beauty

"The $10.49 matte lip product that always gets me compliments."

 

Scroll through my Instagram selfies (but don’t actually) and you’ll notice one thing that they nearly all have in common.

Ninety seven per cent of the time, I’m wearing the exact same lip colour – for good reason.

Since picking up Australis Velourlips Matte Lip Cream product in a Priceline sale about six months ago, it’s been a firm favourite.

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Selfie evidence #1. Image: Brittany Stewart

Its formula goes on creamy, dries matte without being cement-level drying and the colour is bold and incredibly pigmented. Oh, and it costs $10.49.

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I have two but my colour of choice is a bright tropical-punch orange called San Fran-Disco. And yes, part of the allure was the epic name - I'm easy to please like that.

While pink and red are the most typical 'bold' lippy colours you might be drawn to, I'm making a hard case for the move to orange. It's far more versatile and flattering on all skin tones than you might expect, with matte far easier and less intimidating to wear than gloss.

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My beloved tube. Image: Brittany Stewart

I have never got more compliments on my lipstick than I have with this one and it gives me great glee to say that it cost me less than the artisan doughnuts I walk by everyday on my way to work.

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It's the perfect mood-booster, outfit-lifter and insecurity-distract-er. It jazzes up an otherwise plain or simple outfit and made the ideal distraction the other week when I had an unsightly scab on my nose that was getting me down. A quick whack of bright orange on the lips and it was no longer the brightest feature on my face you were drawn to.

I wear it with any colour (even orange!) and find that as a complementary colour, it has the added bonus of making my eyes look bluer.

I'm down to the last few drops in my well-used tube and I'm already freaking out.

Because it's such a bright colour, it's not the easiest product to eat anything tricky (after a burger, I'll often notice a few smudges) but otherwise it's long-lasting, requiring only one touch up in a 12 hour period.

I love the velvet-y matte finish and it doesn't flake like other liquid lipstick products.

If tangerine isn't your thing, there are plenty of other colours with the same winning formula to choose from, ranging from greys to blues, purples to pinks and a stunning blue-based red called Ny-Cee.

The brand also doesn't test on animals, is vegan friendly and doesn't contain palm oil. Available online, at Priceline, Big W and Kmart, this is one product you won't regret dropping into your shopping cart - virtual or otherwise.

Listen: Zoe Foster Blake shares her best beauty tips.