So, I should be working on my 17-page paper that's due Thursday at 5. Instead, I'm writing about lip butter (which has kind of already been done by, like, every other blog ever), because I'm a mature and responsible student. Or, y'know, not. This is just so much more fun than writing about Turkish speech production (though, I'm not going to lie, that doesn't suck, either...nerd, party of one). Anyways. Enough rambling!
Revlon recently(ish) introduced a new product, lip butters. They come in a staggering 20 color array, and are touted as being moisturizing tinted balms. I kept holding out for them to be on major sale (say, 40% off), but a couple of days ago I caved and bought two at Rite Aid for BOGO1/2. All told, they cost me $5.63 each, and honestly, I don't even feel that bad about it. Paying more than $5 for a drugstore product usually breaks me out in hives, but I really, really like these, so I'm glad I finally took the plunge and bought them!
I first purchased Raspberry Pie and Berry Smoothie, hoping that the former would work for my mother, and intending to keep the latter for myself. Arm swatches below:
Sugar Plum looks really dark and purple in the tube, but like Cherry Tart, it's extremely sheer and really wearable. I would say, for me, with my pale skin and corpsey lips, Sugar Plum is a perfect MLBB/nude. It's very subtle, looks really natural, but doesn't have so much brown in it that it makes me look dead(er).
The lip butters come in a quilted lipstick case that is similarly colored to the lip product within, which is handy if you have more than 1. The top is angled, and retracts fully into the tube (thank GOD). You can see in the picture above that I still managed to nick the surface of Berry Smoothie, but that's because I am completely incompetent, not due to any design flaw. The texture of these is not nearly as slippery and buttery as the Jordana Easyshines, but they're still plenty moisturizing, and the lack of slip does mean they last longer; I can get a good 1-1.5 hours out of them, both for color and moisture (and considering how I rub my lips together, that's a nice long duration!), and I imagine some of the darker, more pigmented shades would leave a nice stain behind. I wore only Berry Smoothie yesterday, no Jack Black or anything, and while the product was on, my lips were fine, but they felt like they could use some more moisture once it had worn off. They weren't chapped, per se, but they did feel a little dry and tight, so I wouldn't say they're as moisturizing as they claim. Of course, nothing makes my lips as happy as Jack Black, and I'm quite pleased with how they feel and the level of moisture they impart/maintain.
Overall, I think these are a great product. They run around $7 at drugstores, but I recommend waiting for sales to pick them up. I believe they're a permanent addition (YAY!), so you don't have to run around crazy trying to find them...though you might want to anyways, since they're really quite wonderful! There's lots of other reviews and swatches online, and I highly suggest searching them out to help narrow down what colors you might want, since trying to figure it out in bad fluorescent lighting is, frankly, a nightmare (hence the Raspberry Pie debacle––I thought it was a warm berry!).
Overview
~$7 for 0.09 oz, available at drugstores
Quality: 9
Effectiveness: 4.25
Ease of Use: 5
Senses: 5 (light vanilla scent, very subtle, and unflavored)
Pigmentation: 4.5 (many of the colors are more pigmented than you would think of for a lip butter, but that's not necessarily a bad thing! It's just different than they claim, so I had to knock off a bit)
Duration: 4.75 (lasts more than an hour on me, which is good both for a moisturizing lip butter and also for lip products in general!)
Consistency: 4.75 (not as buttery as you'd think from a lip butter, though I actually really like the consistency, since it doesn't wear off as easily)
Price: 4
Value: 4 (0.09 oz is less than normal lipstick size, though it's larger than most moisturizing lipstick/glosses are)
Packaging: +0.5 (I like how the product retracts all the way into the tube, so there's none left sticking out [my biggest problem with the Jordana Easyshines!], and the color-matched quilted case is a nice touch)
Grade: A-
Have you tried any of the Revlon lip butters? What did you think? What's your favorite moisturizing lip product?
Revlon Lip Butter in Raspberry Pie (top) and Berry Smoothie (bottom)
Revlon recently(ish) introduced a new product, lip butters. They come in a staggering 20 color array, and are touted as being moisturizing tinted balms. I kept holding out for them to be on major sale (say, 40% off), but a couple of days ago I caved and bought two at Rite Aid for BOGO1/2. All told, they cost me $5.63 each, and honestly, I don't even feel that bad about it. Paying more than $5 for a drugstore product usually breaks me out in hives, but I really, really like these, so I'm glad I finally took the plunge and bought them!
Berry Smoothie (left) and Raspberry Pie (right)
I first purchased Raspberry Pie and Berry Smoothie, hoping that the former would work for my mother, and intending to keep the latter for myself. Arm swatches below:
Raspberry Pie (left) and Berry Smoothie (right)
As you can see, Raspberry Pie is a bright, opaque magenta––definitely not something my mother (or I) would regularly wear. Berry Smoothie, on the other hand, worked really well for both of us; it's a semi-sheer pink-berry with very subtle shimmer (honestly, I have trouble detecting it at all), and its sheerness means it works well on both warm and cool skin tones (as the fact that it looked good on both my mother and me attests, as she's a warm-complected redhead, and I'm a neutral-cool brunette, though we're both pale like ghosts). It can be built up, too (the swatch above is effectively 2 swipes), which makes it versatile for deeper skin tones as well, though I imagine really dark skin might not see much color from it. For me, it's as close to a MLBB shade as I've yet found; I do wish it were completely shimmer-free, just because I always worry that it will wear off and leave glitters behind, but I think that fear is unfounded with this product, as I've yet to have any problems like that. It makes my lips look pink and happy, but not unnatural or in-your-face (which is often a problem with me and pinks). Here it is compared to Jordana Easyshine in Berry Colada, which I like except for the gold glitter, which is annoying enough that I actually never wear it:
Jordana Berry Colada (top) and Revlon Berry Smoothie (bottom)
You can see that Berry Smoothie is lighter and sheerer than Berry Colada, and the shimmer is much less evident (enlarge picture for more detail). If I could combine the base colors (and textures) of both and get rid of the shimmer, I think that would actually be my absolute ideal lip product, but Berry Smoothie on its own is pretty great, too. Lip swatch below:
Pink Truffle
My mother and I went back to Rite Aid the next day and exchanged Raspberry Pie for Pink Truffle, which I'd identified from online swatches as a good potential for my mother.
Pink Truffle (left) and Berry Smoothie (right); see how much it can be built up? This is just one swipe, as compared to the two above
Lo and behold, it is perfection. It's a warm coral-red cream with some orange and brown notes, and it looks fabulous on my mother. She has deemed it her HG lip product, and told me I could stop looking for anything further for her (one of my favorite hobbies, *sigh*). It's a little too warm on me, so I would say it's best for neutral-warm complexions, and it's more pigmented than Berry Smoothie, so it should work on darker skin as well.
Cherry Tart (left) and Sugar Plum (right)
ETA: So, I went back and picked up a few more of these, including two new-to-me colors, Cherry Tart and Sugar Plum. Cherry Tart is a sheer red-pink, and is by far the easiest-to-wear red I've come across. I've swatched it below next to two other sheer reds in my collection, Jordana Sweet Strawberry and Tarte Swank, which shows that it's much sheerer than either:
Left to right: 3 swipes Cherry Tart, 1 swipe Swank, 1 swipe Sweet Strawberry
If you're neutral or cool and scared of reds but want to try entering the field, Cherry Tart is an excellent choice. The lip swatch below shows it built up quite a bit, so it can be bolder, but sticking to a single swipe will keep it muted and very wearable (though even built up, I still wouldn't call it "bold").
Heavy swatch of Cherry Tart with flash
Sugar Plum looks really dark and purple in the tube, but like Cherry Tart, it's extremely sheer and really wearable. I would say, for me, with my pale skin and corpsey lips, Sugar Plum is a perfect MLBB/nude. It's very subtle, looks really natural, but doesn't have so much brown in it that it makes me look dead(er).
Heavy swatch Sugar Plum with direct flash (left) and indirect flash (right); the rightmost picture more accurately shows the base color, but the left picture shows the depth better
Compared to Berry Smoothie, Sugar Plum is way sheerer, has more plum, and is less pink. It's also shimmer-free.
3 swipes Sugar Plum (top) and 1 swipe Berry Smoothie (bottom)
I like them both a lot, and which you should get really depends on your undertone (neutral-cools would look best in Sugar Plum, but I think anyone can wear Berry Smoothie) and what level of pigmentation you're after (Sugar Plum is sheer and gives just a hint of tint, while Berry Smoothie has more color, though it's certainly not opaque). I bought a backup of Berry Smoothie just in case, but I think I'll return it (and Cherry Tart, because I already have sheer reds that I like) and keep Sugar Plum instead, because I think it's even more versatile.The lip butters come in a quilted lipstick case that is similarly colored to the lip product within, which is handy if you have more than 1. The top is angled, and retracts fully into the tube (thank GOD). You can see in the picture above that I still managed to nick the surface of Berry Smoothie, but that's because I am completely incompetent, not due to any design flaw. The texture of these is not nearly as slippery and buttery as the Jordana Easyshines, but they're still plenty moisturizing, and the lack of slip does mean they last longer; I can get a good 1-1.5 hours out of them, both for color and moisture (and considering how I rub my lips together, that's a nice long duration!), and I imagine some of the darker, more pigmented shades would leave a nice stain behind. I wore only Berry Smoothie yesterday, no Jack Black or anything, and while the product was on, my lips were fine, but they felt like they could use some more moisture once it had worn off. They weren't chapped, per se, but they did feel a little dry and tight, so I wouldn't say they're as moisturizing as they claim. Of course, nothing makes my lips as happy as Jack Black, and I'm quite pleased with how they feel and the level of moisture they impart/maintain.
Overall, I think these are a great product. They run around $7 at drugstores, but I recommend waiting for sales to pick them up. I believe they're a permanent addition (YAY!), so you don't have to run around crazy trying to find them...though you might want to anyways, since they're really quite wonderful! There's lots of other reviews and swatches online, and I highly suggest searching them out to help narrow down what colors you might want, since trying to figure it out in bad fluorescent lighting is, frankly, a nightmare (hence the Raspberry Pie debacle––I thought it was a warm berry!).
Overview
~$7 for 0.09 oz, available at drugstores
Quality: 9
Effectiveness: 4.25
Ease of Use: 5
Senses: 5 (light vanilla scent, very subtle, and unflavored)
Pigmentation: 4.5 (many of the colors are more pigmented than you would think of for a lip butter, but that's not necessarily a bad thing! It's just different than they claim, so I had to knock off a bit)
Duration: 4.75 (lasts more than an hour on me, which is good both for a moisturizing lip butter and also for lip products in general!)
Consistency: 4.75 (not as buttery as you'd think from a lip butter, though I actually really like the consistency, since it doesn't wear off as easily)
Price: 4
Value: 4 (0.09 oz is less than normal lipstick size, though it's larger than most moisturizing lipstick/glosses are)
Packaging: +0.5 (I like how the product retracts all the way into the tube, so there's none left sticking out [my biggest problem with the Jordana Easyshines!], and the color-matched quilted case is a nice touch)
Grade: A-
Have you tried any of the Revlon lip butters? What did you think? What's your favorite moisturizing lip product?
