Haul| Revlon Colorburst Matte and Lacquer Balm (Unapologetic, Coquette, Demure)

I know, I know. I'm late to the Matte and Lacquer trend. Well, I surely hopped onto L'oreal's train but Revlon's station seems to be permanently set in Makeupland. I detest limited edition items that are good and damn impossible to find.

 I was originally going to pick up quite a few of these balm sticks, but a week of stalking blog posts, pictures, and videos made me decide against them. There were quite a lot of mixed reviews on the board, especially with the lacquer balms. Finally, I bit the bullet and found a few to swatch for you guys.

What I hear: 

• These balms are a permanent edition to the Revlon Colorburst line and come in 20 shades ($7.99 retail at most drugstores). They are twist up pencils. 
• Very opaque colors on the matte side, but they may be drying on the lips. 
• Too much glitter particles in the lacquer balms that stay even when the color fades, which is about 2 hours in.
• Minty scent similar to Kissable Balm Stains. 
• Rabid makeup who0rs picking up all of the great colors like Shameless. This is true. I went to my local Rite Aid on Monday and saw it. Hesitated. Two days later the entire back row was gone and I was stuck with a limited selection. People seem to want the mattes much more. Even with a "restocked display" I had about 4 mattes to choose from and went home with one. This is only because I already have many similar colors, especially within my Kissable Balm Stain collection.

My swatches: 

These are under yellow fluorescent lighting, but they capture the general essence of the color. 

From top to bottom: 210 Unapologetic (Matte), 110 Coquette (Lacquer), 105 Demure (Lacquer).

110 Coquette (Lacquer)

105 Demure (Lacquer)

210 Unapologetic (Matte)

You can see how the "matte" shade is rather satin while the lacquers shimmer with angsty pre-pubescence.

My observations:

The matte color is very opaque, not drying at all over a thin layer of lip balm, and doesn't feather. Me likey. On the other hand, the lacquer colors are very sticky (similar to MAC Lipglass more than a lip balm) and do have very obvious glitter in them. They don't exactly have a "color payoff", but Coquette has a more obvious tint than Demure. The minty smell is slight and doesn't bother me. 

I definitely like the mattes over the lacquers, simply because my NYX glosses blow most other ones out of the water. These lacquers are not really as "lacquered" as the L'oreal pencils, and they are just "glittery." 

As for the mattes, they are very comfortable and don't feel matte at all. They may perhaps come off more as a satin finish if you use lip balm. Compared to a NARS Matte Lip Pencil, they are much less "matte" but also much more comfortable to wear. The wear time is average for both finishes, but it doesn't transfer all over the place. If you eat, they will run away right quick. 

I'm coming back for Shameless. 

Be

Review: Aqua Rouge Lip Cream

Remember this?

One word: Ew.

As you may know, I recently hauled a Makeup Forever's Aqua Rouge lip cream out of curiosity. I am extremely lazy when it comes to my lips. What's the point of layering product upon product on your lips when you're going to devour a giant sandwich in a few hours? At most, I layer lipstick over lip balm, or swipe on a gloss before I head out. 

So when I saw the Aqua Rouge lip creams, I was instantly attracted. After all, the product promises to be waterproof, long lasting, hydrating, etc. (basically the Iron Man of lip products). If I swipe on a layer of color, wait for it to dry, and then layer with a gloss, it would last until I scrub the crap out of my lips at the end of the day? Oh hell yeah.

Sad to say, I tried this out for a night out on the town and felt self conscious about my lips the entire time. Once you layer on the cream color, you better commit harder than a monogamist in an apocalyptic world. If you apply too thick in one corner and too little in the other, you cannot fix it once it dries with the gloss. To test my theory of long lasting abilities, I left the tube at home. Then I saw a reflection and screamed...oh no. 

So what was a girl to do? My lip color was radiant and beautiful, but applied without a mirror, it was patchy. Especially with the color 18, a bright orange coral, I looked like a pumpkin glutton. It was awful.

Trying to fix the problem, I scrubbed with a moist towel in the bathroom. Nothing happened. I applied lip balm and wiped it, nothing. The color and mistakes would not soften. I was glad I was in theaters to see Pacific Rim, where no sunlight could reach me. 

Are the colors pretty? You bet. Are there a lot of them, yes. 

Does it last forever as claimed? Agonizingly so. If you don't take your time and refer to a mirror, good luck fixing it without an oil based makeup remover. However, if you get it right the first time, you may enjoy this product very much.

Is it moisturizing? To a surprising degree, yes. Even when I scrubbed my lips raw, the gloss helped my lips recover. 

The worst part, however, is the artificial fruit/lychee smell. Imagine it lingering on your nose as you try so desperately to get rid of the color. At one point I started crying inwardly. It was a beauty nightmare. 

My verdict is that if you are very careful when applying delicate things with a doefoot applicator, go for it. It will most likely be your best friend. For me, the smell and mistake-unfriendly expectations left me annoyed. And the worst part? It's so expensive! I can get a lipstick and layer on a cheap gloss for the same price. I would advise you to try it first at the mall, walk around and see how people stare at you (in a bad, terrible way), and then come back to remove it with a steel wool pad and some bleach. If you find this an innovative product, I congratulate you. Seriously, you just skipped out on so many lip product steps. Plus you get to eat your food without bothering to touch up. It's a definite hit or miss in my book, and for me, a terrifying miss. The cons outweigh the pros. Or should I say, outlast.

In all honesty, it just wasn't right for me. I think that if you are looking for a hydrating stain, however, this may be a huge winner in your book. You can find swatches of this coral along with the many beautiful shades with a quick google search.

Tell me, what's your last lip related incident that's left you scarred?

Be