January 18, 2012

Physicians Formula Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Lipstick Review, Swatches, Photos

Physicians Formula Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Lipstick gets my vote for cute. Being a collector of Japanese and other Asian cosmetics for many years definitely influenced my taste in makeup. I love packaging that’s sweet and cute. Sadly, we don’t get a ton of cute makeup products in the US, not nearly as much as you’d be able to purchase if you lived in Korea or Japan but occasionally the odd piece pops up and in turn many of us get rather excited about it.

In the case of these new lipsticks from Physicians Formula I think they most definitely fit into the realms of cute and I immediately needed to own them. Heck, the formula could have been downright terrible but the packaging was so amazing I was easily blinded.

But did the quality of the lipstick live up to all that foo-foo packaging?

Take a look!

Most of what you’ve read on the Interwebz about how bad these are, well, it’s pretty true.

Sorry.

Last year, Physicians Formula released their Happy Booster Blush and Powder into the beauty world to a great rave. With a cute heart design and Valentine’s Day around the corner we all pretty much drooled ourselves to the drugstore. This year is no different. The excitement and hype over these new lipsticks isn’t any different.

Housed in a metallic fuchsia tube with three layers of color and an ickle heart dotted right in the center of the lipstick, well, needless to say it was love. The packaging is a bit lightweight and some might deem it childish and yes, on a few aspects it might be a tad immature but I love it. Visually, Physicians Formula scored! This is just a winning combination for folks that love really cute makeup pieces. I wasn’t disappointed with the packaging or presentation in the least. I absolutely adored it! This was love…!

(Pictured from Top to Bottom: I Heart Rose and I Heart Nude)

And than I tried the lipsticks and actually they aren’t too, too bad a formula. They have a hydrating feel, color glides on nicely, and they leave behind a bit of shine. I wasn’t keen on the violet scent or flavor but I could cope.

Sadly, Physicians Formula screwed up with the color selection. It’s awful. I dunno how many people can pull off mod shades of coral nude and pink but may the makeup gods bless your little soul if you can. The shades are terribly unflattering. The bubblegum pink of I Heart Rose looks cute in the tube but on lips, well, its not so pretty to say the least. And the I Heart Nude shade is equally bad coming across as a nude coral which is a tad garish.

(Swatched Left to Right: I Heart Nude and I Heart Rose)

The texture of the lipsticks are actually decent enough but the colors make lips looks cracked, dry, and less than smooth even if they are! And do beware if your lips are chapped. You want a relatively smooth lip area for application as on dry, cracked lips the colors will emphasize problems to the max and basically you’ll end up with “I just applied a ten year old lipstick to my mouth” look.

Sad sigh.

I think if they went with a sheerer formula they would probably have had a really winner of a lippie on their hands but sadly, for some odd reason or another they thought that mod shades of coral and pink were what we’d love.

Not I.

No likey.

Props for trying guys but these shades just aren’t suitable for most skin tones in my opinion unless someone wants to relive the roaring 60’s and have a Twiggy moment.

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • Ashley

    Awwww too bad Musey! I liked the look of these in the packaging.
    Thanks for reviewing them!! 🙂

  • Janice

    Thanks for the review. You saved me from picking these two cuties up. They are adorable tho!

    • the Muse

      they are SO sweet and so pretty but the colors are SO bad janice 🙁 Unless you’re a rare one that can wear mod shades, they aren’t worth it 🙁

  • Ruth

    I haven’t tried these but have you tried to use them as a blusher instead?

      • Ruth

        they’ll probably be really pretty for spring and summer, let us know if you try it and how it worked out.

        • the Muse

          I was thinking they’d be tossed into the makeup graveyard ruth but I think I might consider a return…I always say hey I’ll return these and never get the chance so they might just make it as a blusher yet ;-D!

  • kimkats

    ugh… those really are blechy colors… what a shame – PF could have really knocked the ball out of the park with decent colors. Bummer…. But thanks for saving me the $$ on them Muse – dang your reviews have saved me some disasters! (and cost me some pretty pennies creating lemmings too!) 😛

    • the Muse

      ha kim I try girl ;-D glad I could be of help! great product idea but the shades are so so cream mod…ugh can’t do it!

  • kiwikiwidragon

    I also wanted to love this, bought the Rose and was sorely disappointed in the color and scent. It went right back to CVS…bummer.

    • the Muse

      heading back to CVS here too jenn, spend $12.95 on each one, ouch! def can’t see myself keeping, was going to try as a blush rather than toss them and forget to return them but was thinking jeepers that’s near $30 bucks!

      • Ruth

        i didn’t realize that they were that much! send those bad boys back to the store and haul something better!

  • Melissa

    I’m still thinking I need one when there is a good bogo or sale and I’m in the same store they are at the same time LOL. I can rock mod colors from time to time and the cutie packaging is calling me. My happy booster blush or um powder – whatever it is needs a room mate in the leftovers drawer.

  • Xero

    I actually really dig the orange-y shade. What turns me off is the price! -poor-

      • Bianca61

        I am not getting my daily emails from you 🙁 Please resubscribe me again. Something happened while I was in England….I saw these lippies yesterday and passed them up because, I had not read your review on them. I also passed up the blushers because I saw mineral oil listed as an ingredient- that I won’t use on my face. I still get acne at fifty. E.L.F blushes have the same ingredient, at a fraction of the cost. I saw many brands at Boots and Superdrug ( while in the U.K.) that you have blogged/reviewed. 🙂

  • Quinctia

    Man, I was hoping the formula would be horrid. I think I could pull off the coral, I don’t really have any corals, and…my lips aren’t often that chapped. So the cuteness calls…

    Hurry, go into great detail about how terrible the violet scent is! 😉

    Actually, I haven’t seen them anywhere near me, so I might be saved from myself yet!

  • knownever

    Physician’s formula is totally like that. some stuff is cool (shimmer strips!!!) and some stuff is just broken and terrible. I recently bought one of the eye palettes (with the tiny little strips of different “eye coordinated” colors) on a sale for like 75% off and it was still expensive and totally pointless. even worse i got one of their bronzers with the built in brush and it was just literally broken. The bronzer inside was nice but I had to throw all the packaging away to get at it. I feel like they were a much better brand before they started getting so much attention and trying to expand their range. Their products were much cheaper at least!

    • the Muse

      agreed very hit and miss but when it’s a hit it normally is hg for me but when it’s a miss ugh..it’s a big miss ;D!

  • Daintynymph

    If the colors were better I’d be all over this. Dear Physician’s Formula, where’s the I Heart Mauve and I Heart Red? Also rename the first one I Heart Coral like it actually is, and make an actual nude one! They’ve got so many amazing eyeliner colors, why can’t they figure lipstick out?

  • Harshleen@BeautyTidbits

    Thanks for your review Muse! These sure look cute in the tube but the swatches do not appeal at all . I might have picked a shade but now it’s definitely off my list!

  • Simone

    Got this before reading it review! Lol!
    I got the I <3 Nude.
    Def not nude. I swatched on my hand, and it looks alright though. I MAY be one of the few blessed ones! Haha!

    I'm gonna try it on my lips tomorrow! Wish me luck!