Saturday, May 26, 2012

Revlon's New Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains- Review & Swatches Part I

Revlon is at it again! I have been very pleased with all of their new lip products lately and believe that they have really stepped up their game (though I am comparatively less enthusiastic about their new eye shadows). I was finally able to get my hands on a few of Revlon's brand new Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains that I found on sale at my local Rite Aid ($5.39 each-40% off the regular price of $8.99). 

It is impossible not to see the similarity between the packaging of this product and Clinique's Chubby Sticks, however I can't give you a comparison between the products themselves since I do not have any of the Clinique Chubby Sticks in my stash. They are also often compared to Tarte LipSurgence Lip Tints, however Tarte uses far fewer chemicals than does Revlon making a tangible comparison difficult. Therefore, for the purpose of this review I will evaluate Revlon's newest lip product in a bit of a vacuum- not because I necessarily find this product to be peerless, but because I either do not have the appropriate product against which to compare it (Clinique), or I have a similarly fashioned product that I don't think is demonstrably similar enough to warrant a comparison (Tarte).
One of the first things that I love about the packaging, aside from the cute bright colors that approximate the colors of the products themselves, is the fact that they opted for twist up tubes. I hate having to sharpen chubby lip products because of the inconvenience, messiness, and sheer waste. NARS, are you listening?!
According to Revlon: "It’s a pampering balm fused with a lightweight lipstain in an adorable chubby crayon. Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain gives softer, smoother lips with a perfect flush of color that lasts hour after hour. The gel formula comes in 12 vibrant shades that match any look or mood."
They further claim: 
-Lightweight Lipstain + Moisturizing Balm
-100% of women who tried it felt their lips were instantly moisturized with a soft stain of color
-Retractable chubby crayon, no sharpener required  
Both photos are taken outside in natural light.

Revlon's tips:
Step 1: Apply Just Bitten Kissable™ Balm Stain evenly to clean, bare lips. Build color and coverage as desired.
Step 2: Reapply as desired for moisturizing shine throughout the day

I think that their classification as a balm stain makes it clear that when they are first applied that they behave a bit like a lip balm, but once they dry down they are ostensibly lip stains. The color is buildable, but can very easily be sheered out as well. My swatches were each given multiple passes to build up the color, but I found that I was actually able to build it up a bit more. The texture is very comfortable and balm-like, but definitely behaves more like a sheer lipstick than a lip gloss. They are not, however, moisturizing in the same way that the Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters are- not by any stretch of the imagination.

They do have a slight peppermint smell and taste that does cause a small amount of tingling on the lips, but for me it was neither painful nor unpleasant. While I don't find them particularly moisturizing I likewise don't find them drying. The sheen lasts for a several hours and once it wears away I am left with a stain that lasts for about 4 more hours. Therefore the wear-time is quite good.

Of the 12 shades available, I chose 4. Now here is where things get a little strange: 3 of the 4 shades look virtually identical in my swatches. If you look at them in their packaging all indications are that they will appear wildly different.

Smitten #030: is a darkened berry on the verge of a black cherry in the tube, but swatched it's a hot pink fuchsia.

Sweetheart #025: is a mid-tone bright pink in the tube, but it is just an ever so slightly brightened version of Smitten when swatched.

Lovesick #020: is a bright nearly magenta pink in the tube, but when swatched it barely differs from the other two colors.

I even built up the swatches and let them sit on my arm for a couple of hours, and when I did wipe them off all three of the swatches left behind a stain that was basically the same color. I did find that when I wore each of the three shades built-up on my lips that there was greater variation between the shades than appears in my swatches, but still not enough of a difference to justify having all three of them.

Darling #10, on the other hand, is a lilac pink that is surprisingly wearable and flattering.

Overall assessment: I like the formula a lot, and the colors are gorgeous. However, I am simultaneously wildly disappointed that three of the four colors that I bought look nearly identical on me. Had I known this was going to be the case I would have chosen one of them instead of three!

See PART II: Revlon's New Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains here.

32 comments:

  1. Great review, they look interesting enough for me to want to try, but I'll probably only pick up one since they're so similar!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Ishah. They are interesting, but I agree that one of those three colors is more than enough. I really wish that I had known how similar they would be- because I certainly would not have bought all of them! Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
    2. I definitely prefer their Lip Butters!

      Delete
  2. I like the lip butters a lot and was pleasantly surprised they had no taste. These look like Tarte's which also have the peppermint taste/smell. I could live with #10. I'll watch for a special now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm with you on the lip butters, Marcia! I love them so much and always carry a few of them in my purse. I definitely prefer the lip butters to these, and I think that I would have to say that I prefer Tarte's version as well. Though as I said in the review- I think that Tarte's formula is substantially different in that they seem to have fewer chemicals. I definitely wouldn't pay the $9.00- $10.00 retail price for these, but Rite Aid is currently having their 40% off sale which brings them down to $5.39 which isn't bad!

      Delete
  3. I picked up two of these. Liked the color and staying power but oh my, do they dry out my lips. Like crazy. About 30 minutes into the wear time, my lips felt like they were shriveling up. I'm puzzled by the claim that 100% of women felt their lips were instantly moisturized with a soft stain of color. Stain, yes...moisture, NOT! I keep my lips in really good shape and have no flaking or chapping. I guess everything is not for everybody. Oh well, back to the Clinique.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Deb,

      Which colors did you pick up? I picked up two more (I will be posting the review in the next couple of days) and while I really like the two colors far more than the four featured here- I found that they both REALLY dried my lips out as well. Everything was perfectly fine for about the first 1-2 hours, but after that I started to notice that my lips felt pretty chapped. I wonder if certain colors are more drying than others? I'm completely puzzled by their claim about 100% of the women claiming their lips were moisturized. !00% of how many women- 1, 2, 5?!!! The one that I really like Crush #05- left my lips very stained for quite a while, and while the color was really lovely the chapping was not. I think that it would probably be fine over a lip balm, but that sort of seems to defeat the purpose. I am trying that tomorrow, and then once I can make a good assessment of how it performed on me I will post the review. While I don't have any of the Clinique Chubby Sticks I imagine that they are much more comfortable in the long run! :-)

      Delete
    2. Hi Lola. I picked up 001 Honey, and 035 Charm. Of the two, Charm is the worst in terms of dryness. I also tried these with various preps such as lip primer, lip balm, lip butter, etc. In each case I allowed the prep product a generous amount of time to set or sink in. Same results; dry as the desert. I do like the stain aspect of these but it's not worth the dryness for me. I have about 5 of the Clinique chubby sticks and they are more moisturizing. But they have no staying power. So I went all mad chemist like and decided to layer the Clinique over the Revlon and see if I could get the best of 2 worlds. Umm, didn't work out so well. Kind of a mess, they just didn't mix well. And the color mix in each combination I tried was just off.

      Delete
    3. Hi Deb,

      It really strange that I, too, am finding certain shades more drying than the others.I found Cherish drying, but Crush was way worse! I have tried it over a balm- which makes it somewhat better for me, but it's still not ideal. I like the stain aspect of these as well, but I'm just not sure that these will ultimately work for me. It's interesting that the 4 in this review didn't dry out my lips, but now I am wondering if that is simply because I didn't wear them the entire day (and reapply several times). Believe it or not, I have never tried Clinique's Chubby Sticks-- other than swatching them on my arm.

      What a bummer that your mad scientist efforts didn't render the desired results! You ought to just return the two Revlon Just Bitten stain/balms-- it seems pretty clear that despite your greatest efforts that they simply do not work for you!!!!!! No lip product is worth all of that trouble!!

      Delete
  4. Where is your local rite aid. I've calles over 20 and no success.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Where is your local rite aid? I cant it in any.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Where is your local rite aid. I've calles over 20 and no success.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Meme88,

      I bought them at the Rite Aid on Larchmont Boulevard in Los Angeles (323) 467-1366, but they only had a couple left a few days ago- so you will probably have to wait until they restock. I saw more of them at the CVS on Vine Street in Los Angeles (323) 466-7300 the other day as well. I have a review of two more coming tomorrow, and you might want to wait-- because those two really dried out my lips without using a lip balm first. I'm not sure if it is a difference in the colors, or if it's that I wore them all day long, but my lips were pretty chapped by the end of the day.

      Delete
    2. Were you able to track any down yet, Meme88?

      Delete
  7. Thanks for the review Lola! I couldn't help myself when I went to Rite Aid earlier, I only bought 2. but I'm glad I saw your swatches- I wanted all 3 of the pinks you bought. I agree, they all look alike.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are so welcome, yessie- I'm glad that I could save you some money!! I just wish that I had seen swatches of those shades before buying them-- oh well!! It really was so strange that these of the 4 colors from this review swatched nearly the same-- I was pretty bummed out about that.

      Did the ones you bought dry out your lips? I didn't notice it with these 4, but I grabbed two more (will post review tomorrow) and they chapped my lips!

      Delete
    2. It was strange, I had to take a double look! My lips are a bit pigmented, I thought they wouldn't show up, but you were right-the color is build-able.

      I tried them on for a quick minute-my lips are a bit dry at the moment, didn't want to leave them on too long. I kinda liked the stain SWeetheart left after I wiped it off.
      Rendezvous was also very pretty.

      Delete
    3. I know, right?! I would say let your lips heal up before really trying these out. I'm really super curious to see if either of them dry your lips out. Rendezvous is really pretty!!

      Delete
  8. These look amazing! Revlon makes some lovely lip products! I need to get my hands on these...great review & awesome swatches Luv! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Chelsea! Thanks, love! Be sure to read my review of the last two that OI bought-- they were even more gorgeous, but they really dried out my lips terribly.

      http://lolassecretbeautyblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/revlons-new-just-bitten-kissable-balm_30.html

      So you might want to start out with just one to see if you have that problem. I find it's much better if I wear a lip balm underneath, but wearing Crush #005 all day long (including several reapplications) really did a number on my lips!

      xo, L

      Delete
  9. I really want to try these I've heard such a amazing things and the shade range is great:) Unfortunately there not available in Ireland yet xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi LauraMck! I will be curious to see whether or not you like them once they are available in Ireland. I found the second group that I purchased to be quite drying on my lips if not worn on top of a lip balm. The colors really are quite lovely. I still prefer the Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters because I find them far more moisturizing. xoxo

      Delete
  10. It's odd how similar those three shades are. I wish Lovesick was in stock when I got my Balm Stains. It was at the top of my wish list with Honey. Speaking of Honey -- have you had a chance to try it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It really is rather odd! There is a bit more varieation on my lips, but still not nearly enough to justify having all three! I would never have purchased all three had I known that they were going to be so close in color! Maybe it will be to find Lovesick once they are readily available in Canada! I still haven't been able to track down Honey. I decided to take a more relaxed approach to it though-- rather than going and looking for it, I'm going to just get it if/when I happen to see one. BTW, I have been wearing Sel just about every single day since I received it a few days ago-- IT'S FANTASTIC!!!!!! I will take some pictures of swatches in the next couple of days and post a review soon! I'm DEFINITELY seeing Sel in your future, BooBoo!

      Delete
    2. Woo! :) I'm looking forward to both: 1) your review; and 2) my future self with Sel :D

      Delete
    3. I suspect that you will get far more enjoyment out of the latter, rather than the former!

      Delete
  11. I wonder when they will be available in Canada?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm rather surprised that you don't have them yet!! Didn't that happen with the Colorburst Lip Butters as well? If memory serves it seems that it took a few months for you to get them after the launch here. Hopefully youget them soon! :-)

      Delete
  12. I couldn't resist commenting. Very well written!
    My webpage ... book

    ReplyDelete
  13. Great Review! Very helpful!

    http://reemz-petitebeautyblogger.blogspot.co.uk/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so glad that it was helpful to you, Reemz! :-)

      Delete

I love reading all of your comments and interacting with you- so please do not hesitate to share your thoughts, and to ask questions. Remember that what you have to say is of interest to all of us! Always feel free to email me directly as well. SPAM and advertising links will not be published.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...