It was a day before my internship would begin in some large IT company. I was roaming in a mall with my sister & I was telling her how I wanted to buy a lipstick to wear to work. I was also quite nervous about the commencement of my internship so this was a way to lighten up my spirits. We both walked into the standalone Colorbar store & I told the SA that I wanted the shade ‘Bare’ from the Velvet Matte range. The SA told us that range had been discontinued & was reformulated to this range – Matte Touch. However, all the names were completely different. The SA had a sheet with her which mapped the shade names from the Velvet Matte(VM) range to the Matte Touch(MT) range & that’s how I ended up trying Pink Romance.When I tried it at the store the SA (obviously) said that it looked like a perfect MLBB on me & my sister liked it too so we decided to purchase it. I was nervous about how it would look in natural light coz the lights in the Colorbar store are all white so most shades end up suiting your skintone as it appears 3-4 shades lighter. My sister also made a purchase, she bought the lovely Rose Quartz lipstick from the Soft Touch range. My sis wanted a coral shade too and I asked the SA to map the shade ‘Peach Crush’ from the VM range to the MT range and the shade we got was none other than – Feelings. My sister tried it on & loved it, but I really didn’t like it on her so I dissuaded her from buying it; I could see that the shade wouldn’t suit her in other lights. However, my sis went back a week later and bought the shade Feelings anyways…and she ended up disliking it so she gave it to me. Btw, I got to know the shades ‘bare’ & ‘peach crush’ from all the lovely indian beauty bloggers, so I was able to purchase & recommend them ease :) Pink Romance has some sentimental value because it’s the first shade I purchased and it was perfect for my skintone, I was so happy it didn’t wash me out. A lot of things can go wrong when you’re buying lipsticks so make sure you check online for recommendations suiting your skin type & then only try some shades at the store. If you want to save on money, try the colors at the store & buy the ones that suit you online. This is something I’ve resorted to doing because the prices of drugstore lipsticks in India are going through the roof nowdays. &pid;&vzR;PACKAGING ~ When I sat down to write this post (initially planned as a review & not this chat/rant) I realized that the packaging of the Matte Touch range has been changed, my lipsticks have a body that’s half pink & half steel colored, whereas the new range is completely steel coloredlike the Soft Touch range. The older packaging is so much cuter in my opinion. I guess the lipsticks might have been reformulated too. These two shades are still listed on the site, here and here, but I don’t know if they’ll be the same colors. I’m gonna have to visit Colorbar & compare my shades with the new Matte Touch range. The tubes have a mirror finish & can easily get dirty due to fingerprints. As you can see from the pics, the tube of Pink Romance is dirtier because I'm always popping it in my carry bag.
PINK ROMANCE ~ The perfect MLBB shade for my skintone (NC42in MAC). This shade is a muted pink-brown. The brown undertones don’t always show up on me. The color varies, it looks like light pink / pink brown/ peach on me in different lights. From the lip swatches you can see how it looks on me in natural light. FEELINGS ~ It’s a gorgeous reddish coral shade. In some of the swatches of it, I could see hints of pink too, but they don’t show up on me. This is one of the colors that will perk up your face. It will wash out beauties who have deeper skintones though. It suits my NC42 skintone, doesn’t wash me out. TEXTURE ~ These Matte Touch lipsticks aren’t really ‘matte’ when applied. They look satiny, and I need to use my fingers to blot them to a matte finish. These tend to settle in lip lines :/ Pink Romance needs 1-2 swipes to become fully opaque on my pigmented lips, Feelings gives opaque finish in a single swipe. They are actually pretty comfortable on my lips, unless I’m in office AC environment, they don’t feel dry for at least 3 hours. AC in office is more concentrated than AC in malls. Over the course of wear, they do dry out my lips. They don’t look patchy, which is a huge plus. FRAGRANCE ~ They have a strong fragrance that lingers for sometime after applying the lipstickWEARTIME ~ Pink Romance lasts for 3-4 hours till I need touch up & Feelings is good for 5 hrs. Pink Romance doesn’t survive meals well whereas Feelings being a brighter color manages to survive meals, the color fades just from the center of my bottom lip. They are not transfer proof.
Pink Romance (click to zoom)
Pink Romance swatch
Pink Romance lip swatches
Pink Romance lip swatches
Feelings (click to zoom)
Feelings swatch
Feelings lip swatches
Feelings lip swatches
PRODUCT VS PRICE ~ Price : Rs. 475 / $7Qty : 4.2g /0.14 ozShelf Life : 3 yrs.So the quantity you get is more than other lipsticks currently in the market. When I purchased these, they costed Rs. 500, I’m surprised that the price has reduced (instead of going up) in 2 years.
Overall Verdict: 3.9 / 5 The Colorbar Matte Touch Lipsticks are good quality lipsticks are quite budget friendly considering the prices of drugstore lipsticks currently. They need to be blotted to a matte finish, but they are not patchy & they wear well over time. The packaging is quite chic too! Pink Romance has a special place in my heart, the shade is easily dupeable though. Let me know your first lipstick purchase & experience in the comments!
