A glimpse at the lips: L'Oreal's Shine Caresse Lip Colour in Princess

Over a year ago I was almost positive I was going to purchase YSL's Rouge pur Couture Glossy Stain. So, what happened? First, there's the scent (I couldn't get past it), it reeked like really bad red wine and second, it was expensive. The coupled negatives were enough for me to warrant passing on something which was voted the "2012 Breakthrough" by Allure readers. I hoped and prayed something would come out and rival this glossy to matte beauty -- the mothership, L'Oreal, delivered. Well, sort of.

L'Oreal's Shine Caresse Lip Colour in Princess (Coral Tattoo)

L'Oreal's Shine Caresse Lip Colours have swept the makeup world off its feet, but part of me has been left wanting so much more.

First impressions matter. For instance, let's start with the tube's shape. Intuitively, one would assume the wider part of the tube was the base; after I took the tester off the shelf I tried (unsuccessfully) to twist off the narrower end. Oops.

Strike that and reverse it.

The doe foot applicator is of the floral variety -- petal-like and contoured with a spine for optimal product delivery. Personally, I love this sort of applicator, because it expedites the application process and works well with my lips.

The magical wand

The product itself is interesting, take this as good, bad or indifferent. It slips on the lips easily due to it being water based, but after an hour or so, it becomes tacky/sticky on the lips. At this stage I find that I'm more aware of my lips and have this distinct feeling of being worn by something instead of things being the other way around. I hope you get what I mean.

There's also a vast difference in scent -- I purchased Princess (a.k.a. Coral Tattoo) from my local Priceline and ordered Berry Persistent and Pink Resistance from Ulta; Princess smells like Sweet Tarts, whereas the other two smell like baby wipes.

In terms of appearance and wear time the glossiness lasts for an hour, tops, a light sheen sticks around for a few more hours (the sticky phase) and eventually it dries down to a soft, matte stain. Another thing to be aware of is the colour pools within the dips and troughs of your lips. Just be prepared for the colour appearing uneven; I noticed this the most with Berry Persistent.

As for the colour, Princess is a heavy leaning orange coral. Not sure if you can notice, but I wore Princess to the Unico relaunch.

Swatch of Princess – heavy (left) and light (right)

Here are two other reviews with different takes on L'Oreal's Shine Caresse Lip Colour...

• L'Oreal Colour Caresse Shine Stains: Review & Swatches - reviewed by Kate of la beaute et le blogueur. Be sure to check out her application tips :)
• L'Oreal Shine Caresse: Swatches and Review Part 1 - reviewed by Jen of My Funny Valentine

The Bagful breakdown:

Total amount for L'Oreal Shine Caresse Lip Colour in Princess:

• $23.95 AUS / $9.99 USD

Value for money spent (performance and quality):

• 7 out of 10 bags – love the colour, just hate the inconsistencies.

Would another purchase be on the horizon?:

• Never say never.

Week in review

It was a busy week here at Bagful with Scott's birthday (Happy Birthday!), the Salon Melbourne preview, muk's Spa Haircare launch and a wine tour. I think I may've worked somewhere in there as well. Whoa, I'm spent.

What did you get up to this week?

Eyes to mesmerise: Clinique's Chubby Stick Shadow Tint For Eyes in Curvaceous Coal 08

Today let's play $25,000 Pyramid -- I'll start. It's short, cylindrical in shape, similar to a pencil, can be used for colouring and it's meant to be worn on the face.

Any guesses?

Clinique's Chubby Stick Shadow Tiny for Eyes

Clinique recently released Chubby Stick Shadow Tint for Eyes and here's what they have to say about them -- "Sheer, creamy confection to jazz up your makeup routine—in 12 super-wearable shades. Layerable, long-wearing and versatile, too." 

Fundamentally, Clinique's version is sound, but in practice it doesn't quite cut it for me. While I do love the ease of applying straight from the tube - it's like drinking from a bottle of soda or eating peanut butter straight out of the jar; I know it's wrong, I feel slightly selfish and I can't help but feel like something's missing.

This is how the three scenarios played out:

A. I need a makeup brush for refinement and blending.

B. The soda is flat, what a waste.

and

C. Graham crackers would've helped to make for an awesome combo.

Curvaceous Coal is a creamy grey with dark blue undertones (think of smoke pluming from a chimney) with the lightest touch of shimmer. The product applies easily, however I have a difficult time with honing in on the outer corners of my eyes due to the tip being too large for my short eyelids. Initially it looks as if I kept both eyes closed while applying Curvaceous Coal; grey blobs do not look cute, trust me. In order to get around this issue, I dabbed the smallest amount of colour on my lids and blended the colour out with MAC's 217.

Ideally, I wish I could've skipped this step, but it's a necessary step for me. My plans for quick and easy makeup pretty much went out the window.

Swatch of Curvaceous Coal without Flash

The goods...

• Colour and texture is fantastic.
• Long-lasting.
• Doesn't crease.
• Price point is decent.
• Perfect for the girl on the go.
• Sharpener not required as it's a twist-up tube.

The mehs...

• Tricky to apply.

Looking for a dupe?

Neutrogena's Crease Proof Eye Shadow retails for $8.49 USD and Rimmel London's joined the club too, but their version reminds me of NARS' Soft Touch Shadow Pencil.

The Bagful breakdown:

Total amount for Clinique's Chubby Stick Shadow Tint For Eyes in Curvaceous Coal 08:

• $16.00 USD. Once they hit shelves in Australia, I think they'll sell for $35.00 AUS

Value for money spent (performance and quality):

• 8 out of 10 bags – Love the colour.

Would another purchase be on the horizon?:

• It's been a while, but I wouldn't mind trying Clinique's blush again :) And their reformulated nail polish looks promising too!

Quick one. Do you remember their eye shadow sticks from the late 90's? I think I owned a frosty pink and a deep plum.