by guest contributor Amber Plante

I tested Mommy Makeup’s double-duty lip product, Mommy’s Kisses, which combines a liner and matching liquid-gloss color into a well-packaged and well-branded stick, in the shade Madison.

The color is light and full – seemingly the perfect shade for everyone and definitely for me. But, from my perspective as a mommy of two very little kids, there were some specific tests that a truly ‘mom-friendly’ line of make-up had to pass -- application time, wearability and staying power – and this maternal makeup just didn’t stack up to my needs.

The application was easy, but not any easier than any other lip-liner/gloss application I’ve ever used; truth be told, the color was lovely, but I still prefer Benefit’s Cupid’s Bow. The wearability was smooth and shiny, but again, not breaking down any new barriers.

The staying power, however, was a huge disappointment. Any mommy knows that reapplying lipstick is a pain, especially when you have to dig through three different bags (diaper, purse and/or work) just to find the product -- thus I was desperately hoping this lip duo would have some fabulous long-lasting formula that would defy all my munchkins’ kisses (especially given its name!), but it didn’t even last through my second cup of coffee, let alone leaving my boys lipstick-free after daycare. The gloss faded almost absolutely, leaving only a line of color around my lips that made it look like I had forgotten to fill them in – not a good look.

Bottom line, it’s a great branding idea, but they needed to take a real mom into account, at least in the lip department, when presenting a product that is supposedly made to make make-up easier. It’s fun, but not any more practical than any other lip product I’ve ever used.

The Mommy Make-up lip line, called Mommy’s Kisses, comes in 11 shades (named trendy baby girl names like Isabella, Daisy and Mia) and sells for $24