I will put this bluntly; I hate these! Before, I get to my truthful confession, let me give you a background on Laka.
The brand birthed onto the cosmetic world in 2018 in Korea. It's philosophy is gender-neutral with the celebration of everyone's unique features. Laka stands for Love And Kind Artistry. Pretty clever. I like it! It reminds me of Tubb - The Unknown Beauty Blog which is what you are reading now!
I had been curious about Laka for awhile but I didn't want to order from overseas. Instead, I waited until it was available in the US which happened to be Amazon. I have to explain that I don't follow or watch any influencers. I don't pay attention to social media. I know by the reviews, many just gush over them, and it is probably from the PR packs they receive.
Me, I bought mine when Amazon had a sale. Specifically, the lip liners were priced at something like $12 each and if two items were bought, a free matte lipstick would be thrown in. I thought, why not? MAC would never offer anything like this!
From the color of the packaging I was excited! I thought these lip liners would be the colors I have always hoped for. From the looks of Mauve Whisper box, I thought, it would be some dark mauve with just a hint of brown. Burnt Brown would be a rich soft dark chocolate brown. I did have a question mark about the matte lipstick color box, but it was just general packaging for the lipstick.
When I opened the lip liners, the containers were colored for easy differentiation. I love brands that do this, no searching and trying to read labels with tiny print. I swatched them on a white napkin and they looked decent and dark. However, the Mauve Whisper and the matte lipstick - Mauve Gem just didn't look right. I made sure that I received the right ones, and they were correctly labeled.
I swatched onto my wrist. Mauve Whisper looked nothing like a mauve. Mauve Gem looked nothing like mauve.
The chance of liking these lip products completely disappeared when I tried them on my lips. The Laka Stain Lip Liners are made to be transfer-proof which they are on bare lips. They also SET WITHIN 5 SECONDS. There is no chance to smudge them out into shape. They also feel REALLY DRY like beef jerky! In the pictures you can see how it cracks on the outline of the lips. These are not comfortable at all.
The colors are awful too. The Burnt Brown is a medium brown with a hint of red. The Mauve Whisper is a burgundy red, no hint of mauve whatsoever.
If the lips are prepped with a balm first, the product glides on smoothly BUT it also never dries and smears off easily. The color also becomes warmer in color, and they are a bit warm-based in the first place.
The Bulky Matte Lipstick in Mauve Gem is a joke. What makes it bulky is the clear cap, I guess. It has a slight sweet scent like marshmallow or cake. The texture is a lightweight matte with a good slip BUT the color is completely WRONG. There is no hint of mauve! It looks more like nude peachy-rose, again a slight dryness. It isn't comfortable for long-term wear. (I find GirlCult matte lip products to be the most wearable and comfortable so far.)
I really don't know what to do with these. I can't give them away because I know the person who receives them won't like them due to its dryness. They aren't really fun to wear because they feel like tough beef jerky on the lips.
The biggest fault of Laka is the color names. They are WAY OFF! Also, if you buy Laka products, they are photoshopped a bit too much. They are never true-to-color. This goes for their blush items too.
I won't be trying any more Laka products for awhile due to this. Maybe, in a couple of years the colors and names will improve. Then, I will try them again. But for now, I am going to save my money.
