TABU

1 Review

1. 

   outlyingJaguar4

   Reply

   MUA members who recall TABU lipstick — a popular brand sold from the 1940s to the 1990s — will be happy to know that TABU lipsticks can be found through one retailer: The Vermont Country Store.

   I first bought TABU ~12 years ago when The Vermont Country Store began to offer them — having clung to a rancid ’90s-era TABU in my makeup collection as a reminder of a time when lipsticks were made to wear like iron.

   Manufactured for The Vermont Country Store by Dana Classic Fragrances, four TABU classics are available:

   Bar Harbor (pictured) – mauve with mid-bright lavender
   Acapulco – classic fucsia
   Granada (pictured) – a bright/bold yellow red-orange
   Bermuda Red – a deep/vivid blue red-pink.

   My favorite is Bar Harbor because I have never found anything to quite duplicate it. On me, it’s my go-to mid-toned dusty/purple mauve. My second favorite is Granada — a bold coral-red that works with my fair, yellow-undertone skin. My least favorite is Acapulco — a fuchsia with purple undertones that would best flatter cooler skin tones. I was most disappointed with Bermuda Red. Looking at this “Valentine’s red” in the tube, there is no way to appreciate that Bermuda Red skews toward a vivid magenta.

   The Vermont Country Store sold this line up until very recently in the (still-pictured on their website/catalog) classic black round tubes that somewhat resemble Rimmel Lasting Finish packaging. I prefer classic round lippies because I own a collection of vintage boudoir vanity items for which all my mid-Century lipstick holders are designed to fit round packaging.

   A few years ago I placed a new order for TABU’s Bar Harbor color and was dismayed when what I received was a dustier shade of lilac-pink, with most of the brighter lavender tone gone. I am happy to report that in my most recent order, Bar Harbor matches my original (over 10 years old) tube of Bar Harbor lipstick.

   Now for the bad news: The manufacturer recently changed the packaging to what only superficially resembles The Vermont Country Store’s other retro classic: Tangee. Unfortunately, the squared-off design Dana Classic Fragrances is using for this product has numerous problems. First, the cap is square both outside and inside and is an incredibly tight fit over the round lipstick barrel. Before I even had the chance to use my new TABU, a bottom half began twisting in my hand as I struggled to pull the top half (cap) off. This resulted in a brand-new lipstick shooting up and hitting the inside of the cap, where it sheared off.

   My January purchase of TABU consisted of three colors, one of which shipped in the original round tube — packaging that has held up to years of use — and two of which shipped in small TABU boxes with the new packaging. I hope that anyone reading this who is a fan of this product will contact The Vermont Country Store to provide packaging feedback in the event they experience the same difficulty removing the caps. A too-tight fit means that eventually the lid will splinter and crack. And a too-tight fit also means that the bottom of the barrel twists easier than the lid comes off, which may mean the same fate my lipstick experienced — a sheering off the tip inside the tube.

   The other two gripes I have with the packaging have to do with the fact that unlike most square-tube lipsticks, the cap portion is the exact same length as the bottom (twist-up) portion. TABU lipsticks have a bottom end with a black sticker on a black tube and white type indicating the color/brand. Since it’s not a color-coded sticker, it fails to stand out at a glance, which makes it hard to tell the top from the bottom half. I can see a situation where the wrong end would be pulled instead. This could foreshadow another scenario in which the lipstick breaks on account of poor packaging. The last gripe I have is that the square tube — while handy in the sense that this type of lipstick packaging is less likely to roll off a vanity or desk — isn’t true to the original round-barrel TABU lipsticks. The Vermont Country Store has established a market niché by bringing back beloved products from the past. Changing the packaging to something less-than-familiar detracts from the memories customers have of TABU lipstick.

   What I can say about TABU is that it’s among the Old School classics that delivers better-than-average wear time. I don’t find it particularly drying but they’re not designed to impart a lip balm or sheer feel, either.

   I started off with Acapulco and Bar Harbor when The Vermont Country Store first began to sell TABU lipsticks. They are creamy and are best compared to today’s popular matte lipsticks. In my experience, however, one can’t have it all in a lipstick. Lipstick formulas that are hydrating or sheer don’t wear as long as waxier Old School lipsticks. That’s why TABU’s presence at The Vermont Country Store is worth any lipstick lover’s consideration. While there are few modern lipsticks that come close to approaching the long-wear time of Coty’s long-dead “24” lipsticks, TABU is closer than many.

   In my recent TABU order, I decided to try out the two reds in this four-color collection: Bermuda Red and Granada. I was surprised to find that these bold lipsticks have a lighter, less-waxy feel than my original TABU purchases. The pigment payoff it still there but the Old School feel is not. I can’t say whether this is typical of these colors as I did not try them when The Vermont Country Store first began to offer them. They still impart a lasting lip stain but they feel a bit more sheer going on. By comparison, my original purchase of 1990s TABU consisted of a brick-red color that went on the Old School way — creamy but waxier. Honestly, I don’t know if in addition to changing the packaging for the worse Dana has also changed the formula. I hope by writing this review those who know and love TABU will chime in with a review and/or supply feedback to Vermont Country Store.