Who doesn’t love a lip palette? Whether it’s a single-color palette or a multi-color one, it is just easy to dip your finger into rich pigment and apply it almost like you would apply lip balm. The whole thing has a very old-school-pat-rouge-into-your-lips kinda feel if you ask me - like for a second, you’re a woman (or man) in Marie Antoinette’s court, just nonchalantly applying your “rouge” in your “boudoir”. The good thing nowadays though, is while they preserve all the charm of a bygone era, they keep none of the toxicity that came with some of the makeup used then. These lip palettes are modern, the pigments are rich without being toxic, the packaging is avant-garde, and a multi-use product really does get along with the fast and furious lifestyle of today.

I own my share of lip palettes, and I will slowly try and share them all with you. Today, I want to share some fun red based lip palettes (or lip pots) that I find are not just absolutely beautiful to look at, but are also richly pigmented and are truly multi-use.

First, let’s talk about the 3CE lip multipots. When I tell you I love these, I mean I really, really really love these. Part of the reason for that is that it is generally hard to find potted lip products that are truly matte or truly opaque in pigment. Potted lip products tend to be a little on the creamier side - because of their intended use - and so I always find that even the mattest of them leave the hint of a sheen behind. Not these. These are matte, matte, matte. So if you don’t like matte formulas for lips, you won’t like them. However, you could still use them on your cheeks and since you will probably need to use them with a light hand because of the high level of pigmentation, these will probably last you until the end of your days as a cheek product.

As you can probably see from the images, these are not tiny pots - these are quite big in diameter for a potted product so you get good value for money. I discovered 3CE on Into the Gloss, where I saw one of these closed compacts on someone’s vanity. I was instantly attracted to the design - the lids have these gorgeous images superimposed on them and they remind me of some of Guy Bourdin’s photographs. The metallic parts of the pot are gold in color and I am truly a sucker for gold hardware on beauty products. So I did what anyone would do (not?!) - I zoomed in as much as I could to try and read the fine print on the lid - the “3CE” at the bottom. Needless to say, it took me a while to decipher it, but I finally figured it out and tracked these down online. I ordered the colors Scarlet Red and Primula. I was not disappointed. The packaging truly makes them a star on your vanity or in your makeup bag. The equally great thing is that for me, who loves matte reds, the juice inside is near-perfect. The texture is a dry-ish matte, almost waxy when you dip your finger in to apply. It goes on almost completely opaque on your lips from the get-go. The Scarlet Red shade is a beautiful orangey-red and the Primula is a deeper, wine red. Both perform similarly spectacularly. On my lips, they last the whole day with minimal fading. On my cheeks, I usually apply them over a dewier base (or mositurizer) which helps blend them better. Overall, these are probably my favourite lip pot/palette product of all the ones I own - and that’s saying something. (See swatched below)

Another brand that is known for its potted multi-use products is Lilah b. I discovered Lilah b. at Saks Fifth Avenue in NYC. This was almost four years ago, and since then, while I havn’t tried other products from the brand, I have loved this lip and cheek potted product - the Lilah b. Divine Duo Lip & Cheek. I have a few colors but the one I want to talk about today is a favourite - b. fearless. This is a very bright red with cool undertones on my lips (though it looks more orange in the pot). This formula is also a matte formula, but more forgiving than the 3CE in the sense that it is more creamy than waxy, and is very light - almost powdery. This is also a little less opaque in pigment than the 3CE but can really be built up for a fully opaque red lip look. It is, as you can probably see in the images, a much smaller pot than the 3CE.

In terms of design, this looks like a little white pebble - it is heavy, white, smooth and ergonomically extremely satisfying to hold in the palm of your hand. It’s tiny size actually makes it look prettier in my opinion but ofcourse, that also means you end up with less product. Mine has taken a bit of a fall here and there and a few small scratches have appeared on its surface so if you want to keep that exterior pristine, be careful! I like it on both my cheeks and lips and as a quick touch-and-go product, it performs perfectly. It is easily blendable, and imparts a soft, very subtle creaminess to your cheeks when you apply it.

Swatches of 3CE Multipots and Lilah b. Divine Duo

Finally, there is a newer product that I have also been liking a lot - Westman Atelier’s Lip Suede in Les Rouges. I have to admit, I bought it for its compact design. It is shiny, and bright red, and seems to me as if Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons put their brains together and created it.

The formula is very creamy, but richly pigmented. While it definitely does not have the opacity of the 3CE and the Lilah b., it is quite pigmented for a more traditionally creamy potted lip product and can be built up so that the colors appear in their full glory on your lips. Now technically, this is a lip product - not multi-use, but personally, I have been applying the pink and the purplish-grey shade on my cheeks and I love it. It blends well, and has generally skin loving ingredients in it so I don’t see why you can’t use it everywhere (though maybe not the eyes since that area is more sensitive). For those of us who prefer more creamier and forgiving products on our lips, or are more comfortable wearing formulas that can be sheered out, this is an excellent little pot of luxury that looks good in your hand and equally good on your face.

This compact contains four colors - a fuschia pink, a maroon-ish red, a corall-y orange-y red, and greyish-purple. Of these, I think the fuschia pink is my personal favourite. The orangey, corally red - as you can probably see from the images - is not as bright as the orange of 3CE - and not as red either. It is a more subdued orange-red with a bit of peach in it that makes it lean a little more coral on my lips. The grey-ish purple shade was the one that confused me a little because on my lips, it just felt deadening. But on my cheeks, it somehow reads more purple than grey and a more pink-y purple so it somehow manages to pull itself off.

So this is it - a quartet of pretty little lip compacts you can pop into your purse and walk out the door for the day. I love the way they are designed, and I love what’s inside them. I hope you do too! Let me know if you’ve tried them and if you have any questions!