like $40, I’m a little bit hesitant,

but for 34 I think, it might be worth it.

Ooh, pretty.

This is pretty clearly a mousse lip cream.

It’s fluid, but it’s gonna have a little bit more

of a bouncy effect to it.

Most important things that I’m gonna be looking

for in a mousse lip cream is the comfort

as well as pigmentation.

[gentle music]

Sample A actually has pretty good amount of payoff,

feels like a typical lip cream.

Ooh yeah.

So, immediately right off the bat,

I can tell that, this has more

of that like very soft, mousse-bouncy texture.

Sample A kind of felt a little flat.

Whereas sample B, even on the visual aspect of it,

it has more of a soft-effect finish.

That tells me it probably has a good amount

of silicone based-powders, silicone elastomers

that really help with that soft-finish effect.

It doesn’t have as much payoff, it’s not super sheer either,

and a while it has a good amount of payoff with time.

It’s gonna show the skin underneath.

So, I’m gonna have to swatch these

on my lips to see how they wear.

It’s not the bounciest formula,

but it’s a typical lip cream and side B,

I could feel more of the mousse texture coming through.

One of the things that I’m looking for in the lip cream is

for it to smoothen out the lines.

Definitely seeing that in product B,

but not so much in product A.

I’m gonna call this the orange test.

This is not a scientific test, this is something I made up

but it really mimics how a good lip cream can hide

the wrinkles in your lips.

Definitely not going through the crevices much.

Poor orange.

Product B, yeah, definitely looks a lot more even.

It seems to be like filling in the pores.

The orange is looking quite fabulous,

whereas A, you can see that,

it didn’t really fill in anything.

It’s just all going into the crevices and looking clumpy.

I think, I’ve got enough information to make my decision,

and I’m gonna go

with product B at the more expensive product.

So, let’s reveal.

Ooh yeah, that one was pretty clear.

This one had more expensive powders,

more expensive elastomer,

maybe elastomer gels as well, which helped to fill

in those pores and this one just kind of felt a little flat.

Still not a bad product,

but if you’re looking for really that bouncy field,

this is what’s gonna get you that.

So, I’m gonna take a look at the ingredient list to see

if it really truly is a better formula.

So, sample A has Talc

which is the cheapest powder

you can find in the cosmetic industry.

So that confirms my suspicion

that sample A is indeed the cheaper product of the two.

Feeling pretty good about that.

It was pretty clear to me

all along that this was gonna be the more expensive product,

but it’s good to see that,

the ingredient list also confirms that,

and the price is right.

This is definitely a liquid lipstick

in a vial form instead of of bullet form.

They look exactly the same from this view.

Let’s take a look at them.

Matte liquid lipstick is going to give you

the highest longevity

and highest transfer resistance compared

to any bullet form lipsticks.

B is feeling a lot thicker than A.

A has a more thin film over my hand.

Liquid lipsticks contain a lot

of ingredient called Isododecane and Cyclopentasiloxane.

Those two are both very volatile ingredients

and pretty much what happens is that

once you apply it,

it will flash off,

so that what is left is only the pigment,

and the film form itself and give you a really long wear.

Whereas a traditional bullet form lipstick,

you cannot have that much volatile ingredients like that

because the bullet will shrink and perform not effectively.

Product B is still in the process of drying down, I can tell

because the edge of the swatch is all modified.

However, there’s a space in the center

where it’s still a little bit shiny and glistening.

Speed of drying down is related

to the film performers itself

which can correlate to quality.

However, if it dries out too fast,

sometimes that can translate

to the formula actually flaking off and being

very uncomfortable on the lips.

Right now, going back to the pigmentation aspect,

I can see that product A is actually showing

through more of my skin on the back of my hand.

I’m guessing that product A has

less pigmentation load somewhere in between,

perhaps like 10 to 20%.

Product B, I really don’t see any of my skin

peeking through other than this portion right here

which is just the way I swatched.

But over here, you can see nothing through my skin.

Definitely feels thin on my lips.

B is definitely creamier.

It’s a thicker consistency.

Right off the bat, formula A was very thin.

It’s not too drying yet, but it definitely feels like

I have like nothing on my lips,

whereas [indistinct]

B is thicker on application,

and I could feel it a little bit more moisturizing.

We’ll see if it lasts long though.

‘Cause moisturizing sometimes can mean not long lasting.

Even like five minutes in,

A is starting to kind of wear off a little bit,

in the insides of my lips is getting a little bit sheer,

so, might be indicating a little bit less pigment

in the formula.

We’re gonna try the salad test.

Definitely not a super scientific laboratory test.

However, a very good matte liquid lipstick will be able

to withstand most of it.

It’s been lathered up real good with some oily dressing.

[Christina laughs]

So, if you go back to science 101, like dissolves like,

so, what breaks down the liquid lips,

the oily portion of it, the dressing.

It’s not necessarily an important test that

I, as a chemist want to pass.

However, there was a time where an approved liquid lipstick

formula got rejected because it didn’t last

through the customer eating pizza.

So, now it’s important.

Side A is coming off,

and you can see my lips peeking through.

B is looking like a much higher quality product

to me right now,

probably with a lot more film forms.

I’m pretty certain that B is

the more expensive formulation.

Oh, what?

Are you sure?

What? Okay, well that’s kind of a surprise,

but I still would prefer to go with this rather than this.

A lot of the really really big beauty conglomerates own

a lot of these drugstore brands

that are very low on the price point,

but they have a lot of research backing

and a lot of money to do the proper formulations.

Over here I’m seeing that sample A actually has

the film form, which is six ingredient,

whereas sample B, Trimethylsiloxysilicate,

this is gonna be the most common film former ingredient

that you’re gonna find across most liquid lips.

So, in sample B, the one that I found to be more

high quality actually has the film former higher up

in the ingredient list.

Sample A, even though, it’s twice

as more expensive as sample B,

it’s not as high quality of a product.

These definitely show that,

high cost doesn’t always mean high quality.

[upbeat music]

Ooh, look at that.

Here we have not the traditional bullet form lipstick.

What I’m really looking for is,

if it’s doing a really good job

on providing the glossy finish even from a stick form.

So, we’re gonna go with the quadrant method again.

Sample A is looking pretty glossy, like shiny,

but not super glossy.

Sample B, swatch over here,

okay, sample B and sample, ooh.

So, sample B is already kind of breaking

apart on the bullet,

so, it’s a very soft formula.

These you don’t wanna extend the bullet too much.

I’m gonna try sample A again,

just get a little bit more swatch on there.

Yeah, even with more swatch,

sample B definitely has more gloss.

To get the truly glossy finish,

you need a lot of the glossy liquid,

but to put it in a stick form, you have to put waxes.

They tend to mute the glossiness,

so, you have to find the right sweet point

where you can get just the right amount of structure,

but give a good amount of gloss on application.

Sample A, it is shiny,

but it’s a little more flat look.

And sample B is not only shiny, but it has almost

like a 3D effect where you can see the volume that’s created

on my skin.

So, I’m gonna try these on my lips now.

Easy payoff,

and then, I’m going to be putting sample B

on my left side of my lips.

Yeah, so right on application,

even the sample A was easy to apply,

I can tell that sample B has a little bit

of more of a tack to it and not in a bad way.

It’s more like I can tell that,

this is probably gonna wear longer.

In the lab, you can really test the shiny and glossy effect

of a formula by testing its refractive index.

We’re just gonna do a quick little test with the flashlight.

Here we have sample A.

When I’m thinking of glossy, I’m thinking of more

of a 3D effect, a little bit more of the cushioned look.

I don’t know, maybe this lipstick didn’t mean

to be that glossy,

but it’s more just like a shiny creamy lipstick.

Shiny just really means to me that it like kind of glistens

in the light, but glossy has more of a physical attribute

where it has more of a 3D effect and looks voluminous.

I have B, it’s still not the glossies formula, I would say.

However, it does have more 3D effect compared to sample A.

So, when it comes to these type of formulas,

it can be a little bit challenging to tell the difference

between a more expensive and a less expensive product

because it kind of comes down to personal preference

and brand preference, whether they want to go

for more glossy or less glossy.

For me, I like this because I feel a little bit more

of a cushion with it and I feel that it’s more glossy

which I like to see if I’m going for a glossy finish.

A is not a cheap product, but honestly I prefer B.

Woo. Wow, that’s like twice as more expensive.

The formula difference might be huge,

but anywhere from like 20, $25 to $40, I don’t think that,

there’s gonna be that big of a difference in formula.

But $19 is not a cheap product.

I think that you’re getting a very good quality product

for this amount of money.

Interesting ingredients.

Sample B is more glossy

because of this ingredient right here,

Hydrogenated Polyisobutene.

You’re gonna see this one very frequently

across all glossy formulas

whether it’s thick form or in the liquid form

whereas sample A has Squalene as the second ingredient.

Don’t get me wrong, I love squalling.

I love squalling,

especially in my skin care routine,

but here, that’s actually what’s kind of causing it

to be more of a flat finish,

whereas sample B has a more glossy finish.

So, if you’re looking

for a really high-shine lip gloss stick,

you want to look for something

along the lines of like Polyisobutene or Polybutene.

Typically, when I look for a good red lipstick,

I’ll be looking out for three things.

Texture, is it smooth?

Is it gliding well?

Second pigmentation and payoff.

Does it need like two or three swipes

to make it look like full coverage?

And third, does it last long on my lips?

Does it wear well?

Pretty nice glide,

and I’m seeing it has pretty good pigmentation.

There is a little bit

of like some sheerness throughout the swatch,

but overall it’s a pretty good payoff.

I’m gonna swatch B over here.

This is the one that seems to have a nice smooth surface.

Okay, right off the bat,

I’m seeing that this is a little bit more draggy on texture.

It’s more matte though.

It’s more matte than this one.

The draggy texture indicates that,

it has a ton of powders to create the mattifying effect.

At this stage,

I’m not entirely sure which one’s a more expensive one.

However, I do know which one I feel is a better quality,

which is this one because it has a better glide,

feels a lot softer and smoother on my arm

when I’m swatching.

[uplifting music]

A felt pretty smooth and pretty good.

However, it’s not the mattest of lipsticks

because I can tell it’s starting to melt

the formula a little bit

and a little bit more of the shininess is coming out.

I’m gonna try B on my right side.

Feeling a little bit more of a drag on my lips,

but that’s to be expected because I’m seeing that,

it’s a lot more matte of a formula.

I’m actually able to tell on my lips that,

B indeed has more pigmentation than A does,

and now, I’m seeing that on my lips.

A is starting to break down pretty fast,

whereas B is staying matte

for a longer time, which tells me,

it probably has better powders that are more oil absorbent

and probably a little bit more expensive.

At this point,

I think, I’ve got enough information to make my decision.

And I think B is the more expensive lipstick,

so, let’s check out the prices.

Oh, wow.

I didn’t think it’d be that big of a difference,

but it makes sense.

Initially, this is a little bit tricky one

because it kind of like makes you think that,

it’s like really good quality, really high payoff.

But applied, I could tell that it’s not as matte,

and that it gets really shiny over time, really quickly.

Lipsticks are a lot of fun.

Different color can make you feel like a new person

with a whole new vibe.

My best advice, choose what makes you feel good.