L'Oréal Colour Riche® Balm Review & Randomness

08 January 2012

I hate reviewing L'Oréal products because I feel like I always end up disliking them for one reason or another. Well, this review is another review in a long line of disappointment. I guess I hold L'Oréal to a stricter standard because, not only do they test on animals and should OBVIOUSLY be able to come up w/ a better product because of that fact (*eyeroll*), but they're also so overpriced, it physically hurts. But you don't want me to get started on overpriced drugstore makeup, lol.

Needless to say, I was disappointed by this product, like most other L'Oréal products I end up buying. At the end of this review, I'm including a mini review of an amazingly gorgeous product that I LOVE so that this review isn't so gloomy. That being said, I do have an upcoming L'Oréal review on a new type of eyeshadow that I really like, so maybe not everything is hopeless! :) Let's get this party started!

According to L'Oréal's website:

Indulge your lips w/ Colour Riche® Balm. This tinted SPF 15 lip balm provides a hint of luscious, kissable color, smoothing lips instantly and for a full 8 hours of continuous hydration. Lips are softer and more supple all day long--and keeps conditioning even after it's been removed.

Available in 8 wearable shades.

I didn't even bother taking lip swatches. Why? Because there was little to no color payoff. The product itself looks gorgeous - I love the colors and I think the packaging looks fantastic and sleek. This product is probably supposed to be L'Oréal's version of the Revlon® ColorBurst™ Lip Butters but they fall WAY short. The Revlon products come in 20 pigmented shades. W/ the majority of the products, the pigmentation is stellar. These are like...clear oil. There is hardly any pigmentation at all and that really depresses me.

I REALLY hate when products claim to be tinted and then end up being barely visible. What's the fucking point? I mean, just package an overpriced clear balm but don't try and rip me off and make me think I'm buying color. If these had the payoff to back up the claims, I'd like these. They're decently moisturizing and are slightly thicker in texture to the Revlon Lip Butters so they have a bit better staying power. When they wear off, they don't leave your lips feeling drier, like some of the Lip Butters seem to do. They smell kind of sweet and a hint of a fruity scent also. I am soooooo disappointed by the colors. In the swatch on my hand, I ran these over my hand about 15 times EACH and that is the ONLY color that would show.

So I recommend these for people who can waste money on glorified clear balms...well, wait, if you can spend money on that, just get the YSL ones. The packaging for those is even better! If you're an albino or a corpse, you might be able to get these to show up on your lips. However, if you have any blood flowing in your veins at all, your lips are probably too pigmented for these to work on. Keep in mind that I only have three. Maybe the colors I purchased are faulty. These aren't the worse balms in the world but they say they're tinted and they're not and for that, they fail in my book.

SKIP THESE AND GET SOME OF THE Colour Riche® LE GLOSSES. In many instances, the color payoff is similar, but usually better, and these glosses smell amazing and are much more moisturizing than the balms. I think these are a much better use of $7.99!

If you like these, please leave me a comment and tell me which colors you got!

From L-R: "Nourishing Nude", "Heavenly Berry", and "Rose Elixir".

From L-R: "Nourishing Nude", "Heavenly Berry", and "Rose Elixir".

Now onto the awesome product. This is less of a review and more of a ZOMG PRETTY thing. I got one thing from one of the new MAC collections (no clue which one it is), which is one of the Blush Ombres. I missed out the last time and when I saw these at the counter, I didn't want to miss out again, so I bought one...then went back and bought a backup because I win at life. Or something like that.