Category Archives: Lip Balm

Maybelline Very Berry Baby Lips: Review, Swatches, Comparison

Purchased – Affiliate Links

Maybelline recently released a new collection of tinted Baby Lips balms for spring, called the “Pink’ed” collection. It contains five new and limited edition shades, which you can see below. I bought one, in the shade Very Berry.

I haven’t reviewed Baby Lips balms before, but I like them. I don’t find them particularly moisturizing, so they’re not my choice to actually repair dry lips.  However, when my lips are in good condition, they work well enough, and I especially like the tinted ones. Continue reading →

ELF Lip Balm Tint Review & Swatches

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ELF Essential Lip Balm Tint

ELF Essential Lip Balm Tint: Nude // Grapefruit // Berry

I bought ELF’s Essential Lip Balm Tint in Berry a while back (previously reviewed). I liked it so much that when I saw a few other colors for sale at my Walgreens, I bought two more shades – Nude & Berry.

As I wrote previously, these are more of a gloss and less of a balm.  They are mildly moisturizing, but won’t fix chapped lips. They have a sweet vanilla scent and a slightly sweet taste.

ELF Nude Grapefruit Berry Lip Balm Tint swatches

Nude // Grapefruit // Berry

Nude is a white-based, and I found that it settles into lip lines a little.  Grapefruit & Berry both have clear bases for a jelly-ish finish, and both are lovely. I would recommend those two!

Nude

Grapefruit

Berry

Have you tried the ELF Essential Lip Balm Tints? Or do you have any ELF product recommendations for me?

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Almay Color + Care Liquid Lip Balm Review & Swatches

Purchased & Press Sample – Affiliate Links

Almay has generally been a brand I’ve overlooked – they just didn’t have many products that intrigued me. In the last year or so, they’ve been coming out with some interesting new items. I was very intrigued by the Shadow Softies, though unfortunately they didn’t work for me. Quite a while back, I received one of Almay’s Color + Care Liquid Lip Balms ($4.99 at Target.com), and I liked it enough to purchase two more shades.

The Almay Liquid Lip Balms are really a moisturizing gloss. Texturewise, they remind me of Maybelline’s Color Elixir glosses (reviews) and the L’oreal Extraordinare glosses (review), but they are much less pigmented than either of those two products. The Almay glosses range from quite sheer to moderately pigmented.  And – yay! – they not overly scented like the Color Elixirs or Extraordinares. They have a faint sweet scent and no taste.

Pink Pout

Pink Pout is quite sheer and a little bit milky. I don’t like this shade very much.

Apple A Day

Apple A Day is a gorgeous warm red. Definitely my favorite!

Just Plum

Just Plum is a lovely purple-berry. I really like this one too.

Have you tried these glosses? And is there anything else from Almay that I am overlooking and should try out?

*I received the Apple balm as a Klout Perk. I purchased the other two shades featured in this post. This post contains one or more affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

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Five E.L.F. Short Reviews & Swatches

Purchased – No Affiliate Links

I have a lot of ELF products I haven’t reviewed, mostly from my during a 50% off sale three months ago, and today I have short reviews of five different items.

ELF Lip Lock Pencil
This is a transparent lip primer. It works to prevent feathering, but doesn’t significantly extend the life of my lipstick. I’m actually working on a post comparing several clear lip liners & lip primers – this was the worst performing of all of them.

ELF lip lock pencil

ELF Lip Lock Pencil

ELF Long-Lasting Lustrous Eyeshadow – Toast
I LOVE THIS. It’s a sparkling mousse-textured shadow, and this shade is gorgeous – silver and gold sparkles of just the right size. It doesn’t crease on me. I want more shades!

ELF Long-Lasting Lustrous Eyeshadow - Toast

ELF Long-Lasting Lustrous Eyeshadow – Toast

ELF lustrous eyeshadow toast-2

The texture is interesting – sort of a spongy mousse. Different than anything else I’ve tried!

I had trouble getting a clear photo, maybe because it’s so sparkly.

ELF Under-Eye Setting Powder
I know some people don’t mind some shimmer in their face products, but this has large pieces of pink glitter. I don’t get it.

ELF HD undereye setting powder

ELF High Definition Undereye Setting Powder

GLITTER. Do not want.

ELF Essential Lip Balm Tint – Berry
This is great – it says it’s lip balm, but really it’s sheer berry gloss. It’s potted, which is not really my preference, but for something this sheer I don’t mind. It shows up beautifully, and has a nice texture – not sticky at all.  It has a sweet vanilla scent.  In fact, when I saw that my Walgreens had this in a few shades, I bought two more – Grapefruit and Nude. I’ll swatch them for you soon.

ELF Mineral Moisturizing Lip Tint – Rose
It’s okay – texture is fine, it’s mildly moisturizing. It’s sheer, but does show up. The color is fine. It’s exactly what I think of as an acceptable but not exciting product.

ELF lip balm tint berry - moisturizing lip tint rose

Essential Lip Balm Tint in Berry // Mineral Moisturizing Lip Tint in Rose

Essential Lip Balm Tint Berry - Mineral Moisturizing Lip Tint Rose swatches

Essential Lip Balm Tint Berry // Mineral Moisturizing Lip Tint Rose

Lip Balm Tint – Berry

Moisturizing Lip Tint – Rose

Have you tried any of these? Do you have any recommendations for new E.L.F. products I should try?

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L’oreal Colour Riche Extraordinaire Lip Color Swatches & Quick Review

Purchased – Affiliate Links

L’oreal recently released a new lip color, the Colour Riche Extraordinare. I’ve seen them around at a couple drugstores, and I purchased three of them at Rite Aid earlier this week.

The bad news: I thought these were a liquid lipstick (and have seen them called that online) but they are not – they’re more of a moisturizing gloss, and very similar in feel to Maybelline’s Color Elixir lip colors (reviewed here). The good news: I have really been enjoying the Maybelline Color Elixirs, so although I’m a bit disappointed that these aren’t lipsticks at all, I’m still happy to have them. And, note that L’oreal classifies them online as a lip color, but does not call them a lipstick – they’re marketed as having color and care, much like the Maybellines. Continue reading →

Maybelline Signature Scarlet & Intoxicating Spice Color Elixir Glosses

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One of the products that is getting a lot of buzz right now is Maybelline’s new Color Elixir lip product. I’ve heard some say that it’s meant to be similar to YSL’s Glossy Stains and L’oreal’s Shine Caress Gloss stains – I have a comparison of those two products here – but it’s a very different product.  It’s marketed as delivering “the color of a lipstick, the cushiony care of a balm, and the glass shine of a gloss.” Note that it is not marketed as a stain, and on me, it doesn’t stain more than your typical lipstick.

I  purchased two shades, Intoxicating Spice and Signature Scarlet. The below photo is a little bit washed out (sorry!), but you can get an idea of the color and the texture.

Maybelle Color Elixir swatches - Intoxicating Spice - Signature Scarlet

Intoxicating Spice // Signature Scarlet

And  applied:

no product

Maybelle Color Elixir - Intoxicating Spice - Lip Swatch

Intoxicating Spice

Signature Scarlet

I really like the Color Elixirs, but I don’t think they live up to Maybelline’s claims.  Notably, they are significantly less pigmented than a lipstick, though they are quite reasonably pigmented for a gloss or balm.  I find the promo image especially misleading – there is no way to make Signature Scarlet, worn alone, look like the below photo.

The Colors Elixirs live up to the claim of being balm-like much better, as they do have a cushiony feel and I find them moderately moisturizing.  They’re actually one of the most moisturizing colored lip products I’ve tried, though less moisturizing than some of my non-tinted lip balms.  They have an average amount of shine for a gloss.

Overall, and despite the advertising deception, I do really like the Color Elixir gloss/balm/whatevers.  They’re comfortable to wear, and Intoxicating Spice in particular is a really lovely everyday shade – I’ve been wearing it to work frequently since I purchased it a few weeks ago.   The temporary displays are widely available in drugstores now, and I believe they’ll be up on the Maybelline wall soon. If you can’t find them locally, they’re also available on drugstore.com.

*I purchased the product(s) featured in this post.   This post contains one or more affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.