Something for Office? Revlon Matte Lipstick in shade Wine Not

Revlon's Matte Lipstick range is something that I have always wanted to try as I have read some great reviews about it. There aren't many colors though [around 11 shades] and the price is around $7-$8 , varies with place and sales. I am not a fan of light shades in matte as I think it can be very unflattering to skin.

I picked up this gorgeous wine shade when I was searching for my perfect winter color.  This is a dark wine red color that goes very well with this season. I love this shade as it is a very universal shade - can easily suit most skin colors. You can build the intensity very easily and wear it as a very sheer berry shade or a full color dark gothic wine red shade. There is no scent, no taste or any kind of irritation in using this product. I am not a big fan of Revlon's lipstick packaging - look at all the fun packaging the Korean brands have!!!

 

One issue I have is that unlike the Super lustrous creme range, which is super easy to apply, this matte lipstick is not something you can easily apply directly. The application can be patchy and not very smooth in the overall effect. Don't expect a super matte effect - its more like a slightly waxy matte finish. To get a purely matte effect , use the below technique.

I would suggest using a lip brush or even a q-tip to apply this the way you want, especially if you are sheering it out. This normally lasts around 3-4 hours on average, but you can increase the wear time following the steps below:
1. Apply a layer of light weight lip balm to ensure your lips dont dry out
2. Use a lip liner [either a nude shade, same shade or black for gothic lips] to edge the lip contours.
3.Use a lip brush to apply the color along your contours 1st and then fill in the lips. Blot this with a napkin.

4. Tap lightly along the lips and then apply the color once again over your lips with the lip brush. If you find the application too dry, mix the color with a tinge of lip balm or any face serum or a similar shade of creamy lip color.
5. Blot again and tap lightly over your lips. You can continue till you get the color you want.

Overall I like this lipstick and it is one of my favorite colors for winter and it makes for a good lip color for Office :)

Something for Office: Avon Ultra Color Rich Lipstick in Twig

Avon’s Ultra Color rich lipsticks are much loved for their quality; when I was in India, I got interested in this range and got 2 shades from my friend who is an Avon consultant.

She recommended 2 colors – Mocha and Twig; since I was on a nude-color kick I was interested in these 2 shades.

I don’t feel justified in reviewing a range of lippies unless I try at least 3-4 lipsticks from that range.

So I am reviewing just this one shade in terms of its quality and its look.

When I ordered this, I was under the impression that Twig is a pinkish brown nude shade.

I checked some reviews online and was expecting an MLBB shade.

But the shade I received is a peachy brown shade with not much hint of pink in it.

 Avon promises that these lippies are ‘Formulated with Vitamin E and Jojoba to hydrate lips and seal in moisture, so lips stay smooth. Non-bleeding / non-feathering color defines and shapes lips even without a lip liner. Instantly releases rich color with creamy/sequined/shimmery texture’

I don’t know about the Vit E or Jojoba part and I didn’t see hydration per se. But this lipstick does feel very smooth on lips. The color applies beautifully, it almost glides over lips.

In fact, this is so creamy that when I was in India I had to save this in my Fridge to avoid melting.

That was one reason why I couldn’t get to use this lipsticks much, cos I couldn’t take them out with me L

Staying power is not  very great but then I don’t expect much from such a creamy lipstick.

There is no taste, but the scent is a bit weird. I don’t know how to put it, it doesn’t offend me but I prefer my lipsticks to have a very natural scent like flowers or fruits.

Regarding the claim of non-feathering, I didn’t experience any but then to actually put that to test I would have to try a darker shade like a Red.

How I wear this color: As with all nudes, I prefer to try the  ‘Apply –Blot – Apply – Blot-Apply thin’ and lip gloss formula with this one as well.

I find that it makes the color more wearable and lasting.

This is definitely an office wear or a day wear color. The peach tones makes it suitable for many skin shades but as with all such nude shades, make sure your makeup is perfect.

Tip of the Day: Avoiding post bath dryness in Winter

Here is a winter care tip for you for post-bath dryness...

Add a mix of dried rosemary leaves, basil leaves and salt from your kitchen shelf to a pot of boiling water.

Keep it on for 5-10mins.

 Once it cools down, filter it and add 1-2 drops of lavender oil and 4-5 drops of olive oil.

 

Use this water as the last wash during your bath - pour slowly giving time for the good stuff to absorb [only on skin, don't use on hair.]

Lazy Beauty Guide: Saving time on Makeup.. :)

Okay, dont get me wrong - I love make up, I love getting ready but there are just some times when I am too tired and still have to get ready, so I skip something at times.... And whats a lazy gal to do!

And these are my tried and tested tips for these kinda situations.. :)

Formal Wear:  

I make sure my face [skin] is looking good, the foundation is applied well without looking too made up. I usually powder my face, neck and behind ears for a quick-matte-clean effect instead of a liquid foundation. 

I skip on blusher/bronzer/highlighter etc.

Instead, I concentrate on highlighting my eyes - using white color in corner of eyes for that 'awake' look and a thin-but-intense layer of kajal/kohl in either black/brown shades on the upper lash line. The key is not to draw attention to eyes without using any strong or bright colors like blue, green etc.

Courtesy: Pixabay.com

Use a brown/peachy nude shade on lips with a thin layer of gloss. If your lip color is good, you can usually get away with a lightly tinted balm.

Casual Wear:

Here again, I keep my facial makeup clean and light. If I have to do heavy duty makeup, I use BB Cream + Powder combo.

I use a peachy shimmer blush with a light hand from temple to cheek to give an instant fresh outing-kinda look. I try to avoid pink as its a risky color- if not careful you're the local clown!

I concentrate on high-lighting my eyes again: this time with a bold colored eye-shadow like a Khaki green or a basic deep black smokey eye with some light shimmer effect. I use a single color on lid and crease and use the blush color on the area immediately beneath the brow for highlight.

For lips, I keep a shimmer or a heavy duty gloss to top any lipstick I am wearing.

Party Wear

Okay, please keep in mind  - I am talking of parties where I have to put in a presence and I am too tired to be very enthusiastic about it.

Face: I mix some highlighter or shimmer with my BB cream and apply it before using the powder for final setting. Make sure this is done with a light hand

Cheeks: Peachy pink or peach shimmer blush. Apply it in 2 layers for longer stay.

Eyes: I mix 2 shades - a basic black or brown with either Gold/Copper/Bronze/Khaki with shimmer. Another instant party trick is to use your mascara brush to coat with 1-2 layers from a glitter eyeliner and use it to coat the lashes from mid-lash to the top.Do not apply glitter at the base of lashes and do this after a layer of mascara is applied.

Lips: A peachy or coral shade with a nice gloss. For parties, its best to keep your lips nicely exfoliated and clean and keep a tinted lip balm handy. I usually use a lip-scrub for 3-4 mins using sugar+honey mix to give it a natural sheen and top it with a tinted lip balm.

Worth the Hype? Lime Crime Velvetines Liquid - Red Velvet

I don't know exactly when I started hearing about Lime Crime - I think may be sometime in 2012. I have always wanted to try their lipsticks, but I couldn't find it online for sometime [I prefer not to shop from online stores when the shipping cost exceeds product cost!]. 

I kept seeing all these reviews and videos that claimed this was THE ONE lip product; some blogger even claimed she's found her HG & is never going to use anything again [Humpphh...really?]. So I was really trying to find this lippie, at least to check f the hype is worth it.

So when I discovered that nailpolishcanada.com -they ship free within Canada, awesome right? - had this Lime Crime Velvetines back in stock, I didn't wait much before I jumped in and got my shade. 

From Lime Crime's website: "Ground breaking formula that goes on liquid and dries completely matte. Touch proof, transfer proof, long wearing and utterly addictive"

Price: $20 USD, Vegan & Cruelty Free [YAY!!] 

And what I think..

Lets take a moment to admire the gorgeous red packaging. Just look at it. The rose print, the frosted translucent casing with a red cap with the unicorn design- how pretty everything is! This is one of those lippies that you would love to pull out at a swanky mall restroom for touch-ups :)

I can't say if it is a ground breaking or heaven-smashing or whatever formula. But I do agree with everything Lime Crime says - it applies liquid, it dries to a super matte finish, it is almost [not quite] touch proof, pretty well transfer proof, long wearing [full color intensity on for at least 3-4 hours with food & drinks] and addictive [hmmm, okay, whatever!]

Red Velvet is a beautiful Hollywood Red - the glamorous vintage everlasting ever-so-chic Red and so I love it. Well who doesn't love a great red lippie!

The color applies full on with a single swipe. If you are not a fan of bold lips then stay away - cos this is not a lippie you can apply sheer; trust me, I tried, it didn't work very well!Once the color starts fading, there is some patchiness but the stain remains for a long time.

Now here is the thing - no disagreements on the awesomeness of the lippie, so if you love this and wont hear a word against it, I am sorry with what I am about to add below, don't eat me. But these are some features I didn't care for in this lip color:

- Hard to remove - I tried with oil, with wet wipes, with makeup removers and after making my lips almost blue, I got the color completely out. So, I highly doubt if I will be using this daily!

With 1 and 1/2 swipe over the lips - look at the awesome pigmentation!

- A bit too matte? - I may be alone in this complaint, but its a bit too matte, even for my normally hydrated lips. It highlights all the lines and I keep feeling like any time, my lips are going to crack open. I can only imagine how bad this may be on a dry lip!

- Borrringgg shades- I love this shade, I really do. But I do feel that for a brand that takes pride in uniqueness and out of the way lip colors, the shade range for this product is pretty much Meh! 

-I am Nitpicking now - slightly weird texture - Again, it may be just me. But the texture of this is a bit uncomfortable for me cos it feels  like a paint or something pretty chemically. I am someone who loves lip colors that feel comfortable & light weight. This is light weight, but well not so comfortable for me.

Medusa's Makeup Lip Gloss in Bite Me over the Velvetine

Other than that - no harsh scent, no irritation and no particular taste. 

Overall: I am going to keep this aside for parties, functions, long trips etc, cos this ain't something I am going to wear every day. But I do so love the color and the product [to an extent]. I am planning to check the Carousel glosses next as I have heard nice things about it :)

A Weird product: E.L.F Cosmetics Studio Body Shimmer in shade Mystic Moonlight

Have you ever used a product and wondered if the company really thought things through? Like how the user is supposed -well- use it? I feel that frustration when I use shampoos with squeeze nozzles like hand soaps [I don't know about others, but when I shampoo I need some goodish amounts and I don't wanna keep squeezing] or when you see palettes with powder & cream products just side by side - how yucky is a lip color with black eyeshadow powder in it!

Anyways, this body shimmer by ELF is one weirdly designed product.

Here is what ELF has to say about the product in their website :

Create sexy, soft shimmer for a healthy looking glow that is lightweight and comfortable. Great for using on cheeks, lips, eyes, and decollete. The convenient twist-up design is easy to use for quick application. Simply glide on this chic shimmer for a sunless, gorgeous glow. 

Price: $3 USD for 0.35 oz

And what I have to say:  

"Nauthannen i ned ôl reniannen" -  Do you feel a thrill when you listen to this? I loved watching LOTR and Galadriel & Arwen kinda defined the word 'ethereal' for me. And why I said this whole story is - if you have the same ethereal complexion like Galadriel and have always wanted that elvish fairy sparkly look, this would be a great highlighter for you.

Mystic Moonlight - is a very frosty shimmery cool-toned silvery shade that leaves some serious shimmer behind on your skin. The shape is good for applying the product on the cheek directly - if it were a subtle highlighter, which this is not. Also, who wants to apply super frosty highlighter in such a wide swipe? The shimmer bar is pretty wide and a lot of product applies if you use this directly on cheeks. The product applies smoothly and is kinda okay to blend it out.

The super frostiness of this product makes it pretty hard to apply as a highlighter for any day wear, cos frankly I don't care to be a disco ball. The sparkly silver shade kinda makes it hard to use it at night also, cos the silvery shade grabs some prominence unless I really blend it in, in which case, all that shows up is the shimmer - which again turns me to a disco ball!

And using it on decollete - did you see the shape of it? How easy did ELF guys think it would be to swipe this across the decollete? It feels weird & applies weird! Also, the shimmer grabs on to hair, clothes and that turns super messy!

The only 2 ways I could use it is on eyes & lips as a highlighting shade. Now, for eyes, I like it. It looks pretty nice if I use it near the corners, beneath the brow bone and under the lower lash line. But, the point is - why would I buy this to be used as an eyeshadow, when I can buy - well,actual eyeshadows.

But on lips, well.. Meh! Its okay enough to apply on the cupids bow, but after some time, all that remains is shimmer. I tried using it in the center of my lower lips once, but I didnt really care for the texture and I am not a big face of using cheek products on lips [I don't mind the vice versa]. 

 Overall: This may be a good fit, if you are the super fair shade of skin color. If you like it, good for you. But me, I wouldn't really recommend this shade. I have a bronze-y shade that I am planning to try during summer. So lets see!

Spring Colors: Barry M Lip Paint in 145 Punky Pink

I got this Barry M lip paint from Asos, some time back and since then, I was more into nude MLBB lip trend and then later the whole 'coral' lips fiasco, I got distracted & didn't use it for a long time. Last month, I was digging up all my bright lip colors for Spring & Summer and I came across this one and went WOW as soon as I swatched it.

Since I was looking for a great fuschia-toned pink that can be a poww-wow color for Spring & Summer, the shock of finding exactly that amongst my stash made me think - may be I should shop in my wardrobe once a month! 

About Barry M Lip Paint [from Barry M Website] There is a shade to suit every occasion from soft, shimmering pastels to bold, vibrant colours. All Lip Paint's have a soft, smooth texture that is packed full of natural moisturisers to help them glide on and stay comfortable to wear for hours

In Canada, this is available from Nailpolishcanada.com for approx $7.50 CAD.

My Experience:

There are very few products that are pocket-friendly yet almost perfect in how they meet the purpose - this lipstick from Barry M is one of them. The shade Punky Pink is a beautiful bright blue-toned fushcia-ish pink that may look scary in tube but applies beautifully on lips.

The lipstick casing is okay - small and handy, which I like. I just wish they would have been a bit more creative with the design, like may be give the color in the casing, cos its hard to know the color by just looking at it. Also, the shade name is not listed on the tube. I am sure I'd prefer to see the label PUNKY PINK as opposed to 145!

As I have learned with lipsticks, the brighter the shade, usually the better the pigmentation and staying power. Another benefit of wearing a brighter shade is it usually brightens your face & pulls your look together. With nude or MLBB shades, your makeup has to be perfect to get the best finish for the entire look. With a brighter shade, you can go minimalistic in your eyes or cheeks and yet look very chic.

The name Lip Paint is frankly a bit scary - I imagined something that will be a bit sticky and long wearing with a very nasty chemical scent. However, this aint like that - it applies very a slightly creamy satin finish. Its somewhere between cream, satin and matte - I love the look that it gives.

With 2 swipes over my lips

One swipe gives a good amount of pigmentation and with 2-3 swipes you get the full color. It is decently moisturizing but not overly so. So, if you have dry lips, you may want to apply this over a thin balm. 

Other than that - no irritation, no taste, no harsh scent. Staying power is around 4-5 hours though the color still remains even when it starts to fade. 

Just a note - here is a blog post where this lipstick is touted as a good dupe for MAC Girl About Town - since I don't own MAC, I can vouch for the review, but it looks pretty accurate :)

 Overall: For the price and quality, this is one great lipstick and I love the color.

Drugstore Beauty: Essence Long Lasting Eye Pencil in Black Fever

Essence is one of my favorite drugstore brand here in Toronto cos they combine super affordable price with great quality and awesome packaging. Notice the use of too many adjectives - but what to do, it is true [now I've started Rhyming]!


Most of their products are around $2-$3 and I think they are a great alternative to E.L.F cosmetics which is anyways not sold in Toronto. The best part for me is how often they release pretty Limited Edition products with cute themes. The last one I got was named 'Blossom Me Up' and 'Kalinka' something. Overall, a great brand and thank you Essence for coming to enrich our lives in Toronto :) :)

About this eye pencil [from Essence website]: " long-lasting and color-intense: the long-lasting eye pencil is super-easy to apply accurately thanks to its innovative twist-mechanism and guarantees long-lasting color results."

Price: $2.49 CAD approx for 0.34gm

Now, don't confuse this one with its Evil Twin - Essence 24 Hr Stay no matter what Eye pencil [I hope I got the long name correctly] - I tried it and didn't like it at all, but that's another review.

My Experience: 

1st of all, lets take a minute to admire the sleek black shiny packaging - other than NYX, how many other drugstore brands can boast of such superb packaging? [Yeah, I'm looking at you NYC, Revlon & others] Its always a pleasure to buy Essence products sometimes just because of the packaging - the latest Kalinka collection is something I am planning to check out soon, cos it features a cute Matryoshka doll design. 

Black fever is a moderately creamy somewhat intensely black eye pencil that applies pretty nicely on your lids with minimum tugging. f

What I don't like about this pencil is - the rounded tip makes it hard to get precise lines, which is okay by me cos I like thick eye lines but if you want those sleek cat eyes, this aint the pencil for you. 

What I like-  The color, the staying power [easily around 6-7 hours], the slight smudge-ability making it a great pencil for lightly smoky eyes and the fact that I don't have to sharpen this pencil! :)

Overall: I think if you can ignore Essence's claim of accurate application, this is a nice everyday pencil. If you want thinner lines, I suggest using  - 

 - a cigar lighter to lightly heat the tip to make it super creamy & then apply a liner brush to get super long stay eye liner.

 - a coffee stirrer to lightly taper of the ends to make it sleek & pointy

For the price, I don't think there are many other eye pencils that can beat this! Just as a comparison:

Too Faced Perfect Eyes pencil [I like this -much more creamier, less smudgy, almost similar staying power]  is $23 CAD for 1.1.4 gms i.e. approx $20.20 for 1 gm

Essence pencil - which works almost as good  but not as intensely pigmented- is $7.35 for 1gm. Thats $13 CAD in savings for a daily use pencil, my dears!!

Spring Colors: Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in shade Cherries in the Snow

Need I even explain about how iconic this lipstick is? I don't think so. Just look at this vintage ad from 1939 [Courtesy: theguardian.com]

Courtesy: theguardian.com

And I think that explains it all - the iconic cherry red color and the lipstick that has now achieved a cult status- it almost makes me sigh imagining all the pretty ladies in 1950's who Rock-n-Rolled to the King's music. Its almost like I am inheriting a makeup legacy to own this lipstick! :)



I have already reviewed this range of lipsticks in some other shades like Demure, Ginger Rose etc - check here . Revlon's SL line of lipsticks are one of the best & safest bet from Drugstore. Most of the shades are well known and the quality is pretty consistent across the range. There are different finishes - Creme, Pearl, Shine etc. Average staying power [without any food or drinks] is around 4-5 hours. No irritation, no taste and no harsh scent.



Cherries in the Snow - pretty well explains how beautiful the color is. This is a bright cherry red with blue under tones making it a great shade for cooler skin tones. However, since the color is bright enough, warm-toned ladies like me can carry it as well, without much effort. The blue undertones in this lipstick, makes it one of those awesome shades that can easily perk up your look.



The color applies beautifully and with a goodish amount of creamy finish. The finish goes away after sometime. If you want the color to stay true, I would suggest layering it using the good old  'Blot-Apply' technique.



This is not a color to wear at night - as it would not look as good as it does during the day. I would suggest a bronzed look with neutral eyes for a gorgeous day wear.


If I have a complaint  about this lipstick, it is that it feathers..really badly.. if you don't line your lips, there is a good chance that the lines wont stay put.

Other than that, I love this lipstick, I love this shade and I am gonna rock this [well, at least I hope to] this Spring & Summer :)

Spring Colors: Jordana Blushes in Coral Sandy Beach and Stardust

Jordana cosmetics - sister brand of Milani- needs no introduction to a drugstore makeup lover. I have already reviewed some products from this brand - read them here 



I must admit, I am not a huge fan of powder blushes as I prefer cream blushes [or lipsticks acting as blushes :)]  - I am all for dewy finish look, so I don't always these babies a lot. But when I occasionally reach for a powder blush, this is one of the few I reach out for.

About Jordana blushes from the website: Price - $2.49 USD

"Powder Blush

• Color-True Tints for Cheeks
• Face Looks Youthful & Refreshed
• Accentuates, Sculpts & Contours
• Velvety-Smooth Formula Blends Easily
• Made In USA"

My Experience:

Coral Sandy beach is a peachy pink shade with some nice gold shimmers. Stardust is a nice peachy shade with hints of warm brown & would have made a nice contouring shade if not for the slight shimmers. I think Coral Sandy Beach is touted as one of the many dupes for NARS 'O' blush - I don't know. It applies with more of a pinky tone than peach on me.

Both the shades are really nice for Spring/Summer. Coral Sandy Beach would suit most complexions. Stardust -not so much :) It will suit light to medium skin colors to give a nice peachy glow. This can however be a highlighter for darker skin shades.

These are not as nice as Milani blushes but then they are cheaper - so YAY!



Why I like these: 
- Price -> how many nice bliushes are out there that can beat the "Below $3" price tag and yet have so many shade options? I am thinking not many!

- Variety of shades -> Jordana just added some more shades and I must say I am super impressed & looking forward to trying out some of the new matte ones

- Easy to blend ->  I found that this blends pretty easily, so thats always great!

- Stays for a decent time -> I got like 5-6 hours stay which is quite decent

- Easy to use especially for a beginner -> This is not very pigmented blush which means that its great for beginners to learn how to layer and apply

Stardust on the Left, Coral Sandy Beach on the righ

Why I don't :
 - Availability - Not easily available in Canada and some how I am not motivated to pay $17CAD for shipping a $2.49 product!

- Powdery texture, not as silky as Essence or Wet n wild blushes. If  I were to choose, I'd rather go for Wet n Wild, E.L.F or Essence - more easily available & texture is also better

Overall: Well, if you can get em, go for it! I hope some day in future Jordana will decide to come to Toronto.

New in Town! Annabelle Lipsies Fruity Lip Balm in Grape - Beauty in Canada

Annabelle is the sister brand of Marcelle - I have already introduced you to Marcelle through my review on their BB kit here. I have already tried a couple of products from them - their lip crayons, foundation and eye liners & so far I like them [expect reviews soon]. 

Annabelle is like the somewhat-lower-priced cousin of Marcelle; Marcelle also has some skin care products while Annabelle is purely into color cosmetics as far as I know.

I am always happy to buy anything interesting from drugstore and if its a Canadian beauty brand, the appeal is a tad bit higher :) So when I saw that Annabelle had these new lip balm crayons for just $4.99 at Shoppers Drug Mart - well, how can I resist! 

Its a glossy lip balm in a crayon format - that itself is enough to make me grab this. There were around 8 shades [weirdly enough one was green! :)] and except for Grape, most of them were pretty common shades - pink, coral, red and coral-orange. There was a nude shade, but after trying the tester [which was a cherry shade] I didn't think the Nude shade would do anything for me as the tint was pretty sheer. They don't have testers for all colors, but I think the green one should be either a 'magic-color' kinda color changing one or a clear balm.

My Experience: 

I think that I am pretty tolerant when it comes to setting my expectations for a product- its in a way purely based on price & product claims. I don't expect a product which claims to be moisturizing to be a long wearing product - cos well duh! Also, I don't expect a $5, $10, $15 product all to perform at the same level - that would be unfair. So, I am going to judge these Lipsies on if they are worth the $5 price tag and if they meet the claims they make - i.e. 

1. Retractable Lip Color Balm - well, unless they dont twist up n done, I think this claim is fairly well met

2. Sheer Colors -  so, if you are expecting great color pigmentation, well, don't !

3. Hydrating Non-sticky glossy balm - notice that Annabelle doesn't make any outrageous claims like 16hr stay blah blah- I respect you, Annabelle, for that!

And here is my verdict - Annabelle is bang on target with their claims. This product does all that it says it will do. It gives a sheer wash of color, it hydrates though not for very long - I got around 2-3 hours, it is not sticky [which I didn't anyways think it would be] and it gives a glossy finish for the 1st 30-45mins after which it gives more of a tinted balm-y look. 

The tint lasts for around 2-3 hours as well, but to be honest I didn't really test it out much for longevity cos - well read on to know why!

This has a light fruity taste, somewhat strong fruity scent -I don't mind both, so I am good with that. There is no irritation, no drying out, applies very smoothly and feels light on lips. 

Now, did you expect a However, somewhere? Well, here it is - 

1. I hate this color. It is too cool toned. I didn't think that a lip color could make me 5 yrs older, but this one does. Grape is a very cool toned purple shade that just depresses me - I cannot wear it alone, so I usually wear this under a warmer glossy shade if I am going out. I couldn't really test it out in depth cos I couldn't wear this alone. 

Look at that creepy effect - gak, hate the color!

2. The packaging is super super cheap - it reminds me of some cheap candy covers. The plastic casing is cheap, the lettering is just plain YUCK and whats with the white stripes???  If you don't know how to make a color casing work, go for the safe Black casing. Look at NYX, look at Revlon's packaging - come on, Annabelle, you can do better here!

Since I liked the product, I may pick up another shade - may be the Cherry one which would be great for Summer :) 

Overall:  If you're in a mood for a nice pocket-friendly tinted balm & don't mind really yucky packaging, then may be this is something you can try. Don't set your expectations super high though - its just what it says & nothing more.