But there are a couple of new birds in town with enticing colours and high-flown claims, and I was going crazy to lay my hands on them. Yes the Revlon ColorBurst Matte Balm Stains and the Revlon Colorburst Lacquer Balm Stains have already hit counters across India, and I was hyperventilating thinking all the shades I wanted would be already sold out. Priced at INR 800/- each, they have been raved about on the blogosphere for the lovely colours on offer, and I'd shortlisted 4 shades to check out and add to my stash. So after work today, I couldn't control the lemming any longer and rushed to Shoppers' Stop, mentally torn between elation at finally feasting my eyes and lips on the beauties for real and disgust at the huge dent a department store brand would be making in my wallet.
Here's what the company claims on their website:
A Matte finish that’s beyond plush. Balm that’s beyond comforting. Our Triple Butter Complex of Shea, Coconut and Mango butters nourishes lips. In 10 collectible, craveable colors.
I reached the counter and felt a little deflated on seeing only 16 shades on display, instead of the total 20. The SA told me these were the ones they'd received out of the one's released, the remaining 4 might be coming in later. On a sudden impulse, I decided to swatch all the shades on my arm instead of just buying the ones on my list, and I'm SO GLAD that I did! Why? Read on after the jump.Here are the swatches (in store lighting):
No FlashTop Row- Matte BalmsBottom Row- Lacquer Balms
With FlashTop Row- Matte BalmsBottom Row- Lacquer BalmsMATTE BALMS (from left to right): Sultry, Audacious, Shameless, Mischievous, Unapologetic, Elusive, Standout, Striking
LACQUER BALMS (from left to right): Flirtatious, Coquette, Enticing, Coy, Ingenue, Tease, Whimsical, Vivacious
Sultry is a deep plummy pink with a hint of brown.Audacious is a medium bright, pastel coral.Shameless is a dark vampy purple with a hint of pink, supposedly a dupe of MAC Heroine.Mischievous is a light pastel peachy-orange.Unapologetic is a bright red-pink, with a slight blue undertone.Elusive is a light mauve-pink, quite similar to MAC Mehr.Standout is a neutral red - very pretty.Striking is an orange red.
Flirtatious is a cool rose pink.Coquette is a blue-based baby pink.Enticing is a plummy red.Coy is a caramel brown leaning very slightly yellow.Ingenue is a nude brown.Tease is a light coral-orange.Whimsical is a pinky-purple.Vivacious is a fuchsia pink.
In yellow lightOf the Matte Balms, I'd gone in fully sure of coming back home with Sultry, Elusive, Audacious and Unapologetic BUT brought away none. Reason - after swatching they simply didn't seem bang enough for the buck. I'd been looking forward to adding Elusive to my stash as a much-touted warm pink, but it turned out to be quite similar to MAC Mehr- a cool mauve pink. Whereas Audacious seemed like such a pretty bright coral in the swatches I'd seen online, but turned out to be quite patchy and pale on swatching in person. Sultry is such an autumn/winter colour, I didn't think it fair on my wallet to purchase it now (yes, I'm
The Lacquer Balms on the other hand seemed luxuriously smooth and glossy, with shimmer particles that were not at all gritty but just imparted a beautiful shine. But again, none of the colours screamed get-me-now at me, being eminently dupe-able.
The above swatch was taken after an hour of getting back home, so you can see the Matte Balms are quite vibrant still, while the Lacquer Balms have all but faded. So the staying power of the Mattes seems to be good. In fact, while taking my shower I tried rubbing them with water, and they remained stubbornly on my arm, going off only after rubbing vigorously with shower-gel. I wish I could've shown you a picture of that, but I was already, ahem, wet and couldn't come out to get my camera. So the stain claim holds.
Personally, I don't think these are really worth the 800-odd rupees we have to shell out for them, especially the Lacquers. I'd much rather add a couple hundred or so more and get the original stick-lip colour - the Clinique Chubby Sticks and Chubby Stick Intense - with the benefits of actual moisturization added to pretty colours. Of course, this argument doesn't hold water if you are in the market for matte lipstick in fuss-free chubby crayon form, so viewed from that angle these are actually amazing buys. If you are a make-up fanatic who simply HAS to try every single new launch either for personal or professional reasons, these ARE worth adding to your collection. As for me, I'm not that free with my wallet simply because right now I don't feel the need to own every single thing out there without weighing the pros and cons as I don't like to see things stacking up lying around unused. So for me, on swatching, these new Balm Stains did not seem worthy enough to splurge on, right now. Though there's about a 5% chance that I might change my mind later ;-)
Something funny happened at the store. I was swatching and examining these minutely at the counter and all the SAs at the nearby counters were examining ME minutely! Initially the Revlon SA was very helpful - she even wrote down the names in sequence to the swatches on a sheet of paper. But when she saw that I wasn't going to buy even a single stick, she very politely told me that I could not click pictures of the display as it would "violate their policy"! Whatever! I have my swatches, and you have a mini-review, so all's fair.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments. Were the swatches helpful? Did you give in to the temptation and buy any of these? How did you like them? Or are you like me and saving up for something better? Do tell! :-)
