March 18, 2014

Hard Candy Ombre Lipstick Review & Swatches

This was provided to me by a brand for review and I receive a small commission if you shop using the links in this post but all opinions are my own.

Hard Candy Ombre Lipstick1

Hard Candy Ombre Lipstick ($6 at Walmart) is a new graduating lipstick launched with the Hard Candy Spring 2014 Collection. This budget friendly lipstick is available in ten shades and is supposed to take the work out of creating an ombre lipstick look.

Take a look!

In theory Hard Candy Ombre Lipstick sounds awesome. Here’s a slip square shaped lipstick with two complimentary shades that not only take the guess work out of pairing shades together to create your ombre look but also allows you to easily apply the look as well. Simply sweep the lipstick on so the dark shade faces up and apply onto your upper lips. Face down the dark shade and do your lower lips. Done…

Kinda.

I only tried one shade so far which is Cheerful and the ombre effect kinda didn’t work out. This shade is made from a lighter shade of blue based pink and a very shy darker shade of the same color. The colors kinda run together and I’m not seeing a ton of contrast unfortunately. They probably should have went way darker to get the desired ombre effect. In the long end both shades just ran together to create a baby shade of frosty pink on my lips. The color really accentuated the natural lines of my lips and looked rather uneven. It has a very soft texture with a creamy consistency and a subtle vanilla taste and fragrance. It feels hydrating on with a nice glossiness to it. Unfortunately it was the uneven, patchy look that wasn’t terribly flattering on me. I blame the shade as something darker might have looked better on my skin tone.

Hard Candy Ombre Lipstick

Hard Candy Ombre Lipstick swatches

One thing deserves mentioning is the packaging is kinda troublesome. The lipstick doesn’t swivel completely down and each time I’m putting the cap back on I end up slicing a hunt of the lipstick off. It drove me batty.

I think the idea an gradation effect for ombre lips with one application sounds pretty awesome especially for peeps like me who aren’t really creative enough to create such a look. However, I’m not sure Hard Candy Ombre Lipstick will be the end all to create that look.

Interesting idea but not effective for getting that perfect ombre finish.

Hard Candy is sold exclusively at Walmart and Walmart.com.

Anyone try this yet?

Do share your thoughts!

This was provided to me by a brand for review and I receive a small commission if you shop using the links in this post but all opinions are my own.

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

  • Susannah

    Ombre look for lips? Seriously? It looks weird enough on hair!

    The cosmetics people promoting this must think that women will fall for anything.

    This trend will pass away soon.

    Dear Muse, if you can post a picture of the “Ombre look for lips” that actually looks good, I’d love to see it.

  • Susannah

    Thank you for the pictures, dear Muse. Some of them looked ghastly, but I did see some pics that were indeed lovely — the ones where the lip look was more subtle. Subtle, not shouting, is the key. To misquote Raymond Chandler, “She looked beautiful at 30 feet away. At 10 feet, she looked like she had makeup on to be seen at 30 feet away.”

    BTW, I talked up your website with the Lancôme counter ladies at Nordstrom yesterday. I raved about how helpful your site is, and that they should check it out.

    • Isabella Muse

      LOL excellent quote Susannah 🙂 aw thank YOU! That’s so sweet…I feel spesh *hugs* it’s always nice to hear someone enjoys my babblings 🙂

  • Christine Joy Luikuo

    I do find ombre lips kind of weird. From what I’ve seen in the internet before, the outer lips would be so dark and the inner would be too light. It was like you applied lipstick and then drew the outside corners with a dark lipliner.

    • Susannah

      My thoughts exactly! You could get the same effect from using a darker lip pencil and then filling in with a lighter shade, and not bother to blend.

      YUCK

      Only works if you are very young, and/or have very big lips.

  • It’s Gamayun

    I was curious because these reminded me (in photos, anyway) of the Lavshuca Double Colors lipstick that came out a few years ago. I recall you weren’t too impressed with those – how do you think these compare?

    • Isabella Muse

      same concept a little better formula the lavshuca ones were denser and a little less creamier…! Hope this helps 🙂

  • Shadia L.

    Musey, how do you feel about the Korean trend of gradient lips? It’s almost like a reverse ombre, eh?

    • Isabella Muse

      it makes me think of japanese horror films haha…! it kinda has that weird deathly ghost girl look like The Grudge…I do like the ombre look, can’t pull it off myself but I think it can look really pretty but not so sure I lobe the gradient lips…I dunno it almost looks like you’re bleeding from the mouth or something all pale lips around and a little pink in the middle! weird! How about you?

  • Cindy Ramirez

    Interesting idea, but poor execution. I finnnnally jumped on the ombre bandwagon! My hair is half purple now hehe

  • Logan

    I went with the shade that was an orangey red with a reeeeally light kind of metallic shade, and I LOVED it. I’ve gotten way more in to the Korean ombre lip trend than I have the overly dramatic American version, because the Korean version is much more light and can be worn daily wheras the American counterpart involves dark shades, over drawn lips, and waaaay more work than I want to put in to my lip makeup before work haha 🙂