The ad plays on your TV screen. You see women with different shades of lipstick, ranging from the brightest red to the darkest purple. Their expensive clothing is accentuated by the bright colors, the bow on the top of the package. They swipe their perfectly manicured fingers against their lips, trying to smudge the makeup, but to no avail. The desire for that lipstick grows more and more after every swipe.

When buying makeup, most people believe that the more expensive products are the better ones. The average woman spends over $15,000 on makeup products in her lifetime, according to people.com. One of those products is lipstick. What if the cheaper lipsticks are actually the better ones?

I purchased two different lipsticks. One was $1, and the other was $10 ($9.75, to be exact). The former is Wet n’ Wild’s “Fuchsia with Blue Pearl.” The more expensive one is Maybelline New York’s “Berry Blackmail.” I wore each lipstick from 9 a.m. to 12 a.m., for a total of fifteen hours.

The Wet n’ Wild was very easy to apply. The color went on very nicely, and it had a glossy finish like paint on a newly-made car. It was very moisturizing and remained that way during the hours it was worn.

During those fifteen hours, I ate a corn dog and a frosted doughnut. The lipstick did not smudge and remained just as vibrant as it was when first applied; the color stayed on for eight hours before I had to reapply again.

The actual taste of the lipstick left something to be desired, however. It smelled and tasted like a bike tire (yes, I licked a bike tire when I was younger).

The Maybelline New York lipstick was almost the complete opposite. The lipstick needed to be applied multiple times before the bright purple color really began to show. It was moisturizing, and the color was the same as the Wet n’ Wild lipstick. However, it began to dry out after a few hours and was rather sticky, like day old slime.

After just two hours, I needed to apply the lipstick again. After eating a corn dog, the lipstick was very smudged and practically non-existent on my lips and needed another reapplication. The next reapplication was done five hours after the previous one.

The Maybelline lipstick smelled and tasted exactly like pink cotton candy. This alone made me want to continue reapplying the color just to experience the incredible flavor again.

The difference between the two is pretty drastic, even in the packaging.

The Wet n’ Wild casing is a black tube with a clear, plastic top. The material was very weak and could easily be crushed if placed in the bottom of a bag or stepped on.

The Maybelline New York was contained in a reflective, fuchsia top. The inside tube had an intricate design that moved from a square to the cylindrical tube that held the lipstick. The material was very sturdy and could withstand getting dropped on without even cracking.

I found the Wet n’ Wild lipstick in the makeup aisle of the Dollar Tree and the Maybelline New York in Meijer.

Overall, both lipsticks excelled in different ways. Choosing which lipstick is better really depends on what a buyer is looking for. If you were shopping for a long-lasting color, then I would purchase the Wet n’ Wild brand. If you were looking for a bright color with an incredible taste and sturdy exterior, then I would purchase the Maybelline New York lipstick.