Okay gang, I have no idea what’s going on with the semi-loading photos on this blog. Is it the Lord’s way of saying that flats are an abomination and contrary to everything that is good, holy and hard on your ankles? Maybe. Is it possible that some unnamed person whose name may or may not rhyme with Kiss Rumflake did something dumb and messed it all up to hell? Less likely than a divine fashion intervention, but still technically possible. My internet connection has been spotty as of late, but as soon as the small children I’ve hired to hold the tinfoil and hangers out the window get back from their smoke break, I’ll get on it and figure this stuff out.
In the meantime I have an update from the quick and dirty dried-out lipstain experiment.
A few weeks ago, one of our lovely and thoughtful readers asked if I knew how to revive a lipstain marker that had dried out. Thankfully I had two semi-parched pens in my makeup bag: one Covergirl Outlast and one Revlon Just Bitten.
First I wiped each nib with an alcohol pad, the idea being maybe oils from my lips or other lip products had gotten on the felt and were wrecking shop in the application department. Then I replaced the caps and popped off the tops on the opposite end, exposing the barrel and the marker inside. I dripped a few drops of nearly boiling purified water mixed with a little bit of vodka (for evaporation…and kicks) into each barrel, right onto the felt, put the tops back on and shook them like a baby bad martini.
The liquid ran into the cap reservoir so I turned them upside down again, basically rolling and rotating the things until all the juice was evenly distributed. It took about two days to make sure everything was nicely absorbed (science takes time y’all!) and the results were mixed.
The Just Bitten, which had more juice in it to begin with, perked right back up. The application was a bit thinner the first few days but other than that it was like new. The Covergirl Outlast, which was much older and seemingly dried out a week after I bought it, was more of a mixed bag. The marker doesn’t absorb or distribute the product as evenly as the Just Bitten one does, but the product itself –the actual juice– I don’t think it’s a problem with the product as much as it is with the delivery system as when the stain actually DOES come out it’s plentiful and does what it says on the tube.
I don’t expect a call from Sweden any time soon — at least until they have a Nobel Prize in Accessorizing– but if you’re desperate to make your Outlast last a little bit longer, you might as well give it a go.
Do you have any tricks to revive dead lipstain? Put it in the comments.
We are working on it Plumcake. So far the Committee have been sceptics.
You have more lipstains over there. Here we mostly find Maxfactor Lipfinity and if you’re really really lucky one other unknown brand of dubious quality.
Comment by Ravna — July 20, 2011 @ 4:50 pm
I love Outlast, but the evil way the package is designed means that there’s a good fifth of the product that you’re never going to be able to use. One of these days I really should write to Covergirl about that.
Comment by Margo A — July 21, 2011 @ 1:06 am
Thanks for the update, Miss Plumcake! I will give this trick a try with my dried-out lip stains.
Comment by Cat — July 21, 2011 @ 12:11 pm
I just store mine upside down, like standing on the cap. Even my old, old Covergirl lipstain perked up after being stored like that for a few days. I also make sure that I don’t put on lip balm before I put on the stain, or I wipe it off with a towel or something.
Comment by Chantal — July 21, 2011 @ 9:33 pm
Ugh, the Outlast I had was a great color but it dried up in like 3 days.
You know what I’m digging on right now? I picked up a Pixi lipstain from Target and I’m really pleased with it. Like most lipstains, I kind of have to wipe it off after I apply it to get a naturallier look (that’s a word) but it seems to last.
Comment by Siobhan — July 22, 2011 @ 12:00 pm