When I went searching for the perfect red lipstick last year, I came across the MAC Lipstick in 'Ruby Woo', as I had seen so many rave reviews about it online, and how nice it looked on people of all skin tones. When I finally bought it and tried it on, I was amazed at how nice it looked on my extremely pale skin. So when MAC released a matching Ruby Woo Lipliner earlier this year, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I finally decided to get it a few weeks ago on a whim, when I wanted to wear my Ruby Woo Lipstick and I needed a lip liner to wear under it, and this was obviously the closest match I was going to find for the lipstick!
I have talked about the Ruby Woo Lipstick briefly in a previous post about my MAC Lipstick collection, but I am going to go into more detail about it here. MAC describes this lipstick as a 'Very matte vivid blue-red' and I definitely agree with them. This lipstick is a very bright red lipstick that looks almost neon in certain lighting. On some skin tones it may look a bit darker, but on me it looks quite bright, but it isn't so bright that it completely washes me out. This lipstick is a very cool-toned red colour, and it is quite blue-based. The formula of this lipstick is what MAC describes as being 'Retro Matte'. This is the most matte finish MAC does, so this lipstick is extremely matte and there is no sheen or shimmer present in it at all. As this lipstick is so matte, it can be very drying on the lips, but as long as you exfoliate and put a thick lip balm on an hour or so (or even the night before) wearing it, it won't cling to dry patches or look powdery on the lips. Also, because this lipstick is so matte, it has extremely long staying power. It doesn't move at all while eating or drinking. Without the lip liner, this lipstick lasts for about 8-10 hours on the lips before fading. As this lipstick is matte, it also means that it is extremely pigmented, and it is opaque on the lips with just one swipe.
The Ruby Woo Lip Liner is the exact same colour as the lipstick, but just in pencil form. Like the lipstick, this liner is very matte, so it can cling to dry patches if you do not exfoliate your lips and make sure that they are in relatively good condition before applying it. This liner is extremely pigmented, and you do not need to use too much product for it to become opaque on the lips. This liner lasts for about 8 hours on me on its own. I don't think that using this liner underneath the lipstick really increases the longevity of the lipstick on the lips, as the lipstick lasts so long on the lips on its own anyway, but I don't really mind, because the reason why I bought the liner was to make applying the lipstick easier, as I find it hard to outline my lips with just the lipstick and no lip liner without making mistakes.
When I am wearing these two products together, I always outline my lips quite lightly with the lip liner first to make sure that I am getting the shape of my lips right, and then I will go over the line again with the liner. I then like to fill in my entire lips with the liner to ensure that the lipstick goes on evenly, but it does waste the lip liner, and if you wanted to, you could just outline your lips and get the right shape with this product before applying this lipstick. After I have outlined and filled in my lips with the liner, I will go on top of the liner with the lipstick, just to make the colour even stronger and ensure that the products stay on the lips for as long as possible without fading. At the end, I also like to pat the lipstick into my lips to ensure that it doesn't move.
Although I love wearing both of the liner and the lipstick together, and I feel that they look better when worn together, it is quite pricey, as the liner is €17 and the lipstick is €20. I think that if I didn't own either of these products, but I loved the colour of Ruby Woo, I would probably get the lip liner, as it is more precise and easier to fill in the lips, especially if you are awful at applying bright lipstick like me. It also lasts just as long as the lipstick, and it is extremely pigmented. Although you do waste more of the lip liner when using it on its own, as I barely ever wear red lipstick, I feel like I would never finish the lip liner anyway, as you do get quite a lot of product, and you don't need to use too much to outline and fill in the lips completely.
