[REVIEW] LAKA Smooth Matte Lipstick

I’m back after a looooong hiatus and I’m so excited to share more of my honest beauty reviews again!

Today I’m here with one of my favourite new lippies that I purchased in Korea last year from a new favourite K-beauty brand, LAKA!

If you follow their Instagram page, you’ll realise that they’re very big on minimalism and warm, flattering hues – which I absolutely love.

Suggested read: Avoid these tourist traps in Myeongdong!

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Product Description

Lightweight matte lipstick applies effortlessly over lips providing a buildable coverage that helps create that much-coveted MLBB look! Its creamy formula is available in 8 easy-to-wear shades.

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Ingredient List

I’m having problems finding this, let me know if you see it around!

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Swatches

Review

Packaging

Unlike many other K-beauty brands that are heavily focused on pretty packaging, LAKA keeps things really simple and minimalistic without feeling cheap at all.

In fact, the white and black packaging looks super chic – don’t you think so too?

Colour

I bought this in Roy, a gorgeous warm red bean paste shade that is perfect for pulling off natural MLBB looks.

To be honest, it wasn’t really my first choice because these days I’ve been leaning towards darker and warmer brick reds, but every other shade was sold out in Olive Young, so you know exactly how much the locals love this lipstick!

Despite the fact that it wasn’t my top choice, I do find this colour to be really pretty and very natural-looking, although I think it works best on those with slightly fairer skin tones and lighter-coloured lips.

Pigmentation-wise, it is very pigmented but also very easy to control the colour intensity – one swipe for a light swash of colour, and a couple more if you want to make the colour pop.

Staying power

Despite being a matte lipstick, I didn’t find it quite as long-lasting as I had expected. I’m not sure if it may be due to the light shade I purchased, but most of the colour is gone after just one meal.

That being said, it’s not exactly a bad thing because this matte lipstick is simply so comfortable to wear! It applies really smoothly and feels like nothing on my lips.

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Final Verdict

The only thing stopping me from using this is more often is the fact that the shade Roy makes me look a little pale (just a little!), because this is one highly-underrated lipstick.

Even though the staying power is not the most amazing, I think the comfort and smooth application are a huge plus. I’m also very tempted to try the other shades because they look so flattering – will update with swatches if I manage to get my hands on them!

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Individual Rating

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Overall Rating

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