Sunday, June 28, 2015

Easy (on the) Orange: Nature Republic Botanical Shine Lip Tint no. 3

I haven't purchased any make-up this month. Nothing. Nada. So, I'm kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel here for products to talk about - well, more like the bottom of my 'to be reviewed' box, which is where this little guy has been hiding: it's the Nature Republic Botanical Shine Tint in the shade no. 3 ($5-7 for 9.5 g), a coral orange with golden shimmer.
If you're a fan of lip/cheek tints, you know that shimmer in such formulations is a pretty rare occurence, which is why I was interested to see how this would perform on the lips. The packaging is quite standard with a nice doe foot applicator that makes it really easy to trace the outline of your lips and fill everything in evenly. There's a little bit of a fruity floral scent to the product that dissipates quickly after application. The tint came sealed in plastic - this is where the strange dotted lines on the cap come from, I guess the plastic they used for the cap got stained somehow :)
The texture of this tint is quite thin, and it spreads easily and mostly evenly on the lips. To begin with, there is some glossiness to the Botanical Shine Tint, but it dries down to a matte finish; well, what I mean by this is that the colored base is matte, with the golden shimmer sitting on top. I usually dislike shimmer and glitter in lip products, but I was quite surprised at how much I liked the finish of this Nature Republic Tint when it was freshly applied. Unfortunately, the longer I had it on my lips, the more issues I experienced with this product...
Basically, the tint starts balling and gunking up on the lips as soon as it dries down. Any sort of rubbing motion (you know, unusual behavior such as pressing your lips together, or talking, or eating/drinking) causes the product to bunch up together. I tried it a number of different ways, and the same thing happened every single time. This unfortunate property also makes it difficult to layer the product for more opacity, because then it starts balling up pretty much right away.
L-R: Balled up tint after rubbing my lips together, the state of my lips after removing the gunk with a tissue
As for longevity, I found the Botanical Shine Tint to wear much shorter than most stains I've tried so far. After having a light snack (pistachio ice cream with strawberries, nom nom), most of the color and shimmer disappeared from the inside portion of my lips. If you rub off all the balled up gunk that happens while wearing the product, you're left with a subtle warm red tint to your lips - which is quite pretty in terms of the actual shade, but my lips also looked very dried out and puckered even after having worn it for about 15 minutes. If your lips are anything like mine - meaning full, but not very wide - it does nothing to smooth out vertical lip lines or improve the texture of the lips.
L-R: Nature Republic Botanical Shine Tint no. 3, Beaute Liqui-Gel Stain in Flouron, Essence Stay With Me Lipgloss in Candy Bar
Here's a somewhat random shade comparison to give you an idea of shade depth and undertone. I definitely prefer the texture and wear of the Beaute Liqui-Gel Stain in Flouron, and as far as easy to wear orange lip shades, I would absolutely grab for my Chanel Rouge Allure in Conquise over this (not included in the swatches, but here's my review).
Oh, hello! I feel like I haven't seen you in a while :) I'm wearing one freshly applied coat of the Botanical Shine Tint no. 3, the Koh Gen Do Aqua foundation and Hourglass Ambient Blush in Dim Lighting for this look.
Have you tried any Korean lip tints, and if so, what are your favorites? Do you like wearing orange lips in the summer?

12 comments:

  1. Oh the fotd....very midsummer-night's-dreamy...

    I have tried maybe a few Korean lip products (through friends and mom's trip) but I never really want to buy them myself. The budget brand are often time kind of overpriced (and I feel I am too old for their cutesy design) and the highend ones' packaging are not cute/attractive enough....I think I stepped into a nature's republic store (or was it skinfood? I am confused by the two) then decided to get our because the sheet mask were too pricey (compared to the ones mitsuwa sells, which are already marked up).

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    1. Thank you Citrine! <3 Hahah, I think it's the hair :) It's true about the pricing of these here in the US - I hear they're a lot cheaper in Korea, and they often have promos and gwps as well. Me and Kar Yi went to the Nature Republic store in Flushing and a couple other Korean beauty stores as well, and true, even most of their sheet masks weren't that cheap at all. Actually, they are often cheaper on eBay, even with the shipping!

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  2. this color is great on you! :)

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  3. Oh my!!! You are so amazing. It looks so pretty on you. I have never tried any Korean products for they are kinda pricey. My practical side keeps on running over me.

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    1. Thank you Ana, you're too sweet! I believe in Korea a lot of their brands are very inexpensive, but when you have to pay for the shipping, or even when you buy in their stores here in the US, the prices are waaay marked up.

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  4. Oh dear, I can't stand products that ball up, it always makes me wonder who exactly this would work for - nobody likes balled up lip tints! You've reminded me how much I wanted Flouron back in the day, I was really obsessed with tracking it down for some strange reason. I think I'll pull out my essence glosses out for another whirl soon, I forgot I even had them!

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    1. You know, I looked at some reviews online to see what the price point is for this one (I got it as gift so no idea on the price), and people mostly really liked it, and no one mentioned the balling up issue, so... I don't know. Are my lips really weird? I tried it a bunch of times too. The Essence glosses are surprisingly nice for how inexpensive they are!

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  5. Love your headband :D

    I've just finished the mega empties post - cheers to finishing more samples in the lot!

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    1. Thank you Jenni! I just had a look at your empties post, it was pretty insane - and you did a marvelous job on the samples :)

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  6. I haven't tried any Korean lip tints, but I do love orange lips. It's bad that this tint balls up but that look you did! I'm not sure if you meant to do it, but I love how it is glowy and monochromatic in an orange / coral way. Love it!

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    1. Yeah, I was quite disappointed, especially that it looked very pretty straight from the tube! Thank you Lily, that was a good skin day, haha :D

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  7. You look sooooo beautiful in that face shot, so whimsical, like a fairy almost!!! And I actually lik the soft orange.

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