Illamasqua Bang Mini Antimatter Lipstick

This is another nice addition to my collection from my Lookfantastic box. It’s cruelty free and i don’t mind that it’s a mini because I can’t remember the last time I used up a lipstick. I like to play around with eyeshadow but when it comes to lips, I prefer tinted lip balms, glosses or just clear lip balms. My lips are naturally rosy-red so I don’t feel like I need to accentuate them.

Packaging:

The tube is made of a sturdy plastic, so the packaging is nothing special at all, it’s just black and simple. I like fancier tubes I must say, but it’s not like I care that much about the packaging.

Texture:

This is supposed to be a combination between a creamy and a matte lipstick so it doesn’t feel as dry on the the lips like the usual matte lips, but it’s also not as moisturizing as the creamy formulas. I find that it does accentuate a little bit the fine lines on the lips, but it’s nothing too obvious.

Ingredients:

Mica, Pentaerythrityl Tetraisostearate, Polyethylene, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Octyldodecanol, Isocetyl Stearate, Silica, Vp/Eicosene Copolymer, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Caprylyl Glycol, Oryzanol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Tocopherol, Lecithin, Glyceryl Stearate, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Glyceryl Oleate, Tin Oxide, Citric Acid [+/- May Contain/Peut Contenir: Red 7 Lake (Ci 15850), Yellow 5 Lake (Ci 19140), Blue 1 Lake (Ci 42090), Red 22 Lake (Ci 45380), Red 28 Lake (Ci 45410), Red 28 Lake (Ci 75470), Iron Oxides (Ci 77491, Ci 77492), Carmine (Ci 75470), Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891)].

I got mine in the shade Bang, which is also a vegan formula and I’m happy about that.

Price and accessibility:

Illamasqua products are available here in Douglas stores and also in several online shops. It’s currently sold on their website for 16 UK pounds (this particular shade), but I’m sure you can find it cheaper in some places. It’s not as expensive as I thought it would be, but it’s more than I would usually pay for a lipstick (10 euros is my limit), given that I don’t use these products enough to justify a higher price.

My overall opinion:

Bang is supposed to be a pinky nude shade, but on my lips it looks more pink than anything else. I like the formula, it feels comfortable enough and it doesn’t wear off easily, so I would be interested in trying out some other shades. bang is very wearable, suitable for office or for school, but I find that shades that are lighter than my natural lip color just don’t look as good on me as I would like them to be, but I appreciate the fact it doesn’t give me that pale zombie appearance that other nude shades do.

In conclusion, I like the lipstick well enough to continue to use it, but I would have probably picked some other shade if I got to choose it.