Despite the fact that bold lips in exotic shades of grey, blue, purple and black have been seen on runways and in the streets for several years now, it's still hard to find these colours at your local drug store. That is, until Katy Perry and Cover Girl decided it was time to get SERIOUS.

When I heard that Katy Perry was doing a Cover Girl collection, I thought it would be like any other celebrity product, where the package design is interesting but the formulas and colours are roughly the same. And I was wrong. I was so, so wrong. Colour me surprised to find that Ms Perry had a completely different idea in mind for this collection. Working with the team at CG, she made it clear that if she was going to have a collection, it would be as colourful as she is. And that means pinks, reds, browns, purples and yes, a nice, jet black.

Katy Kat Matte in Cosmo Kitty

Purple may not be an extremely difficult colour to find in drug stores lately, but this cool-toned, vibrant pastel shade isn't something you can easily find outside of NYX and some hard to find Wet N' Wild collections! And while I found that although I love the colour of this grey-lavender shade, it was a bit tricky to apply. My lips had to be very dry, as any slip or oil on the lip would make it really hard for the colour to adhere to my skin. Even with dry lips I had to do multiple coats for a true look. It doesn't have a lot of longevity (most cream pastel lipsicks have this problem) but if you want to spend under $10 on a colour like this, it's a great bet.

I wanted to run the comparison against another recent purple acquisition, Nyx Macaron Lippie in Violet. Both colours are cool-toned purples, but while Nyx is VERY creamy and applies with a soft touch, Cosmo Kitty needs more work. Violet is definitely brighter of the two and leans more blue while Cosmo Kitty leans more grey. What I really like about Cosmo Kitty though, is that it doesn't wear off, it fades and the colour changes against your lips in a way that is very interesting and different per person, for me it turns into a nice mauve!

Katy Kat Matte in Perry Panther

To be honest, I mostly had my eyes set on this colour when the collection came out. I have lots of dark lipsticks but oddly, not a pure black lipstick, the closest I have is Kat Von D's Nayeon which is a black with silver flecks in it. This black is very easy to apply and doesn't require too much work for full opacity. I also find that unlike other jet black lipsticks, this is actually moderately hydrating, I don't feel like my lips are the Sahara desert at the end of the day. Oh, and my clients LOVED IT. (I totally forgot I put it on to show my co-workers and BOOM we had client meetings. Luckily my clients are all super cool.)

The one thing about having a non-matte black is that you will absolutely have to reapply throughout the day and check on it a LOT. I went to dinner the other night with it on and my burger decimated my lipstick, leaving only the tiniest MUSTACHE of black along my cupid's bow. Eeek! But otherwise, a great trade-off if you hate parched lips.

The one thing I will note with this collection is that I don't generally enjoy the smell of Cover Girl lip products. You do eventually get used to it, but it takes HOURS of wearing it for me to stop noticing the smell. It doesn't bother all people, but if you have a sensitive nose like me you may notice this. I like the formula well enough and see myself wearing these colours fairly regularly, but the scent is the reason I didn't buy more of the mainstream shades of this collection, despite how pretty they looked.

Have you picked up any Katy Katt Mattes? Which is your favourite?