Note: I've been wearing this pretty much constantly since I got it a month ago. In spite of its shortcomings, it's been a wonderfully easy, flattering lip balm/gloss for me. Sadly, when I was running to catch the bus, it fell out of the outer pocket on my bag that I'd stashed it in for easy access, and now all I can hope is that some lucky person comes across it, disinfects it, and uses it for themselves. I don't want to think about it being wasted or run over by a car! I still had 80+% left! Lessons to learn here:
1) Keep expensive makeup somewhere it won't get jostled out of
2) Maybe just don't buy expensive makeup, since apparently it'll just get lost (why couldn't I have lost one of my $2 lipsticks?!)
3) While the Clinique Chubby Sticks are expensive and you only get 0.10 oz, they should last several months with daily use (since a month of multiple-times-a-day application wore the point down to not even below the rim)
I would consider buying this again, especially since Sephora's Friends & Family sale is coming up soon (I'm not sure of the exact dates, but I'll post when I know), but I'm planning on getting the Tarte lipsticks of a similar style (value sets are awesome), so depending on how I like those, I may find myself not needing this again.
Okay, so that's my tale of woe. Here's the review for my lost love...
After I'd found a lipstick that suited me at the Clinique counter, the SA asked if there was anything else I wanted to see. The title of this post should indicate to you that yes, yes there was something I wanted to see: the Chubby Stick Gloss Balms. I'd read so much about them on other beauty blogs, and thought they sounded right up my alley, so I couldn't pass up the chance to give them a try. The SA applied Super Strawberry over After Party, which added some glossiness and softened the color a bit, but I bought it with the intention of wearing it alone, because a sheer pink-red gloss balm stick is everything I've ever wanted.
1) Keep expensive makeup somewhere it won't get jostled out of
2) Maybe just don't buy expensive makeup, since apparently it'll just get lost (why couldn't I have lost one of my $2 lipsticks?!)
3) While the Clinique Chubby Sticks are expensive and you only get 0.10 oz, they should last several months with daily use (since a month of multiple-times-a-day application wore the point down to not even below the rim)
I would consider buying this again, especially since Sephora's Friends & Family sale is coming up soon (I'm not sure of the exact dates, but I'll post when I know), but I'm planning on getting the Tarte lipsticks of a similar style (value sets are awesome), so depending on how I like those, I may find myself not needing this again.
Okay, so that's my tale of woe. Here's the review for my lost love...
After I'd found a lipstick that suited me at the Clinique counter, the SA asked if there was anything else I wanted to see. The title of this post should indicate to you that yes, yes there was something I wanted to see: the Chubby Stick Gloss Balms. I'd read so much about them on other beauty blogs, and thought they sounded right up my alley, so I couldn't pass up the chance to give them a try. The SA applied Super Strawberry over After Party, which added some glossiness and softened the color a bit, but I bought it with the intention of wearing it alone, because a sheer pink-red gloss balm stick is everything I've ever wanted.
Clinique Chubby Stick in 07 Super Strawberry
I was expecting the stick to be soft and melty, but it's neither and is rather quite firm. This means I never have to worry about wasting product or putting too much on, but the fact that it's a gloss-balm means that it does still glide on nicely, in spite of the firmness. 
2 swipes of SS in sunlight
New Chubby Stick (image courtesy of Clinique) and after 2+ weeks of very frequent use (left)––you can see it lasts a long time! (At the time I lost it, the tip ended about halfway between the rim and the picture above; I hadn't even gotten to the non-tapered part! Waaaaa)
A couple of swipes over my lips gives me lightly tinted, softly shining pink-red lips, definitely a variation on MLBB, which lasts about an hour (the tint lasts longer than the glossiness, though) and leaves my lips feeling, if not nicely moisturized, certainly no worse than they began.
Super Strawberry on lips in sunlight
SS on lips in shade
Plus, the design is super cute; it's a twist-up pencil, so you never have to worry about losing product to sharpening, though since the product doesn't retract all the way into the pencil, I managed to nick it on the lid quite frequently.
Some product residue on the inside of the cap (left); gloss stick rotated up a little (right)
All in all, I am super pleased. It's glossy without being sticky, glides on nicely without glooping all over the place, and gives a lovely natural flush. I only wish it weren't so expensive... (and that I hadn't lost it!)
Overview
Quality: 9.25
Effectiveness: 3 (not as moisturizing as they claim)
Ease of Use: 5 (no mirror or care needed!)
Senses: 4.5 (no taste, but faint lipstick smell)
Pigmentation: 5 (sheer and luminous, as it should be)
Duration: 3.5 (was pretty much gone after teaching a 45-minute class, which admittedly involved a lot of talking on my part, but still––it would be better if I didn't have to reapply during class, y'know?)
Consistency: 5
Price: 2
Value: 4.25 (0.10 oz is on the low end of lipstick size, but the firmness of texture means no product is wasted, and it will last me a good long while)
Grade: B-
If it were cheaper (and more moisturizing, and longer-lasting), I could give this a higher grade, but I'm really pleased with it nonetheless! It was my easy, go-to lip choice for close to a month, and I will miss it dearly.
Have you tried any of the Chubby Sticks (the name is ridiculous, yes)? What do you think of Super Strawberry?
