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 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.