One of my Black Friday orders (that’s how long I was sitting on this review) was a sample set of the newer Life’s Entropy Lip Theories. They arrived, and I promptly said “dang, how am I going to fit all these into a post?” There’s twenty of them, so when you factor in that I usually try to full-day wear any lip products and I can’t wear half of these to work, that’d be a month or so between posts. And it’s not like I’ve never done that before or anything, but I’m trying to avoid it, so here’s part 1.

These samples had been sitting around my house for about a month and a half before I got around to swatching them, plus the time that they got caught in Canada Post. I shook them up a bit, but none of them really seemed to be separating that much.

The samples are still packed in the cute little science tubes. I’m not a science person (I’m getting into the competitive knitting scene) but the beard thought they were cute.

I also got an eyeshadow sample in Van Der Walrus Forces, but that’s not in the shop either so I didn’t bother swatching it.

Anomoly is listed as a warm rosy pink. From the shop photo, I assumed it would look awful on me, but I decided to give it a go anyway. It looks notably browner and darker than the swatch photo in real life. I like that a lot more than the photo, but that’s definitely something to keep in mind. I don’t know if I’d buy a full-size, but I don’t hate it as much as I thought. It didn’t have very much fading during the day, either.

Antibond is a slightly grayed-out purple. I don’t know if I’m feeling it with my new hair, but that was a spontaneous decision I didn’t know was coming, let alone the lipstick. It also lasted pretty well all day.

None of the non-shimmer Lip Theories really dried down to super matte on me. They’re definitely closer to the NYX SMLC than the KVD liquid lipsticks, for a mainstream comparison. None of them were drying, which is a plus, but there was definitely some transfer when I ate and drank things.

Biohazard is basically Anomoly but with a really subtle green shimmer. It’s pretty light, and you can’t really see it in most lights. Personally, I could have gone for a lot stronger on the green, but this is a nice wearable option for people who do not just regularly slap green lipstick on but still want to be a little bit weird.

Hey, maybe I should have written some buffer posts before this one!

Buffer is a cool mid-toned gray. This is a lot more my speed. I took these photos after breakfast, so you can see it’ll easily last through some food.

I found out of all of them, Cathode was the only one that really felt off on the lips. It took, like, an hour to dry, and it felt exactly like that body glitter I had in the 90s before I could use real makeup. It’s a pretty, warm, metallic gold, and it’s possible my sample was just off, but I’m not a fan.

Chiral is a very pretty colour. It’s kind of sheer, although it can be built up to be a full blue-toned fuchsia. The copper shimmer doesn’t come out as much on the lips. I don’t know if I’d buy this one, but it is lovely.

Dipole. Mm. I like this one. It comes off as a purple with a really strong aqua shimmer. It’s more blue-toned than green in the duochrome, but I love it. Possible more because of that. You know me. Anyway, this is another one that can be a wee bit patchy, but it’s not as noticeable.

Equilibrium is another of the more civilised colours I got. It comes off as a metallic neutral red that would go super well with my red sequin heels. Weirdly enough, I found as it wore, it gained more of a coppery tone. Not sure what’s up with that.

Guys, I didn’t think I’d love Ester. But I kind of super love it. Rose gold lips. It’s a pretty peachy sparkly neutral that I could get away with wearing in most situations that don’t involve eating multiple plates of poutine. This is definitely one that I want in full size.

Guys, I thought I’d really love Gravity. I’m not sold on it, though. On its own, it’s a really pretty colour- metallic gunmetal with kinda greeny tones? Yiss. That’s a think I like. However, this guy was really patchy. You can sort of see it in the arm swatch, but it’s really visible on the lips. This one needs a lot of work to get it looking right. While it’ll stay on a while, it takes enough work to get right that I know I won’t reach for it.

So, that’s part one of my lip theory post. Part 2 will be coming up soonish, although I might do something else in between to give my lips a break. In general, I do really like the Lip Theory formula- a few colours didn’t work out on me, but that’s par for the course when you’re not selecting samples yourself.