Jaclyn Cosmetics Nude Mood Lipstick Trio Swatches + Review

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*NOTE: Please see my Facebook post regarding the possible contamination of the Jaclyn Cosmetics lipsticks. I’d advise you to not purchase or use these products until everything gets sorted out in a mature & truthful manner. As of now, neither the brand nor Jaclyn Hill have made any sort of truthful statement regarding the state of the makeup or the issues that some consumers are claiming to have. Please educate yourself on the potential hazards that any contaminants in makeup can cause (not just with Jaclyn Hill’s brand) and always be an aware consumer. If you’ve purchased any product from any brand that has given you a reaction or appears to contain contaminants please report that to the FDA here.

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Last week pigs flew, Hell froze over and Jaclyn Hill finally launched her makeup line. Clearly I’ve been a fan for awhile and I still use the Jaclyn Hill x Morphe Eyeshadow Palette frequently (let’s not talk about Dark Magic, okay?). 

Whatever, it’s clear I’m a fan but I also stay unbiased. I’ve followed Jaclyn for a long time now and I have very high levels of expectations when it comes to her launching her namesake brand… especially since she’s a self-proclaimed perfectionist.

what is Jaclyn Cosmetics

Jaclyn Cosmetics is a brand created and owned by OG beauty YouTuber Jaclyn Hill. Fans have been waiting for a very long time to get their hands on pieces of Jaclyn Hill Makeup. She’s been mentioning her own line being in the works for YEARS and all the while has only been launching collabs with other brands, most notably with Morphe and Becca Cosmetics.

The inaugural launch of Jaclyn Cosmetics came as quite a shock. While most beau-tubers release an eyeshadow palette or maybe one lipstick, Jaclyn released TWENTY shades of nude lipsticks. They all looked beautiful based on her swatches and I’ll be honest, it was really hard for me not to buy the entire vault.

Cream meets shine with this rich, pout-perfecting lipstick that’s filled with buttery goodness.

The lipsticks were available for purchase in singles for $18.00 each, pre-made trios at $49.00 each or the entire collection of 20 lipsticks for $295.00. I love that she did things this way and felt the trios were grouped together smartly. If you bought a trio you saved $5 off of retail and if you bought the entire collection you saved $65.00. 

Standard shipping is currently FREE with any purchase of $45.00 or more. 

Returns are ACCEPTED.

We want you to fall in luxe with your Jaclyn Cosmetics purchase, but if you’re not happy, we will take it back. Purchases made on our website may be returned up to 30 days after confirmed delivery for a refund in the original form of payment. Sorry, we cannot refund the cost of shipping. Please report missing, damaged, or defective products within 30 days of delivery, and we will replace damaged or defective products at no additional charge. 

I think this return policy is completely amazing. It’s rare to see an influencer launch their own brand (that isn’t available at a popular retail store) & offer something like this. Kim and Kylie don’t even do this – all sales have always been final on their respective beauty websites.

my ordering experience

I set my alarm for 11:58am EST on May 30. The launch was slated to happen at noon. As soon as I went to the site at 11:58 I saw that everything was live. I knew what I wanted and quickly added the Nude Mood Trio, Nude Moment Trio and Isla to my cart. I checked out and had a confirmation of my order by 12:01pm EST. Because I wanted to get these to my house ASAP (before the crazy last week of school started) I paid $12.00 extra for expedited shipping.

The very same DAY I got a shipping notice. I couldn’t even believe it. The next day a few people were posting their orders even though several didn’t pay for expedited shipping. All of the ones I clicked on lived on the West Coast (the lipsticks shipped from California) and I live on the East Coast. That makes sense so I was fine with it. 

My items were shipped via UPS. Because I like to keep track of packages and know what is coming in that week I have a UPS My Choice account (the free one) which originally told me that my Jaclyn package would be here on Monday, June 3. Okay… TBH, for me, that’s a regular purchase from California. I’ve ordered a lot of makeup in my 10 years of blogging, this is always how long shipping takes from California via UPS. Expedited is always within a day, depending on the time I ordered. Seeing as how my order went through at 12:01pm EST (9:01am PST) I figured they’d arrive the next day or as a Saturday delivery.

My order ended up arriving on Tuesday, June 4.

Now, they were in fact shipped via second day air service. For all intents and purposes, this is considered upgraded shipping. Based off of what I’ve seen of other packages arriving to the East Coast I paid $12 more to get my package exactly one day before everyone else. 

Upgraded shipping = not worth it.

first impressions

If you follow along on my Twitter you’ve seen my first impressions. They started off majorly positive but quickly turned a bit once I noticed that after swatching (very lightly and very carefully only twice) the color bullet for Amazeballs looked to be bending in the tube and getting that dent when I was twisting it down. This only happens when the lipstick is starting to tilt over at the base. Kevin James Bennett has an excellent post regarding this.

It’s also worth mentioning that the very first time I opened the lipstick tubes I noticed small fibers on the product. On Nude AF there is also a circle of discoloration at the center. Below in the review I’ve included some close-up shots of the lipsticks so that you can take a look.

The first arm swatches had me completely impressed. Each shade glided on nicely, easily and evenly. The formula reminds me of the satin finish from MAC but with a little more slip. 

The scent is so hard to describe. It’s almost like they were meant to have a vanilla scent but then they were stored too long in a plastic container so they absorbed a whiff of that on top of the sweet vanilla scent that was intended. The scent did not fade away quickly so if you’re not into fragrances you might want to keep that info handy.

The packaging is stunning. Based off of the promo photos I wasn’t expecting to love anything about the component but the lipstick cases have a good weight to them (they don’t feel light or cheap but they’re not so heavy or bulky that you can’t easily work with it). The glittery tube doesn’t feel grainy and isn’t over-done. Hell, I even love that jewel at the top.

I’m unsure why the seal at the center says JH when she’s branded herself as “Jaclyn Cosmetics” but my thoughts on her marketing strategy and branding are a story for another time. 

review

The Jaclyn Cosmetics Nude Mood Trio contains three full-sized, light nude lipstick shades in Nude AF, Amazeballs and Obsessed. Each lipstick has a net weight of 3.7g/0.13oz.

Nude AF is described as a cream nude. When worn alone, on me this shade is literally what is referred to as “concealer lips”. It wasn’t opaque in one swipe and I didn’t find it to be evenly buildable. Overall it was patchy.

Jaclyn has said that this is perfect for wearing at the center of the bottom lip to give the appearance of a poutier look. This is 100% the only way I’ll ever use this shade but I will say it does an excellent job of creating the pout. 

Amazeballs is described as a buff nude. When worn alone, on me this shade comes off as a similar color to my skin tone. This shade was opaque in one swipe. I didn’t like it on unless it was layered with another shade but I am liking it over Obsessed and a little of Nude AF at the center. When I mess around with liners underneath it also helps quite a bit.

Obsessed is described as a blushing peach. When worn alone, on me this shade comes off as a beautiful warm pinky-peach nude. It’s truly my perfect nude and I am actually obsessed with it. Like, I could throw out every other lipstick I own and be perfectly happy only owning this one. I found this shade to be opaque in one swipe.

Also note with Obsessed there were some air bubbles around the edge there. I didn’t mention it during my first impressions on Twitter because I didn’t even notice until I looked at the photos I took with my DSLR camera. I wasn’t looking super closely, but the camera really shows off the small circles. I take all of my photos with this camera and don’t recall ever seeing something like this.

With that being said I’ve worn Obsessed several times and haven’t had any issues with random bumps protruding from it or anything like that. In fact, as I’ve been wearing it the small holes have completely disappeared and, so far, haven’t returned.

Wear time across the board was like that of any other regular lipstick out on the market with this type of slip – 2-3 hours without any major drinking/eating. IMO the formula felt comfortable, not sticky and not drying however it wasn’t as hydrating feeling after the 1 hour mark.

Also, FWIW, on me these shades looked nothing like they did on the swatches on the models lips. However we need to keep in mind that it will always differ slightly due to differences in natural lip pigment and skin tone. We also don’t know if the models for Jaclyn Cosmetics were wearing lip primers, liners or anything else.

Based on what is happening to the lipsticks in my own experience and those that I’m seeing across the internet I would not recommend picking these up right now.
Please watch RawBeautyKristi’s video where she puts her lipsticks under a microscope. I recommend you not eat while you watch.

Though this trio of shades pair wonderfully together in terms of layering and I’d repurchase Obsessed a million times over there are some serious quality control issues happening.

If you’d like to support Jaclyn and pick up her products I would say wait beyond even the next restock to be sure that everything has been brought up to the level of quality that we expect from a brand charging $18.00 per lipstick. I’ve been a beauty blogger for 10 years and have photographed a lot of lipsticks – the appearance of the little holes and previously mentioned fibers is not the norm.

If you’re interested in learning a bit about why the lipsticks might have some quality control issues then check out this video.

swatches

The Jaclyn Cosmetics Nude Mood Trio is swatched below dry and on bare skin (no primers). This is one swipe and I touched up the sides/edges a bit so that it looked a little more uniform line wise (which didn’t mess with opacity levels).

Below I’m wearing the Jaclyn Cosmetics Nude Mood Trio on bare lips. Before applying these I exfoliated my lips and did not use a primer or liner. 

comparisons

Currently I have no exact dupes in my collection – I’ve been moving away from wanting lipsticks so don’t have as many in my collection as I do balms, glosses and liquid lips. I’m wanting to grab a few Colourpop lipsticks (since there is a conspiracy theory/rumor she uses the same lab) and compare those. Based off of feel I think that Colourpop have a slightly heavier feel to them when worn and don’t glide as nicely, but they’re also sturdier & overall better performing.

Below I’ve swatched the Jaclyn Cosmetics Nude Mood Trio against several of my favorite nudes from luxury/high end brands. Some of the shades are discontinued, but if you have them in your collection it will at least give you an idea.

Lipsticks shown from top to bottom: MAC McIzzle (Mariah Carey Holiday 2016) | Jaclyn Cosmetics Nude AF | MAC Samantha Ravndahl | Charlotte Tilbury Kim K.W. | Natasha Denona Matte Rosy Nude | Jaclyn Cosmetics Amazeballs | Urban Decay Insanity | MAC Honeylove | Jaclyn Cosmetics Obsessed | Charlotte Tilbury Super Cindy | Charlotte Tilbury Bitch Perfect | MAC LarLarLee

availability

The Jaclyn Cosmetics Nude Mood Trio retails for $49.00 and is currently only sold at jaclyncosmetics.com. Each shade in this trio is also available individually for $18.00 each. From what I can tell these shades are not limited edition & she is already talking about restocks. 

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