Product Review: Vapour Organics Siren Lipstick
If there’s one thing a girl can’t have too much of in her arsenal, it’s lipstick.
As we said in the book, it’s gotta be the single most powerful cosmetic going: With just one swipe it can completely change the appearance of your face. I’ve always loved the stuff and cringe to think how often I put it on as a kid to play dress up. As most of you surely know, mainstream lipsticks are usually contaminated with lead, and intentionally filled with a host of unfriendly chemicals—which we absorb and unintentionally ingest off our lips. Blargh.
Which is why it’s such a treat to find a good clean one you love. And when it’s clean, it works double duty, because if it can go on my lips, it can go on my cheeks—and from RMS to Ilia, every lipstick I love does just that.
Enter Vapour Organics. A brand whose breadth, for no apparent reason, I’ve never fully explored beyond foundation. Now I realize there’s a whole world of products to uncover, and I’ve started with their lipstick. The color I’m in love with is called Tempest, but there are others in the palette catching my eye too. Have you tried any of these? (Color recs please!)
Tempest, on this mug anyways—isn’t it weird how differently colors can read from one face to the next?—is hitting that perfect balance between orange and pink. I know orange is all the rage right now, but I can’t wear a real one without feeling like someone’s grandma. But there’s enough pink and red in this one that it doesn’t scream Florida retirement home, but instead feels youthful and peachy. Especially on the cheeks! Such a good find for summer.
The texture also feels good and hydrating, and it’s got impressive lasting power for a natural (some tips on that here).
Are you a Vapour fan? Which products of theirs have you tried?
P.S. We have a deal running on Open Sky of our beloved Kahina Eye Cream. For the next 24 hours you save ten smackers.
I love the Vapour colors and have been very tempted. I’ve gotten some gorgeous samples from online boutiques – but they use carmine, and I’m vegan (I’ll use sustainable honey, but no ground up bugs for me). Sorry to gross you out if you didn’t know that – carmine is in a LOT of makeup, including lots of naturals. Luckily I’ve found RMS, Afterglow, Inika and Real Purity to cover my gluten free and vegan needs. If Vapour ever goes vegan, I would love to try them.
I love me a good product review! I haven’t tried any vapour products, maybe a friday deal soon? :)
I got a sample of the Vapour Siren lipstick from NuboNau. It’s dryer on my lips than my favorite, Ilia. I did enjoy it as a blush. However, now that I know about the carmine, I will continue to use the Ilia.
@Rebecca-does Ilia have carmine?
I ADORE Vapour personally as well as a make-up artist! It’s one of my favorite green brands! Not just because of its fabulous ingredients, but also because the versatility that creamy products in stick package allow. And the color choice is great, especially the foundation collection cover a huge amount of skin tones. And the formulations allow making a look and finish that can be compared to conventional professional cosmetics. Vapour absolutely rules :) It’s in my favorite safe brands list on my blog!
Best, Dasha
Siren in Desire is a light nude pink that gives a nice fullness to the lips without drying. I just wish the siren lipsticks didn’t have hints of pearl. There is something very Avon circa 1980s about it. The better lipstick brand is Ilia Beauty Lipstick. They have this great matte shades like funnel of love, can’t be beat.
The elixir plumping glosses are pretty wonderful. I am so glad I found it. They are not sticky, don’t have a bad taste and come in a variety of colors. Trust and pout are my favorites.
illusionist concealer is good but not the best. I use it around the eyes with a brush. In comparison to RMS’ concealer it better because there are more shades and is not as thick. RMS is too limited and doesn’t match latin or darker skin tones.
Many RMS products also contain carmine (Lip 2 cheek, cream eyeshadows).
While I don’t really wear lipstick (I’m too lazy/clumsy for high maintenance makeup), I started using Vapour’s Stratus Instant Skin Perfector and I’m really impressed! It improves my complexion without being visible, and it makes dry skin a lot more comfortable.
Sounds like a great lipstick! Any chance you could post a swatch?
I adore Vapour’s Siren lipsticks. They are my fave item from them. I have also tried Aura Multi-Use Blush which is really nice. Elixir gloss in Hypnotic is sultry. Vapour Organic Beauty’s Mesmerize Shimmer Eye Treatment and Eye Liner/Smoky Eye Tool were also great. Illusionist concealer is very light and brightening.
I like vapour too, but wish all these organic beauty companies would start incorporating Latina, Asian, and African American skin tones into their color palettes. I’m with Carla on that one and have just mixed different colors to create my own. I think rms has a wonderful concept, but the colors are not for olive complexions, they wear off in minutes! Dr. Haushka makes nice colors and so does Ecco Bella. One day soon I hope a Latina creates an organic beauty line just for darker skin tones!
um, woof, I’m no vegan, but “carmine” is such innocuous name for something so gross!
I recently bought the Mesmerize Eyeliner/Smoky Eye Tool from Vapour and it is very nice. I like my eyeliner to NOT be very noticeable and NOT look harsh. This one works well because the product is soft and I can easily blend it into my eyeshadow with the blending tool (included on the opposite side of the pencil). It is also easy to sharpen! I highly recommend it; this pencil works way better than the unclean ones I used to buy.
I agree with Katherine, a real-life swatch would be nice. I wish some of these companies would include some images of the lipsticks/product on actual women; it is so hard to tell the actual color from a little tiny swatch.
Alexandra, I’ve got some questions!! LOL sorry I’ve been curious about these for a while but I’ve never been able to find any good reviews. 1. What do they taste like? and 2. are they really (and truly) moisturizing like a lip balm? I’ve tried Ilia’s lip conditioner which I did not find all that moisturizing enough to replace my lip balm entirely.. Please please answer pretty please :X
I have Vapour in Tryst– it’s a really nice semi-matte TRUE red (no real orange or blue tones)– think Old Hollywood red lipstick. I love it!
@Annette, I don’t see carmine listed as an ingredient, and I spot-checked the reddish Ilia colors. If you google carmine it gives alternate names too, so you can check when you buy new products.
@Emma B, I’m very surprised (and grossed out) about the RMS. I usually research products thoroughly because of all my sensitivities and I never saw carmine as an ingredient on the RMS website, which is where I originally purchased RMS. Looking at the ingredients list on a couple of online boutiques, I see they list carmine as a “may contain” ingredient. I’ve sent a message to RMS asking for details since the ingredients list is a general one – the same one for all colors. I’m hoping not all the colors have it. I’ve made that request of other companies in the past and was able to work things out so hopefully I’ll get a helpful response.
Hmmm. Tough questions! Re lip balm: I guess I’d have to say no, if Ilia didn’t do it for you on the moisture neither will these (but they really feel good). Re taste: I just reapplied and am trying to identify it. It tastes good slash innocuous. Natural but not weird. Hope that helps!
If anyone else is concerned about the RMS carmine thing, I received a response that they do NOT currently use carmine in any of their products. Carmine was in some of their products in the past, and there may be old packaging out there that still lists it, according to the very helpful and timely response I received.
I just read the ingredients and notice that they refer to myrrh as “moisturizing” and a base. F.y.i., myrrh is not moisturizing. It is a resin (this could be one way that they bind their ingredients without chem binders) and resins, like myrrh and frankincense actually reduce oil production over time. They are bacteriostatic, which is good in a lipstick, but I can’t get over how many formulas for dry skin use these resins as if they never did the research.
I included Vapour Siren lipstick in a list of my “mommy-must-haves” in this “natural beauty buff” article this week! http://www.kimberlyloc.com/2012/06/12/natural-beauty-buff-heather-hamilton-zoe-organics/
My favorite shade right now is “saucy”. It is a really nice natural shade; gives color to my lips and brightens my face without being too “loud”.
I also like the Vapour Elixer Plumping Gloss in Vivid. :)
@ Rebecca
Good to know, thanks for following up on this!
@Heather, I’m a big Zoe Organics fan, particularly the extreme cream. I wish the brand had been around when my gigantic middle-schooler was a baby!
Just FYI, in regards to the lead in lipstick issue: check out fig+sage’s “Soapbox” article from 3/27. I found it pretty enlightening and it helped clarify some of the questions surrounding why lead is in lipstick in the first place!
I LOVE Vapour makeups. Their multi use balm is the perfect thing for my lips and cheeks. It blends well and is quite hydrating on my lips. I have several siren lipsticks and prefer them with a bit of gloss as they are a bit dry. Their glosses are fabulous. I also love their eyeshadows. I have oily lids and most natural products slide off. Theirs does crease a bit, but a quick finger swipe easily takes care of it. I have kad much better luck with the staying power of their products than with many natural lines.