Make Up Forever Flash Color Cream in "No. 22 Violet": A Review

Last fall I saw a photo spread in a magazine that grabbed my attention, not because of the clothes, but because of the lavender lipstick that the model was wearing. I thought it was cool & futuristic but when I read the description I saw that the model wasn't wearing lipstick, she was actually wearing the Flash Color Cream in No. 22 Violet from Make Up Forever.

I thought it was so cool that I decided I had to buy it, and a couple of weeks later I bought it from a Sephora for $18.

The Makeup Forever Flash Color Cream comes in small clear jar that resembles a lip gloss pot and it has a black twist off lid. It's an oil based cream that Sephora describes as a violet shade, but it looks more like lavender to me.

Once I got the Flash Color Cream home I saw that the instructions stated that it shouldn't be applied near the eyes or mouth, but when I bought it at Sephora the writings on a shelf stated it could used on the eyes, cheeks, and mouth. I decided to go ahead and use it as I planned because this color looked quite weird as a blush.

The Flash Color Cream looks like a pot of creamy paint, so I decided to apply it to my lips with my finger. One layer of the cream looked subtle and nearly blended into my skin so I added three layers for an intense look. I really liked the No. 22 Violet (lavender) shade. It looked futuristic and cool, but at the same time it was quite pretty and looked great against my golden brown skin.

But there are awful downsides to the Makeup Forever Flash Color Cream.

When I wore it as an eye shadow, although it looked really pretty, it felt heavy on my eyelids. And because of its oil base, it was very difficult to get an even layer because the color kept sliding around, and once I finally tapped on an even coat, after three or four hours passed most of it had worn off. It basically slid down into the crease, and into the corner of my eyes, which is probably why it shouldn't be worn as shadow.

The only reason why it held up longer as a lipstick is because I first applied a real lipstick as a base before I wore the Makeup Forever cream.

Makeup Forever's website states that in order for the Flash Color Cream to stay on it should be applied with a pressed powder. I don't have any, and I'm not quite sure if it's a certain powder I'd need, so I contacted someone at Sephora.com and they said an eye-shadow primer would work. But that's not true because I'd already tried using a primer on my eyelids before I used the cream and it still didn't work too well.

In the End...

I really like the wide variety of fun & outrageous colors that the Makeup Forever Flash Color Cream comes in and I love the Violet shade I bought. But it seems like the cream is best suited for makeup artists who can use the Flash Color on photo shoots.

If I can find a way to apply so that it stays on, then I'd definitely be willing to buy other shades of Flash Color, but if not I probably wouldn't buy it again, because it's too high-maintenance, I'd have to touch-up my makeup every hour I was wearing this stuff. I give the Flash Color Cream 5 stars for its color selection, but only 3 out of 5 for its use in real life.