Spoiler alert; this set f*****g sucks. I'm actually offended that Hard Candy was able to waste my $4.88, what a joke. I know, I know, language and all that. But seriously, this gift set is literally trash, and that's where these glosses are going after this bloody review. Okay, okay, I'm never this negative about these things, ever. But this is a special occasion. So let's talk about brands cheaping the crap out on their holiday sets. Because what the actual hell is this shit, Hard Candy??FTC DISCLAIMER: I, clearly, purchased this set with my own money. My thoughts and opinions are all my own. I'm not sponsored, nor affiliated with Hard Candy, and I receive no compensation for this review. Obviously. If I HAD gotten this for free, I would have honestly been even MORE offended that they actually wanted to waste my time.
I have a ton of the Hard Candy Fierce Effects lip glosses; out of the 12 shades, I have at least 8. And I love them. I bought this set partly to review, partly because I wanted the orange shade, and partly because three of the shades in this kit are my personal favorites. Also, the tin is super cute!
However, that's where the positives end.
This gloss formula is completely different than the original full size glosses. The full size glosses are smooth and creamy feeling and super shiny. The pigmentation is strong and most of the shades apply evenly and streak-free. They wear for a few hours and don't dry out the lips or stain or feather outside the lip lines. I've had decent luck with all but two of the colors I've purchased, and I really enjoy this gloss formula.
This kit, however, is so thick and sticky and horribly uncomfortable. I can't even comprehend what exactly happened. The two lightest shades are TERRIBLE. The orange and the red apply very streaky and feather badly. The two purple tones are nice, but the consistency is so sticky and tacky and they also feather badly. Normally sticky lip glosses will wear longer, but these fade and wear off even faster than the original full sizes. An hour or two, tops, and that's if you're not eating, drinking, talking, or pressing your lips together. Also, the full size glosses have a nice brush applicator. These minis have shitty doe-foot applicators that just push the product around and cause it to patch off like a dry erase marker. The doe-foot barely picks up any gloss, so you need to continuously dip back in, at least four times to get a remotely even color. These are stickier than the MAC Lipglass AND Stila Lip Glazes combined, good lord. And they have this weird cheap mint scent, which the original glosses don't have.
Also, these take so much more building up to get full color payoff. Honestly, this kit is a horrible disappointment and I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, even my worse enemies. You'll notice with two of these swatches I just gave up trying to get the gloss to apply evenly. All of these colors are in the permanent range but there are no shade names. Basically, this is such a cheap pile of trash. I HATE when brands cheap out on things like this (Maybelline, I'm looking at YOU too..) and there are so many better quality items to purchase, especially for a gift. Luckily for all of us, this set, while still up on Walmart's website, it's no longer for purchase, which is probably a really good thing.
"Contraband".
"Plum Diva".
"Daredevil".
I don't know which color this corresponds to and, frankly, I don't want to know. I applied four flippin' coats to my bottom lip alone and that's the best I could get. DISGUSTING.
"Skyfall". HELLO this new formula FUCKING SUCKS. I gave up after three layers; the full size one does NOT apply like this. Hard Candy, y'all should be ashamed. EVEN MORE DISGUSTING.
"Knockout Punch".
