It’s been a while since I’ve bought anything by Paul & Joe. I was fascinated when they used to be on Sephora ages ago and thought they had good lipsticks, but I stopped buying when Sephora dropped the line. I missed out buying the first few cat shaped lipsticks, which I regretted since they were so cute, I told myself if they ever put out more cat lipsticks I’d try one.
The Fall 2015 collection doesn’t have the cat shaped lipstick bullets, but has a cat shaped core with a contrasting color. I grabbed Cafe Espresso and the cat lipstick case. Both are limited edition. Paul & Joe now sells the lipsticks as refills and the cases seperately. The limited edition cases are cardboard while the permanent case is plastic and has only one option. The lipstick refills retail for $20, the cases for $7.
Cafe Espresso is a semi-sheer moisturizing formula. It has fairly good coverage. It’s described as “a gentle, soft pink with beige undertones and a subtle espresso center for added depth”. That’s pretty accurate. It’s a warm, medium nude pink creme, no shimmer, and definitely falls into the your lips but better category of lipsticks. The espresso center adds a bit of darkness to it making it a deeper nude pink. It’s really comfortable to wear, I get 3 hours or so out of it. It was hard to use it because of messing up the cute cat face, but I love the shade so I feel OK as I’m getting good use out of it. I actually find myself reaching for it often even though I normally reach for my shimmery nude pinks more than cremes. It has a very faint scent and no taste which is a bonus.
Swatches: Top not mixed, you can see the darker espresso center and lighter pink edges. Bottom mixed together:
Sunlight:Â
Compared with Top to Bottom: Charlotte Tilbury Confession, Tom Ford Nubile, Paul & Joe Cafe Espresso, Chanel Stunning, Chanel Avant-Garde, Rouge Bunny Rouge Irreverence:
Sunlight:
How cute, looks like a lovely shade.