Shoppers Say This $8 Serum Lipstick Feels ‘High-End’ & Keeps Mattes From Looking ‘Wrinkly’ on Dry Lips

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Many matte lipsticks promise long wear and bold color, but for anyone with dry lips, they often come with a familiar trade-off: tightness, cracking, and that dreaded feathered, wrinkly look by mid-day. That’s exactly why shoppers are quickly becoming obsessed with Maybelline’s $8 Serum Lipstick, a matte-and-satin range they say feels “high-end” while keeping lips from turning into a dry-lip nightmare. It’s technically makeup, but shoppers with chronically dry lips keep talking about it like a treatment that just happens to come in really good colors.

The formula loads an oil blend with hyaluronic acid, so you’re getting that “serum-level” slip and conditioning instead of the usual drag. Maybelline also shaped the bullet to hug the lip line so you can sketch on color without the chalky ring some mattes leave behind.

One fan who grabbed the matte shade ’Scuse Me called it a “velvety matte pigmented lipstick” that “feels and performs like an expensive high-end lipstick!” She admits most mattes dry her lips out, but says this one goes on “very smoothly/buttery” and doesn’t make her lips look wrinkly the way transfer-proof formulas tend to do.

Texture is a big theme in the reviews. A shopper who wears the red-pink satin shade Open Late says, “It feels like silk going on the lips and leaves mine hydrated and smooth,” adding that the hyaluronic acid helps with plumping and moisturizing. She also raves about the updated packaging and admits, “I couldn’t believe it was Maybelline when I put it on because it feels so luxurious.”

With 16 “tone-enhancing” shades in satin and matte, people are finding easy everyday colors and bolder moments. One reviewer calls Maybe It’s… Soft the “best lipstick ever!!! perfect color, great value, stays on,” while another says Hold the Door has “excellent feel and color without drying your lips out.”

The satin shade Speed Walk, a deep espresso satin that gives ‘90s vibes, has an entire novella-length review from a self-proclaimed “queen of lipsticks” who has tried everything. She writes, “I would rank this in my top 10. I do like it that much,” praising the buildable pigment, smooth fade, and the way the hyaluronic, serum-y texture gives her lips a break from drying mattes.

Even darker shades are getting love from dry-lip people. A shopper testing Maybe It’s… Intense, a deep terracotta red, admits they were nervous, then says, “It’s rich and creamy without being heavy” and “actually really wearable and flattering,” noting that it feels smoothing rather than tingly or irritating.

At under $10, this serum lipstick is an easy way to see why reviewers keep saying it feels “high-end.” If you want a matte bullet that behaves more like skincare, shades like the Valentine’s date night-ready red hue Wild Card, the midtone mauve Hold the Door, or the caramel-hued ’Scuse Me are an easy place to start.

Read more for iconic 90s lipstick shades you can buy today.