little white truths

These lip glosses are raved about in the beauty community so I bought myself a couple last year during one of Sephora's 20 per cent off sales.

I wish now that I hadn't bought two and instead had started off with one because I'm not impressed with the formula - I know, I know, I'm the only one - so now I'm stuck with two glosses that cost a lot, that don't hydrate well and that also sit in lip lines.

Ach, guess you can't win 'em all.

Marc Jacobs claims/product details:

Above you can see that the product comes with an applicator that's a little wider on one side and rather thin (so it's more like a paddle). I quite like it although I wouldn't say that I prefer it over a standard doe-foot applicator.

Now for swatches.

Light and heavy swatches, direct sunlight:

Indirect sunlight: 

Natural light:

 

My bare lips for reference:

Wearing the product, direct sunlight: 

Natural light:

Verdict

I'm really surprised that these products are so well-loved in the beauty community: the two I own aren't that great and I've been left scratching my head a bit because I can't work out what people see in them. Mind you, I haven't heard anyone else complain about them so it could just be me.

They're standard glosses that come in a tube with an applicator. The packaging is lovely and it feels high-end, which is always nice because I feel a bit special when I whip one out of my handbag.

They smell and taste like mint, and I was a little worried about that to start with because I have an intolerance to peppermint, but thankfully I can tolerate these so they mustn't contain too much of that ingredient.

I agree that the formula is very shiny without being sticky, and that they also give the lips a slightly fuller appearance. Having said this, both shades I own settle into lip lines immediately (you can see that on my upper lip especially in the photos above) and neither of them gives me a very even coating so I'm constantly smoothing them out to avoid having lines or smudge marks on my lips.

Also, both the shades I own have a tendency to travel outside my lip lines very easily, so they look messy and need a lot of babysitting throughout the day. Not what I want in a lip gloss, and certainly not what I want in a high-end lip gloss.

The other thing to note is that the formula isn't hydrating at all so I always need to wear a balm underneath, which I don't want to do with my glosses. Again, I expected more from these, given the price-tag. Plus with frequent use my lips have started flaking, which only confirms that these aren't nourishing my lips as I'd hoped.

'Rah Rah!' is a gorgeous peachy coral and I do like the colour, but be aware that it's not opaque so it doesn't add as much colour as I would like. This may partly be because my lips are quite pigmented so my natural colour shows through, but it's something to keep in mind.

Overall I don't recommend this formula and I don't know whether I just managed to pick two bad shades (unlikely) or whether they just don't gel with my lips. But if they're both sitting in lines, travelling outside my lips and also causing my lips to flake, that's not a good sign.

Not for me.