little white truths

I bought this Revlon lip product when Chemist Warehouse was having a fifty per cent off sale. I'd noticed the products on the shelves and they'd always intrigued me - something about the packaging draws me in - and I'd also seen a bundle of reviews online saying they weren't your typical mattes or liquid lipsticks.

Since I find matte products and liquid lipsticks too drying on my already-dry lips, I thought these may just work for me and I was happy to snap one up at half-price and see how it fared. Unfortunately it's still too drying for me (although it's true that it's not your typical matte), so I'll be sending mine to a better home but I'm glad I've given one a shot and can cross it off the list.

There's the applicator above and below, shots taken both indoors and outdoors so you can see the shade:

Verdict

I really wanted to love these because the packaging calls to me and I love that they're not your typical matte - plus if you can pick yours up for $11 as I did, they don't break the bank. But alas, not to be.

The first thing I noticed about the product was the strong, sweet scent - which I thought was strawberries and cream, but apparently it's mango vanilla (close enough ; ) ). The scent is quite potent and it does linger, so it's worth testing these first because you mightn't be able to live with the smell if you're not a fan of scented products or anything that's too sweet.

I like the applicator and I find the product easy to apply. It does feel lightweight, smooth and velvety on the lips, and it does give a velvety finish so those claims are true.

The pigmentation is also fantastic and it doesn't take a lot of product to achieve an opaque coverage, although you can dot the product on if you're after a more natural finish that looks and feels less like paint.

These don't dry down and hold fast like your typical matte product, so while they last longer than a cream, they don't hang on like a standard matte and they will transfer throughout the day. So if you're after a standard matte, this mightn't be the product for you - but if you don't like how a standard matte looks and feels, these may be worth a look-in.

I tried really hard to get mine to work for me by prepping my lips with moisture first and also trying the product with a gloss over the top. But unfortunately, no matter what I do, my lips end up looking and feeling super dry within about half an hour of application. This is disappointing because the product didn't feel too drying when I first applied it and I thought I may have found a winner. Not so.

While these don't emphasise lip lines to start with (although they don't reduce them either), after about half an hour of wear, my lips look lined and start flaking something chronic. Plus the colour separates into little patches, leaving my lips looking really chapped and unhappy. Foo!

Do keep in mind that my lips are notoriously dry (and it's winter), so I suspect that most people won't find them drying as I have. Indeed, of the reviews I've read, most people call these moisturising and comfortable - and any issues with the product generally relate to its finish and wear-time, and not the drying issue.

In sum, there's a lot to love about these and I do think they're worth testing at least, but they're just not for me and I'll be sending mine to a better home. Back to the drawing board!