Lick Paint Review: The Good, The Bad, and The Unfortunate Incident.

I had been looking forward to testing out Lick paint for a while. If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you will no doubt already know that I am a die-hard Farrow and Ball fan, so I was curious to see if Lick paint matched up to the quality I’m used to.

Lick is known as one of the best UK paint brands. I was attracted to Lick paint after reading its eco-credentials and the great reviews it has on Trustpilot, so I decided to use it to paint my daughter’s bedroom. This Lick paint review shares my honest opinion of Lick paint. I’ll talk you through how easy it is to use, the customer service, the pros and cons, and of course, the value for money.

Lick Paint Review [TL;DR]

In a rush? Here’s a quick summary of what I thought of Lick paint.

I probably won’t be using Lick paint again in the future. While I loved the color range and peel-and-stick samples, I, unfortunately, had a bad experience with the paint itself. Both of the cans of paint I received were out of date, and because there was no ‘best before’ date on the can, I didn’t realize this. The result was a strong chemical smell on the walls, which still hasn’t gone away.

In fairness, Lick’s customer service team handles it brilliantly, but it’s been a lot of hassle and lots of time wasted.

That being said, there was a lot that I did like about Lick paint, so keep reading the full Lick paint review to see what I thought of the usability, price, and how Lick paint compares to Farrow and Ball.

Ordering Paint Samples

The sample ordering process is probably my favorite thing about Lick paint. Instead of giving you small tester pots of paint, they provide you with peel-and-stick samples. I wish all paint brands would use these—they are so much easier to use!

I ordered samples in a few different colours, and they arrived in the post a couple of days later. It was easy to stick them to the wall and see how they looked in different lights. This also makes it really easy to choose the right colour scheme as you can see how different colour combinations work together.

The Paint Colour: Lick Paint Pink 04

The colour I picked in the end wasn’t actually one of the samples I ordered. However, I could see on Lick’s website that Pink 04 was just the perfect shade of pink—not too light and not too dark—so I just went for it and ordered the paint without seeing another sample.

I’m pleased to say I was delighted with the colour—it was indeed perfect!

Usability

When it comes to usability, Lick paint generally performed well with great coverage. The consistency of the paint was lovely, and it went onto the walls really nicely.

One of the most unique things about Lick paint is the paint tin it comes in. The infamous Lick paint cans have a small opening with a screw-on lid. This made it really easy to pour into the paint tray and easy to close once we had finished pouring. It comes with a wooden mixing stick, so you can easily stir the paint through the small opening.

The downside to this is that we didn’t clean the lid before screwing it back on, so when we wanted to open the paint up again, it was stuck! I read through some of the reviews on Trustpilot, which said a few other people had the same problem.

The solution to this is obviously to clean the lid and screw area before putting it back on, but I didn’t think of that it the time. Either that or make sure you use the whole can in one go.

The other downside I found was the smell. I found it to be very strong and quite unpleasant.

After painting the whole room and waiting about five days to see if the smell would fade away, I contacted customer services. It turns out the paint I received was well past its recommended use-by date, which was why it smelled so bad. There was no use-by date on the tin, so there is no way I could have known this.

I was quite annoyed when I found this out. We had already wasted a lot of time painting, and now we are going to have to paint over it to try and get rid of the smell. This was supposed to be a quick painting project!

Drying Time

Lick paint dries in about 2-4 hours. After this time, it’s safe to apply a second coat. After the second coat you will need to wait 24-hours for it to be completely dry, and 5-10 days to fully cure. You shouldn’t hang any pictures or apply anything to the wall until it’s completely cured.

Value for money

Overall I think that Lick paint does offer good value for money. It’s slightly more expensive than other high-street paint brands, but it’s not outrageous.

Customer service

Lick’s customer service is excellent. I contacted customer service after I became concerned about the smell of the paint, and they replied promptly and offered me a full refund.

Does lick paint smell?

Because it uses mostly natural ingredients and has low VOC levels, Lick paint shouldn’t smell. However, if you use paint that has exceeded the use-by date, it will have a very strong chemical smell to it.

Lick Paint Pros and Cons

As with everything, Lick paint has its own pros and cons.

Pros:

• Nice colours to choose from
• Easy sample ordering process
• Peel and stick samples
• Comes with a mixing stick
• Eco-friendly packaging
• Nice consistency
• Lovely matte finish
• Good customer service
• Good coverage

Cons:

• No use-by date on the can
• The screw-on lid can get stuck if you don’t clean it properly before closing the can
• Limited range of colours

Lick paint vs Farrow and Ball – How do They Compare?

Personally, I prefer Farrow and Ball paint. Farrow and Ball is slightly more expensive than Lick, but they have a much better range of colours, and a better finish overall.

I also had a bad experience with Lick sending me out of date paint which caused a lot of stress. I have never had any problems like this with Farrow and Ball

Farrow and Ball also offers a wider range of finishes to choose from, which may be important to you if you are painting a period property.

Where to Buy Lick Paint

You can buy Lick paint online. The ordering process is really easy, and you will love the peel and stick samples.

Final Thoughts…

Although this Lick paint review wasn’t entirely positive, I do realise that many people have had a great experience with Lick paint. It’s certainly worth trying for yourself so you can make up your own mind whether it’s the right paint for you.

You can order paint and samples from Lick’s website.

The customer service team promptly resolved my issue, and have offered me a full refund for the out of date paint. They have also offered to send me two free cans of paint so I can try it again in the future, which I will probably take them up on. I will update this review after that!