Monday, April 16, 2012

Review: L'Oréal Colour Riche Balm in Rose Elixir

I was quite intrigued when I heard L'Oréal had been coming out with their version of a tinted lip balm, the Colour Riche Balms. In all honesty, Revlon Lip Butters haven't entirely satisfied my criteria for the perfect tinted balm, so I decided to pick up one Balm in the shade Rose Elixir, one of the lightest shades in the range. What can I say, I was going through a nude make-up phase (and clearly being delusional, that idea never works out for me).


I'm quite keen on the packaging - I like transparent caps reflecting the shade of the lip balm inside, and the gold is rather elegant too. Sadly, that's the only thing I liked about this product.


The problem with Rose Elixir is simple: the pigmentation is extremly sheer. What you see below in the swatches is the shade at its full opacity, meaning at least seven swipes and really packed on the lips. The result? It pretty much looks like a clear lip gloss. Not a clear lip balm, mind you, since it seems the Balms have a nice sheen to them, no shimmer.

My other gripe was the scent and the taste; the Colour Riche Balm has a floral perfumey scent that translates into that horrid soapy aftertaste in your mouth, maybe because these also have an SPF of 15. As expected, it also didn't last on the lips in the slightest. Basically, my verdict would be that Rose Elixir is for gals who only like clear glossy balm on their lips, but want to make themselves feel experimental and sophisticated. Just... no. Stick to that tube of Chapstick and save yourself some pennies.

Have you tried L'Oréal Colour Riche Balms? What is your favorite sheer lipstick/ tinted lip balm formula?

4 comments:

  1. I haven't but I have been wanting to try the Revlon butters...

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  2. I have the plush plum (the only one that was not opened and used in my CVS) and the pigmentation was fairly decent and I do like that particular shade/formula since it was rather line-filling for me. It would be my favorite drugstore lip tint formula if they actually add more interesting shades.

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  3. I saw these & had been curious how they perform compared to the Revlon lip butters. Thanks for steering me away! I hate fragranced lip products that have a taste, and also avoid ones with SPF, and you are right, this just looks like Chapstick...

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  4. Your purple eyes really popped in this look! I love it. How did you do it? Purple liner 3/4 into the lash line?

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