Rimmel ‘The Only 1’ Matte Lipstick Collection – Review, Swatches, and Looks

My favorite kind of lipstick post to do is the kind where I get to show all of the colors in the collection.  I love getting to show the obvious as well as the subtle differences between each shade.

So needless to say, I was pretty pumped when I got my hands on all 10 shades of the latest matte lipstick from Rimmel.

“A no compromise all-in-one velvet matte lip color.  The perfect balance of high impact matte color, moisture, all day comfort and staying power.”

The lipsticks come in a red tube that has the Rimmel crown logo on the top of the cap, and a band around the base of the tube that corresponds to the lipstick shade.

The lipstick bullet is a smooth-cut, slanted shape.

First from the collection is ‘Leader of the Pink’ (110), a watermelon pink.  Like many light colored shades of lipstick, this one settled into my lip lines.

‘Call the Shots’ (200) is a candy apple red, with a hint of fuchsia.

‘Salute’ (200) is a light pink nude.  This shade would fall into the pink “my lips but better” category.  Fun fact, I misread the shade name for this one, and thought it was called ‘Sauté’ for a solid three days.

‘Take the Stage’ (500) is an orange-toned red.  It was easily the best formula of the bunch – very creamy during application, and set with even pigmentation.

‘Keep It Coral’ (600) is a tiger lily coral.

‘High Flyer’ (610) is a light nude rosewood.  It is quite similar to the Rimmel Kate Lipstick #104, however it leans more red.

‘Trendsetter’ (700) is a warm nude brown.  This would fall into the brown “my lips but better” category.

‘Look Who’s Talking’ (750) is a brown-toned crimson.  It’s just shy of being considered a vampy shade, so it could be a good “gateway lipstick”, if you’re looking to try something a little more dramatic.  This one was a bit stiff, and because of that, the product dragged during application.

‘Run the Show’ (800) is a straight-up Barney the Dinosaur purple.  You all know how much I love purple lipsticks, and this one had me grinning ear-to-ear.  Sometimes purple shades can be patchy, but ‘Run the Show’ had an easy-to-apply formula.

‘The Matte Factor’ (810) is a raspberry red.  Like ‘Take the Stage’, the formula was fab.

These lipsticks were hit and miss for me.  If you aren’t into scented lipsticks, these might not be for you, as they have a very prevalent watermelon scent.  The formula changed depending on the shade – the lighter shades were lacking in formula, while other shades like the reds totally nailed it.  As far as wear time, these lasted about 3 hours on my lips.  Application was a bit tricky because they all require about 60 seconds to truly set and melt into your lips.  Once totally set, they were about 90% transfer-proof.  The one thing that I would want to improve with these lipsticks would be the creamy-ness.  Once the product set, you could really feel the lack of moisture – I couldn’t really rub my lips together without it feeling chalky and pulling.  But I suppose that the dryness is a risk you take when you are making a matte lipstick.

My top pick from this collection is ‘Take the Stage’ because it has good pigmentation, and makes for  a smooth application.

In the USA you can find the Rimmel ‘The Only 1’ Matte Lipsticks at stores like Target, CVS, Walmart, and Walgreens, and in Canada, you can find the Rimmel ‘The Only 1’ Matte Lipsticks at stores like Shoppers Drug Mart, London Drugs, and Walmart.

Press samples featured