Exude Lipstick has solved a great dilemma amongst beauty mavens.

Lipstick melts. That was always a fact of life, was it not? Leave your lipstick in the car and come back to your favorite red all out of shape. And that’s not the only way it goes out of shape. It crumbles, it gets worn down. Your favorite tube can quickly turn into a sorry shadow of its former glory.

That doesn’t happen with Exude.

The Crystal Applicator

The Exude crystal applicator keeps lipstick fresh and helps maintain its integrity.

Exude cleverly designed a crystal applicator that keep the lipstick cream in a lipstick shaped tube. The benefit of this is that the actual applicator portion — the part that touches your lips — is always the right shape and size to put your lipstick on flawlessly. Because the tip of the lipstick stays sharp, it’s easy to apply in the shape of your lips, making for a crisp lip line (without the use of liner!).

There’s another benefit to this tube. When the lipstick gets hot, it doesn’t melt. That means that your lipstick is infinitely more durable and you never get out to your hot car only to realize that you’ve ruined your lipstick.

Durability: 4/5

Exude stays on relatively well. While I was wearing it, I ate an apple and drank a cup of tea and still had the lipstick on — albeit not as pigmented as it was when I put it on. Overall, the reason it doesn’t stay super well is because it’s moisturizing and subsequently doesn’t dry the way some long-wear lipsticks do.

Texture: 4/5, Finish: 5/5

I love the creamy feel of the lipstick, it reminds me a bit of wearing a thick balm as opposed to a lipstick, which can sometimes get dry after several hours of wear. Unfortunately, if you get too much on the tube, though the troughs helps to keep it from getting too heavy, the lipstick can still not dry well and end up a bit sloppy. Careful application is still important.

Fortunately, the finish is beautiful. Creamy and smooth, the lipstick looks luscious and has a very consistent color when you apply it well.

Pigmentation: 4/5

Exude lipstick layers well, getting a nice full color after ever application. However, the initial swipe isn’t as pigmented as the color in the tube promises — it definitely takes a few coats. I wish it were a bit more pigmented right off the bat, as a saturated color can take some time to get right.

Moisturizing: 5/5

There are definitely lipsticks that leave your lips dry and Exude is most certainly not one of them. The creamy formula keeps lips soft and smooth for several hours. I wore it all day and by the end of the day, I didn’t feel my lips were dry or had flaked oddly the way they can with some other lipsticks.

Product Rating: 8.5/10

Bottom Line

Exude has solved many lipstick woes with their creamy formula and crystal applicator. This lipstick will last you a long time and it’s a creamy, moisturizing formula. The downsides are that the crème doesn’t stay on lips as well as more long-lasting formulas (though I find those drying and would, personally, rather use something like this) and the you have to build the color because the formula isn’t as pigmented as other formulas from the get-go.