Sunnies Face Fluffmate Matte Lipstick Is One of the Most Comfortable Ones I’ve Tried — Product Review

Liquid matte lipsticks once had me in a chokehold — and I know I’m not alone; the 2010s was the era of opaque lipsticks that dried down without a sheen. Though typically I swipe on a shimmery lip gloss, I still love matte pigments. Still, these days I mostly wear matte only when I test a product for work. So when the Sunnies Face Fluffmatte lipsticks landed on my desk, I was pleasantly surprised at how buttery and comfortable the formula felt. It made me think: how could this possibly be a matte lipstick?  

In 2018, Martine Ho, Georgina Wilson, Jess Wilson, Bea Soriano-Dee, and Eric Dee launched the Filipino-owned brand with one product, the best-selling Fluffmattes, which sold out in just 10 minutes. Since then, the lipsticks have been sought out for their pigmented shades and non-drying formula. However, if you lived in the United States, you couldn’t purchase them. But starting May 16, the Fluffmattes will be available to U.S. consumers.

Prior to launching the beauty brand, the five cofounders already had entrepreneurial experience with their brands, Sunnies Studios and Sunnies Cafe, which are eyewear and cafe businesses, respectively. Though the lipsticks are adored, the founders did run into some trouble in 2020 with Sunnies Studios because former employees said the company had not paid them, which led to the hashtag #BoycottSunnies trending on Twitter. 

In response to the accusations, the brand tells Allure in a statement that the incident was caused by an administrative error because the company’s systems weren’t equipped to deal with remote working that was required during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We have since undertaken a critical review and taken decisive action to ensure this issue does not happen again,” the statement reads. “This includes full digitization, the implementation of new processes and policies, and the appointment of a new COO and CFO to oversee this work.”