The Mithai-Inspired Lipstick We Can't Stop Wearing This Festive Season

Five mithai-inspired shades, high-shine colour and a formula that promises to survive even the most indulgent festive celebrations. Here's everything to know about Maybelline New York's latest limited-edition launch.

THE HYPE

Beauty and mithai? We'd say that's a rather delicious combination. Just in time for the festive season, Maybelline New York has given its much-loved Superstay Vinyl Ink lipsticks a distinctly Indian makeover with the launch of its limited-edition Mithai Collection. Think five new shades inspired by some of our favourite Indian sweets, complete with playful names like Rose Rabri, Berry Barfi and Nutty Halwa.

It's a clever little nod to the way we celebrate, bringing together two festive essentials: a good lipstick and an even better box of mithai. And while festive beauty launches are hardly new, there's something particularly charming about a global beauty giant taking inspiration from something so familiar and quintessentially Indian. The cherry on top? The brand is calling its lipsticks mithai-proof. Naturally, we're intrigued.

THE FORMULA

If you're already familiar with Maybelline's Superstay Vinyl Ink, you'll know the appeal: the shine of a gloss with the staying power of a liquid lipstick. The formula delivers saturated, full-coverage colour with a glossy, almost lacquered finish, minus the constant need for touch-ups traditionally associated with high-shine lips.

Maybelline promises up to 16 hours of wear, with a formula designed to resist transferring, smudging and fading. The trick is in the application: give the tube a good five-second shake, swipe the colour onto clean, dry lips using the precision applicator and allow it to set. The result is intended to be a bold, glossy lip that can keep up with a packed festive calendar, from afternoon get-togethers to late-night celebrations. Whether it can survive an enthusiastic round of kaju katli and gulab jamun? That's a claim we'd happily put to the test.

THE SHADES

The collection features five limited-edition shades, designed with Indian skin tones in mind. Rose Rabri and Berry Barfi cater to lovers of pink, while Cherry Ras brings a statement-making red into the mix. For those who prefer their lip colours a little more understated, there's Gulabi Dusk and Nutty Halwa, two wearable nude options.

It's a compact, considered edit that covers a fair bit of festive beauty territory, whether you're after a statement lip to accompany your favourite sari or an everyday nude to wear long after the celebrations are over. That said, as with most nude lipsticks, undertones matter, and we'd recommend swatching before committing, particularly if you're shopping for deeper skin tones.

THE VERDICT

We're all for a beauty launch that doesn't take itself too seriously, and Maybelline's Mithai Collection certainly has fun with its inspiration. Beyond the playful names and festive appeal, there's a practical proposition here too: an established long-wear formula in five new shades that feel relevant to the Indian beauty consumer.

What makes the collection particularly interesting is that it doesn't rely on festive packaging alone to tell its story. Instead, it takes an everyday beauty essential and places it within a distinctly Indian ritual of celebration, indulgence and gifting. Is the formula itself something we haven't seen before? No. But does every festive launch need to reinvent the lipstick? We think not. And if your Diwali plans involve plenty of dressing up, eating well and absolutely no time for lipstick touch-ups, this might just be one sweet treat worth considering.

DISOVER THE COLLECTION ON NYKAA.COM