June 17, 2014

Benefit Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm 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.

Benefit Hydrating Lip Balm

Benefit Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm is Benefit Cosmetics second venture into creating lip balms inspired by their very popular collection of Lip and Cheek Stains. In 2013, Benefit introduced Ultra Plush Lipgloss which were inspired by their cult favorite Box o’ Powder Blushes and with tinted lip balms trending at the moment I think Benefit Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm couldn’t come at a greater time considering tinted lip balm is such a trend at the moment. Not only does the launch celebrate everyone’s addiction and obsession with Benefit’s Cheek Stains but also everyone’s craving for lightweight yet moisturizing balms with a tint.

And hey let’s face it, I love the IDEA of having a tinted lip balm that matches up with my favorite shade of Benefit Blush!

There are many things right with Benefit Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm but they have one thing very wrong.

Benefit Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm is a new hydrating lip balm with a slight sheer tint. Benefit promotes them as a sheer lip balm with a conditioning formula that can be worn under your favorite lipstick or on their own as a hydrating, slightly tinted balm.

Benefit Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm

Benefit Hydrating Tinted Lip Balms

Benefit Tinted Lip Balm

Benefit Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm Swatches

Benefit Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm Swatches (from left to right: Benebalm, ChachaBalm, Lollibalm, and Posiebalm)

Benefit did such a great job with these. First off the packaging is adorable. Each lip balm comes housed in a nice weight mirrored tube featuring a design inspired by their powder blush sister’s packaging. They are a nice size tube and quite pretty and cute to look at. I put a good deal of importance on packaging myself and I think Benefit did a very nice job here!

They do market them as a “fruity” flavored lip balm but they actually taste and smell like the old Benefit Benetint Lip Balm which had a rose flavor and fragrance! It’s very subtle but it is there for those sensitive to fragrance in their lip balms. I like it but others might not!

Benefit actually introduced these in four different shades and if you’re paying rather close attention you’ll realize that Benefit Ultra Plush Gloss are actually inspired by the Box of Powder Blushes BUT the Benefit Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm actually all match up with shades of Benefit Lip and Cheek Stain. So you have LolliBalm, ChaChaBalm, BeneBalm, and Posiebalm all of which are Lip and Cheek Stains (and some of which are powder blushes too!) and I don’t know about you but I love playing matchy match with these shades.

If you’re anything at all like me you’re going to want every single shade of the Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm and I’m unfortunately a total killjoy here telling you don’t need every single shade. Le sigh!

Benefit did a nice job with this formula! It’s balmy yet weightless, moist and lightly hydrating, and it looks natural and pretty on my lips. The problem? Too, too, too sheer. I admit I was disappointed. They didn’t market these as super pigmented but I did expect them to have enough pigment to look like their namesakes or even enough so they looked different from one another but once applied it seems like every single shade looked the same on me.

Benefit Posietint Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm

Benefit Posietint Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm

Benefit Posietint Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm swatches

Benefit Posietint Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm Swatches

Benefit  Lollibalm Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm

Benefit Lollibalm Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm

Benefit  Lollibalm Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm swatches

Benefit Lollibalm Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm Swatches

Benefit Benebalm Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm

Benefit Benebalm Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm

Benefit Benebalm Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm Swatches

Benefit Benebalm Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm Swatches

Benefit ChachaBalm Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm

Benefit ChachaBalm Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm

Benefit ChachaBalm Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm swatches

Benefit ChachaBalm Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm Swatches

Aw sadness!

I really had hopes that ChaChabalm would give me a nice coral tint or even a bit of a lilac pinky point from Lollibalm! But unfortunately, all the shades gave me was a very subtle hint of tint with a high sheen finish. They feel quite hydrating on my lips but wear away in an hour. On super dry lips they might not provide as much moisture as you need or like to feel “quenched”. They’ll be a nice companion under lipsticks though! I think the most pigmented shade was Benebalm as that had a nice rosy look on lips but outside of that the others all applied fairly transparent!

Benefit Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm bring a delightful idea to the table with very cute packaging plus some nice moisture! But if you’re looking to play the match game with them and your favorite think or powder blush from Benefit you might be disappointed at the sheerness of the tinted finish! For that you’ll need to go the Ultra Plush Gloss way as those did not disappoint this Bene babe!

Benefit Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm fotd

Wearing Benebalm on Lips

Tried ’em?

Do share!

These are available now at Sephora and Sephora.com as well as Ulta, Ulta.com, and Benefit Boutiques and counters.

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‘.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comments

  • TLE

    Totally agree with you! I bought the bene-balm color as it was the most pigmented out of the 4….but took it back cause the sheerness was too disappointing. Boo.

    • Isabella Muse

      🙁 boo! TLE perhaps our lips are too pigmented le sigh!

  • Tammie

    Love love love these! Initially I got Cha Cha Balm originally also hoping for a coral tint, but I got more of a “kissed by iodine” orange (it was sheer, but with enough orangey pigment to look bad) but I love the formula so I went back and exchanged it for Benebalm, which although sheer is the darkest of them all and is a very natural flush of red on me (like a stain in a sense). I use it ALL the time because just as a balm I love it, it’s shiny and moisturizing but not too heavy <3

    • Isabella Muse

      OH how I wish mine was orange! but it is so sheer 🙁 I have pigmented lips so the color barely shows up!

      • Tammie

        Yeah my lips are kinda sorta pigmented, but not that much which is the only reason it showed up at all. It was still very very sheer but showed up just enough for me to hate it haha.

        Benebalm however works fine, it just makes me look like I have pigmented rosy lips which is nice. Like a MLBB but not my actual lip color lol

        • Isabella Muse

          benebalm worked great for me probably the only shade in this release that did sadness!

  • Lauren Goodnight

    No, nonono, Muse, try them OVER the tints! They make the tints look just that much better, and it might be a lot of work to use both, but dear lord its worth it. Chacha over chachatint? its almost electric. bene over bene is lovely, very kiss flushed, lolli over lolli is very close to the pantone orchid, and posie over posietint is the least obtrusive, adding just a touch of sweet pink that /lasts/.

    • Isabella Muse

      will do Lauren but I was hopeful they’d work all on their own!

  • Shane

    Darn. I was hoping SO SO much that they’d be just like the regular tints just in balm form. I was expecting something along the lines of revlon’s kissable balm stains (which stain on me like no one’s business!). Tis’ a sad sad day Muse..

    • Isabella Muse

      too sheer shane 🙁 maybe for someone with less pigmented lips!? but not for me sigh!

  • Shayna

    I got these and really liked everything about them except THE SCENT. Mine have a very very strong rose scent. Which would not be as bad if I didn’t hate the scent of rose more than any other scent on the planet!

    I do like the feel of them though and at least the scent does not linger.

  • ashley

    You know it’s funny that your balms weren’t pigmented! When they first came out, I went to sephora and swatched them on my hand and were very pigmented O_o I didn’t want to buy them before your review but now I’m confused as to why they’re so sheer!

    • Isabella Muse

      it really depends on your lip pigment! I have very pigmented lips so I barely see color but I imagine if you have paler lips they might look deeper 🙂

  • heather

    I was excited about these because I love benefit and the packaging is adorable, but I can’t justify spending the money when there is such little color payoff.

  • ash

    wow. i’m a little let down. i own two of the tints and i thought these looked fab, but i’m gonna agree with the above– can’t really justify spending that much on something that’s not there…. 🙁

  • Iris

    I like the Benebalm’s colour. It’s still pretty and I likely will still get it, but I’m a bit disappointed it isn’t more bold or opaque.

  • Laurel

    I ordered two of these before seeing lots of reviews and returned them promptly. For $18 I expect more than some shine on my pigmented lips. I expected something along the lines of Korres Lip Butter and got Chanel Glossimer instead

  • Tammie

    I might actually return my Benebalm after all, although I love it I found a cheaper alternative in Covergirl Smoochies lip balms…#tweet me is actually more pigmented than Benebalm, I am just testing it today to compare how it lasts before I return Benebalm to see how the Smoochies last compared to it, if it’s pretty decent I’ll return it.

    • Isabella Muse

      the smoochies are actually really nice 😀 and cheaper!

      • Tammie

        Yeah, I like them a lot! I want to get 1 or 2 more, so nice! After wearing the Smoochies all day I think I am going to return the Benefit one tonight, it’s not worth it for the difference, and since the Benebalm is, well, a balm it runs out really fast too for $18. If it’s the best tinted balm I could find I don’t mind using it up really fast and rebuying but if I can get something I like just as much for $5 at Target I am going to go with that lol

        • Isabella Muse

          have you tried the burts bees balms?! those are lovely as well 🙂 and the jordana easyshines (very pigmented)!

  • Jane

    Thank you so much for this post. I was going to buy the coral one as part of my order but will now look at getting something else. This review was very helpful : )