Ellis Faas has limited brand presence on West Coast beauty blogs because it is almost impossible to find in Canada unless you go through the smaller selection on the Sephora website or find a boutique that carries part of the range. Since I first saw their makeup capsule featured on Lisa Eldridge’s beauty channel a three years ago, I have been dying to try this sparse brand and always had it tucked away in the recesses of my beauty obsessed mind. I was thrilled when I spotted a display at the Sephora on St Catherine in Montréal when I was visiting home last Spring and was blown over by the quality of products. My utmost favourite from the whole line is the creamy lips pen, specifically shades L104 and L102.
Ellis Faas is a very conceptual brand and has a unique take on packaging, textures and artistry. All the products come in pen form and fit in to a cylindrical capsule that can fit a whole look from base to lips. The products are sold individually and come in sleek matching pens, only to be differentiated by the colour and label at the base; this means that products can be identified just by a quick glance at the bottom instead of having to open each pen to figure out what it is.
The Creamy Lips formula–one of three–is the most opaque and long wearing, although the range of colours is quite limited. The tip is a sponge doe foot applicator that smoothes the products over the lips and allows precision when used on an angle. With no immunity to a bold lips, I predictably fell for the two richest colours. I do not shy away from wearing these at their full opacity but sometimes I like to use the applicator with no new product on it–just the remnants of a previous application that gives an extremely flattering “just bitten” stain to my lips.
(L104, L102; with flash)
(L104, L102; no flash)
Gorgeous, aren’t they? They apply as a satin but dry down to a luminous matte (not too flat) and have exceptional staying power. They never fully wear off but leave a lovely stain in their wake after 8+ hours of wear. These are work and party friendly since I haven’t had any smudging, feathering, bleeding our transfer on to the teeth. This Holiday season it will be hard to knock these two colours down as my go-to bold lips.
Grade: A+
