L’Oreal Pop Shades Colour Riche Balm Review & Swatches
L’Oreal Pop Shades Colour Riche Balm ($9.79 at Duane Reade) are a newly formulated L’Oreal Colour Riche Balm in four new, limited edition shades for Winter 2013. The original line of L’Oreal Colour Riche Balm runs sheerer but these new Pop Shades are supposed to be more pigmented. I was excited about this as I really liked the original formula. Yes, it is sheer but it is a nice balm overall and many of the shades have an MLBB (my lips but better) finish.
But honestly, the excitement stems from the fact they decided to add a bit more pigment here as the actual texture of the balms is wonderful so with a touch more color it tips them in the awesome sauce zone.
Take a look!
Revlon ruined me for all lip balms around when they launched their Colorburst Lip Balms but Maybelline popped up with Color Whisper and suddenly that was my obsession.
L’Oreal Colour Riche Balms launched around the same time that Revlon’s popular Lip Butter did in Spring 2011 and soon after lip butters were a trending at your local drugstore as every brand scrambled to get their own version up and out there.
L’Oreal Colour Riche Balm is a tinted balm, the keyword being tint as these aren’t as pigmented as Color Whispers or Revlon Lip Butters. However, that changes with these new L’Oreal Pop Shades Colour Riche Balm. The terrible shame? They are only available for a limited time. Boo! Hiss!
Shades Include:
- Dragonfruit
- Vineyard Peach
- Lilac Sweetness
- Ballet Show
Lilac Sweetness
Vineyard Peach
Lilac Sweetness and Vineyard Peach
The texture isn’t dramatically different here but they feel a little lighter than the original formula and lack the balminess of the original. They also have a nice bit of shine to them once applied and a very easily glide formula that wears comfortably while hydrating lips and drenching it in very nice color. Granted color is sheerer but considerably more pigmented than the original formulation and much more opaque (my pictures below don’t do them justice as I applied a rather sheer layer as I was rushing the morning I took the photos sorry!)! They have a light rose flavor and scent. I actually purchased them originally for $5.79 each and was absolutely squealing when my best friend Jai handed me a bag with them inside and he had paid $9.79 each for them at Duane Reade recently (without him I actually wouldn’t have known they launched). OUCH on the price tag! OUCH! Blame Duane Reade though because shopping them else where I’m sure they’ll be considerably cheaper.
These still have a great MLBB (my lips but better) experience and the formula feels as luxurious as if you spent $20 versus $9 bucks on ’em!
Revlon Lip Butters are considerably more pigmented and Maybelline Baby Lips aren’t in the same category as all with these as those are a very basic tinted balm. L’Oreal Pop Shade formula is more fitting in with Color Whisper’s pigmented but with a thicker consistency.
L’Oreal Pop Shades Colour Riche Balm are worth the haul especially if you loved but just wanted a bit more color from them!
Likes (hates the price)! Too bad they are LE!