Sunday, January 1, 2012

LIPSTICK THROWDOWN: REVLON LIP BUTTER VS L'OREAL COLOUR RICHE BALM

Happy New Year! I was super excited to find the L'Oreal Colour Riche Balms yesterday at my local CVS! I picked up two colors, Plush Plum and Caring Coral. The Balm is supposed to be a competitor to the Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters so I had to do a comparison. I also threw in a picture of the them with my new Maybelline Baby Lips lip balm in "Cherry Me" just because I adore the packaging ;D

The Line Up:
Left to Right:
Revlon Lip Butters in Peach Parfait & Berry Smoothie,
Maybelline Baby Lips in Cherry Me
L'Oreal Colour Riche Balms in Caring Coral & Plush Plum

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter
Left & Right: Revlon Lip Butters; Center: Dior Addict Lipstick
This lipstick definitely lives up to all the hype about it. It comes in 20 (maybe even more!?) shades, ranging from bright pinks to neutral browns. The Lip Butters are quite pigmented and pretty moisturizing for a lipstick. On my lips, they seem to have a creamy, somewhat sticky consistency, making them last longer than L'Oreal's Colour Riche Balm. There is no smell/taste to the lipstick which is definitely a plus. The Lip Butters remind me of my Holy Grail Dior Addict Lipstick, except the Lip Butters do feel stickier on my lips. However, they are both moisturizing and impart a nice shine on my lips because of the silvery flecks in both formulations. Lip Butters retail for $7.99 each at CVS, a much more reasonable price than Dior's $28. I will definitely be replacing my Dior Addict Lipstick when it runs out with Revlon Lip Butters.
Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfait, Dior Addict Lipstick in Garconne

L'Oreal Colour Riche Balm SPF15
Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Bel Ami, L'Oreal Colour Riche Balm in Plush Plum
The L'Oreal Colour Riche Balms are definitely different from the Revlon Lip Butters. It only comes in 8 shades and the color ranges from nude to plum. There is less pigmentation and the finish is much glossier. On my lips, the Colour Riche Balms have a greasy/oily texture. Because of this, I feel like they are much more moisturizing than the Lip Butters. However, they have less staying power than the Lip Butters. I guess that's the trade off. You have to choose between moisturization and pigmentation. The finish reminds of of Chanel's Rouge Coco Shine, except Chanel's has more pigmentation than L'Oreal's. The darkest color available from the Colour Riche Balm line is Plush Plum, and really, it barely imparts any color on my lips. I would say that my Fresh Sugar Lip Balm in Plum has more pigment! WARNING: there is a smell to the Colour Riche Balms! I would describe it as a vanilla/cotton candy kind of smell. It isn't overwhelming, however, unlike the L'Oreal Colour Riche Lipsticks. In fact, the smell virtually goes away when applied, and there is no taste. In terms of packaging, when you remove the cap, the L'Oreal tube actually looks very high end because of the gold base at the bottom.
Chanel Coco Rouge Shine in Bel Ami, L'Oreal Colour Riche Balm in Plush Plum
The Colour Riche Balms retail for $8.99 each at CVS whereas the Chanel Rouge Coco Shine will cost you $32. Even though the L'Oreal balm is much cheaper than the Rouge Coco Shine, I would not replace one with the other. In this particular case, I would continue shelling out the extra cash for the more pigmented product.

Swatches:
Left to Right:
Dior Addict in Garconne,
Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfait,
L'Oreal Colour Riche Balm in Plush Plum,
Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Bel Ami,
Fresh Sugar Lip Balm in Plum

Top: L'Oreal Colour Riche Balm in Plush Plum
Bottom: L'Oreal Colour Riche Balm in Caring Coral

Verdict:
These two products are totally different. I would describe the Lip Butter as a moisturizing lipstick, whereas the Colour Riche Balm is more of a glossy, lip shine. To me, the Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter wins, hands down.

Until next time!

Sending love across,
Jael

3 comments:

  1. great comparison reveiw! :)
    it's nice to meet NY based bloggers, too.

    happy new year!^----^

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  2. I like how you compared them to their more expensive counterparts. It's a great way to shoe how bargains can work just as well as they do! ^^

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  3. Thanks for the detailed review! I have been on the fence about trying the Revlon lip butter but now I think I will pick up a few shades.

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