Welcome to round two of Eco Chick’s new feature, the Eco-Beauty Cage Match. Each month I will try out two beauty products and pit them against each other to see how they perform. I’ll be evaluating the ingredients, the manufacturer’s claims, the smell and texture and how well the product works. I’m choosing products that are marketed to consumers as ‘natural’, ‘organic’ or ‘eco-friendly’.
Last time, I compared oil-free moisturizers. This week, it’s lipstick. When it comes to finding a good natural lipstick, you want the purest possible ingredients while also getting a pleasant smell and texture, long-lasting color and complimentary shades. I put two lipsticks to the test, from brands Nvey Eco and Ecco Bella. Check out how they compared!
Ecco Bella FlowerColor Lipstick
Retail Price: $14.95
Ecco Bella says: A lipstick that thinks it’s a lip balm. The cleanest, safest, prettiest lipstick for those who love lipstick. A simple healthy formula of vegetable waxes, oils, and mineral pigments that go on creamy and don’t feather. Like a lip balm, Ecco Bella lipsticks moisturize without flaking or chapping. FD&C dye free, petroleum-free.
Ingredients: All of Ecco Bella’s ingredients are safe and natural. See the list here.
Smell & Texture: No particular smell is noticeable, and the texture is smooth and creamy. It does, as claimed, feel like a lip balm in that it’s very moisturizing, but it is a bit heavier than a typical lip balm. The color I chose (Peach Rose) is a bit darker than it looks in the swatch on the website, but such are the perils of ordering cosmetics online.
Performance: It kept my lips feeling smooth and soft for about an hour after applying, and after that it started to feel a bit sticky. It lasted about as long as you can expect a non long-wearing lipstick to last.
Nvey Eco Organic Lipstick
Retail Price: $28.00
Nvey Eco says: ECO Lipstick delivers vibrant and natural colour compostions. Soothing Safflower, Beeswax, Vitamin E and organic Castor Oil provide antioxidant and nourishing properties for soft and smooth lips.
Ingredients: Like the Ecco Bella lipstick, all of the ingredients in this lipstick are safe and natural – no worries about ingesting nasty stuff commonly found in conventional lipsticks like BHA and artificial fragrance. See the full list here.
Smell & Texture: There’s a very faint, pleasant orange blossom-like smell to it. The texture is light, smooth and very creamy. You can barely tell it’s there. The shade I chose, #360, has a soft shimmer, is very flattering to my pale-skinned-redhead coloring, and looks very similar to the swatch found online.
Performance: This lipstick really does perform like a lip balm, with a very moisturizing feel – no chalkiness, stickiness, or heavy coating sort of effect. It’s sheer, but still lasts as long as you can reasonably expect a non long-wearing lipstick to last.
AND THE WINNER IS… Nvey Eco! I’m really excited about this company. All of their products have a short list of ingredients that are very safe, pure and natural – plus, they’re organic. They have very high standards for their products and they stick to them (you can read them all here). The price tag is a bit hard to swallow (I never thought I’d pay so much for a single lipstick!) but for performance, looks and ingredients, you really can’t beat Nvey Eco. I can’t wait to try more of their products – I need new mascara and eyeliner!
Nvey Eco products are now available for purchase at Sephora (online only).
Ecco Bella was pretty close competition, though. I may have to try a few more of their products as well!
