Flyte.70 Makeup Review
The best thing about this job is learning about new brands disrupting the industry. And when I learned about Flyte.70, a woman-owned ethical beauty brand specifically for us grown-ass women, I had to try it. After over two years of wearing the cosmetics brand, I felt it was tine for a Flyte.70 makeup review.
Flyte.70 Discount Code: use WOXYGEN15 at checkout for 15% off your order!
What is Flyte.70?
Flyte.70 was founded by Elena Frankel and Carolyn Quan, pioneers of the beauty boutique movement in the 1990s and aughts. Their Boston boutique, E6 apothecary, was a popular Newbury Street destination to find then-indie brands like Tarte, Too Faced, Philosophy, Shu Uemura, Bliss, Tocca, Aesop, and Becca.
As we all remember, the 2000s was a time of major change regarding retail. With online shopping and increased rent, many brick and mortars shuttered, including E6. But Elena and Carolyn's interest and involvement in the beauty industry never wavered.
As they became grown-ass women, they realized their beauty needs and priorities shifted. Surrounded by beauty brands selling products for women to look younger, they desired a beauty brand that made grown women feel and look great, celebrating their age while also offering safe, quality ingredients and being kind to the planet. So they decided to create it.
With over 25+ years in the beauty industry, not as beauty executives but as makeup artists and ‘front-line' workers, they began to hatch their plan and, in 2021, launched Flyte.70, an independent makeup brand based in the United States. To learn more about Flyte.70, check out an Instagram Live video I had with the Flyte.70 founders back in 2022.
Is Flyte.70 a Clean Beauty Brand?
“Clean” is a greenwashing term for beauty brands. Flyte.70 focuses on quality, ethics, and true examples of sustainability. However, Flyte.70 is vegan, cruelty-free, Leaping-Bunny Certified, and EU Compliant. Click here to read Flyte.70's full formulation statement.
Is Flyte.70 a Sustainable Beauty Brand?
Flyte.70 is also certified plastic-neutral. It uses recycled and FSC-certified packaging and creates low-waste products and packaging, and some products offer refills to reduce waste. Customers can recycle Flyte.70 palettes, lip glosses, pressed powders, mascaras, and more through the Pact Collective Mail-Back Program.
Flyte.70 Makeup Review
Full disclosure: I've received Flyte 70 products for free from the brand. However, I have never been paid by the company nor does Flyte.70 know I am writing this review. All my views below are completely honest. For reference, I am 49 and have no procedures or injectables and all photos are taken with an iPhone free of filters or Photoshop.
As a fashion, beauty, and lifestyle influencer, I receive a lot of free products. You know I love something if I “hit pan,” using so much that I see the metal pan of the compact or pulling the remaining product from a bottle or tube. Not only have I “hit pan” on several products by Flyte.70, I have replaced them to keep them in my beauty arsenal.
Below the reviews of Flyte.70 makeup I use. I also have a list of the products from the brand I do not use and why. While they aren't for me, they may be for you!
Flyte.70 Lip Products
I am a fan of Flyte.70 lip products. Great colors, great names (you'll notice all the Flyte.70 color names are from songs from the 80s and 90s), and formulas that are easy to apply, kind to older lips, and colors that are really wearable and on a range of skintones. The packaging is luxe; the lipcolors have magnet closure and hold up beautifully; the lip liners offer refills to reduce waste.
Chiseled.Lip Lip Liner
There was a time in life when I wore lip liner on the daily. As I have gotten older, I have simplified my routine, choosing products I can put on without requiring precision (or a mirror). However, Chisled.Lip has made me a liner fan again.
“Sabotage” reminds me of MAC Spice or Wet ‘n Wild's 666, a mauvy brownish neutral. It's so perfect that my teenage daughter stole mine, and I had to get another. “Situation” is so close to my lipcolor it's an invisible fence for reds and other lipcolors that bleed. “Fame” is a lovely color for those who wear pinks but I personally never find the need to wear it.
Flyte.70's Chiseled.Lip glides on smoothly, stays in place without feeling dry, doesn't require a steady hand or a pencil sharpener, and you can buy refills to reduce waste and cost.
S+S.LipSheer
I love a tinted lip balm. It's the kind of beauty you can do in your car visor mirror or on the go without a mirror for a moisturizing hint of color. Flyte.70 S+S.LipSheer is a favorite for this, and I like the color range and how well the pigment lasts.
L+L.LipLacquer
While the LipBlot is not my jam, the Flyte.70 L+L.LipLacquer surely is. A shiny lipstick with buildable pigment and coverage, this is so pretty, feels good on the lips, and comes in the best colors.
“Relax” is one of my go-to red lipsticks that makes an impact but can also be a day color. And “Fast Car” is the grown-woman version to Revlon's “Coffee Bean” and “Toast of New York” that I rocked in the early 90s. It's not so brown it looks odd, but works so well with autumnal shades. I often do both of these L+L.LipLacquer shades over the Chiseled.Lip to have more staying power and pigment.
Flyte.70 Cheek and Face Products
Flyte.70 does not carry foundation or concealer, but they do have a nice range of cheek colors as well as products to give glow and reduce shine.
HazyCheek.Crรจme
If I had to pick my absolute favorite Flyte.70 product, it would be the HazyCheek.Crรจme in “Look of Love.” HazyCheek.Crรจme is a balm-like blush that you can apply with your fingers or a brush. Using this brush from Rare Beauty, I will tap into the blush compact and then tap along my cheekbones and then on the bone on my eyelid and it provides the most natural bronzey blushy flush that looks completely natural and lasts all day. Fingers work, but this brush gives me the perfect shape and no need to blend.
The other colors of the Flyte.70 HazyCheek.Crรจme are nice, but not for me. But “Look of Love” is a top 5 beauty products for me, and one I take on every trip and the product I use when I am in a rush and don't want a “face” but want to look healthy and fresh.
ColorBack.Pressed Cheek Blush
If you like a highly pigmented blush, check out the Flyte.70 ColorBack.Pressed Cheek Blush. All I have to do is a single tap of my blush brush in the compact and I have enough for a pretty flush on one cheek. It plays nice with makeup but also looks natural on bare skin and it doesn't fade away easily or fall into fine lines.
“Abracadabra” will remind some of NARS's “Orgasm,” but it is not so shimmery. “Urgent” works as a bronzer on fairer skin tones. And “Linger” is my summer blush, offering a brownish flush that makes me look sunkissed. It's hard to hit pan with these; I've used the same “Linger” for two summers and still can see the Flyte.70 imprint on the product!
GlowBack.Global Prep
GlowBack.Global Prep is a brightening makeup primer that adds glow without sparkle or shimmer. I first tried this when everyone was into Charlotte Tilbury's Hollywood Flawless Filter, which I kept trying but felt it made me look sweaty and shimmery and not at all flawless. But Flyte.70's GlowBack.Global Prep did what I wanted Hollywood Flawless Filter to do.
Some glow, no sweat, and no feeling like I coated my face with product. Over sunscreen, under or mixed with foundation and tinted moisturizer, bare skin or concealer, GlowBack.Global Prep played nice with everything. This is a great choice for those who want a subtle finish or who has regular to oily skin.
That being said, over the year I have tried some other brightening primers and like Merit's Great Skin Moisturizer instead for my dry skin. However, as the temps drop and my summer glow fades, I may find myself using both products!
GlowBack.Lucent Light
I also began using Flyte.70 when the trend was to use a lot of highlighter. Cheek bones, brow bones, center of the nose, bow of the upper lip. And so many products I tried that influencers and celebs raved about just made me look sweaty and shimmery. And so many around me looked the same, especially if they were over 40.
GlowBack.Lucent Light was and continues to be the kind of highlighter I was always looking for. Not holographic or shimmery, it's a very subtle finish that truly highlights. It comes in two colors, “Just Like Heaven” is perfect for my fair-to-medium skin.
Flyte.70's GlowBack.Lucent Light is a balm consistency, so it's easy to tap and blend in with your fingers. But unlike a lot of creams, this doesn't stay creamy, and blends into my skin looking like I am not wearing anything at all and was just blessed with happy moisturized skin. I have hit pan at least twice and keep replenishing, having no desire for any other highlighter.
The Flyte.70 Products I Don't Use
Across the board, I find Flyte.70 products to be extremely high quality and designed with grown-women skin in mind. Anti-feathering, no sparkles, wearable colors, and nothing that falls into fine lines. But some of the products are just not for me:
- The Final Act.Lucid Finishing Powder: I don't wear powder. I own this powder (“Holiday” is best for my winter skin and “True Colors” for summer), but the only time I have used it is when I needed really longlasting visible makeup on a sweaty day and used it to set my face. Beyond that, I haven't used powder in years though this is highly rated and feels very nice.
- HazyView.Dense Eyeshadow: Okay, I actually do use this, but not as eyeshadow and not very often. Like Flyte.70's blushes, this eyeshadow is extremely pigmented and I make a mess of myself with shadows. However, if I take a liner brush and dip it in some micellar water and then this shadow, it makes a gorgeous liner that looks more natural than black or brown and if I rub my eyes it just looks smoky instead of smeary. “Landslide” is really pretty with brown eyes, and “Down Under” is very pretty. But I only do this for certain occasions and usually go without any liner.
- EyeDefine.Stylus: Flyte.70's eyeliner is extremely popular but your girl Alison is a eye-rubbing messy mess with eye makeup and this just gets everywhere on me. But every eyeliner gets everywhere on me. So don't blame the eyeliner. My daughter likes the “Blue Monday” if that counts for anything…
- The Fundamental.Mascara: I like tubing mascara, and only wear tubing mascara. However, this is a really lightweight mascara that separates lashes and is a good choice for those who don't like overly dramatic lashes or find mascaras too heavy for their grown-ass woman lashes.
- ColorBack.Burnished Bronze: I have my favorite bronzers (this one from RMS and this one from NudeStix) and this one is a bit too pigmented for me and I can't control it as well as the ones I use.
- B+B.LipBlot: I like dramatic lips, I don't like the look of a matte stain finish. But if you do, this is extremely popular and I have a friend who has made “Red Skies” her signature lip.
Whew, I know this Flyte.70 makeup review is pretty long, but this is a relatively new beauty brand and I want to share for those interested in trying it. And since I have tried literally the entire line over the past years, I felt it made sense to be thorough offering my experience with it. All of us have different faces, makeup styles, and skin so my experience may not reflect yours. If you have tried Flyte.70 makeup, do share your thoughts i the comments below!
I was recently gifted some Flyte 70 products, including the eyeliner and mascara. I like the eyeliner a lot, but found the mascara dried out quickly after opening.
Thanks for reviewing this great brand. I remember you doing a video or two about them a few years ago, which got me interested in trying them. So it’s thanks to you that I found one of my favorite makeup brands. ๐ At this point I’ve tried all of their products, and I completely agree with your review (tho the colors I use are different). The lip sheers and lip lacquers are phenomenal. I like many of their colors, but often use “Alone” (lip sheer), which shocks me, because generally I cannot bear nude lippies. But that’s what’s incredible about Flyte.70: their colors and undertones are nuanced in really interesting ways (as you mentioned). Like, “Alone” doesn’t wash me out, it has more presence (and pink) than typical nudes. And the cream blush in Tenderness looks like the kind of dusty nude/rose that makes my face just look dirty–but in fact it’s one of my very favorite blushes. As for the lip liner in “Fame,” it makes any lipstick, from any brand, look better. I agree about the Glowback.GlobalPrep not being great for dry skin (I hope they create a glowy primer that is). Okay, I’ve gone on long enough! I’ll just add that one of my very favorite products from Flyte.70 is something you don’t use: their eyeliners. They are phenomenal on the waterline! I have all three colors (and have bought them more than once) and use them almost daily. They are so good and never, ever smudge. Please never stop making them, Flyte.70! Thanks again for introducing me to this brand, Alison. xx
Yay! I am so glad you too are a fan! And this is not too long, it’s chock full of great information, thank you so much!