Almay Color & Care Lip Oil-in-Stick Review & Swatches
Almay Color & Care Lip Oil-in-Stick ($7.99) are a new Spring 2020 hydrating tinted lip oil that hydrates lips and gives them a sheer wash of color with a shiny finish. If you had a sense of déjà vu when you saw these that might be because you’re thinking of the Revlon Kiss Balm that launched back in 2016 or even Maybelline Baby Lips Color Balm Crayon. They kind of look the same don’t they? I wasn’t a huge fan of the Kiss Balm formula but I’m all about trying something new so I purchased two shades of Almay Color & Care Lip Oil-in-Stick for $7.99 each at Harmon’s. I’d like to say that I find the price absolutely obscene. Revlon’s Kiss Balm are 0.09 oz and $5 each where as Color & Care Lip Oil-in-Stick are the same size yet nearly $8 each. Granted, places like Walmart will likely have a cheaper price on these but imagine when they hit CVS or Walgreens where drugstore makeup notoriously higher in price? That being said, I wouldn’t mind paying the price if these were say as good as Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Quench Lip Rescue Balm which is a whooping $19 at 0.10 oz. I mean, Tarte’s formula is outstanding and well worth that $19 bucks. So, if Almay gave me something along those lines I likely wouldn’t rant at the price. However, Almay Color & Care Lip Oil-in-Stick are just a meh for me. As far as I’m concerned nothing could be better than Almay’s Smart Shade Butter Kiss Lipstick!
Almay Color & Care Lip Oil-in-Stick arrive in pretty nifty packaging. It definitely draws the eye and looks very slick. The barrel is lightweight with an metallic ombre design and the top you can look down into to see the shade inside. The balm swivels up from the bottom and has a dome shape that fits the contour of lips quite nicely. There are six shades available total and all of them have very refined flecks of glitter.
As I said above I’m sort of meh on the formula. When you throw oil around in the name I get excited because I’m thinking slick, hydrating, shiny……I also think I sent up myself for disappointment as I was hoping this formula would be like Tarte’s.
The formula is thicker and I wouldn’t say oily by any means. The texture is a thicker, creamier, hydrating balm. I detected no flavor nor fragrance in this formula. I disliked the way this formula set on my lips as it looked like it was falling into my natural lip lines giving it a uneven and less than smooth finish. In the formula’s defense I will say my lips are chapped at the moment so that might be why it isn’t quite looking as nicely as it should. It does have a hint of shine but the color was very, very sheer (I’m wearing Sweet Escape in my photo below but Dolce de Leche looks exactly the same so I only posted the one picture) but I did select the two lightest shades from the six available so if you select a pink or a red you might find it more pigmented than the light orange and nude that I selected. The refined glitter I mentioned doesn’t quite translate to the finish here and I didn’t really notice it on my lips! I did think they provided nice hydration and kept my lips pleasantly moist for about two or three hours after application.
I dunno, these were just a meh for me. They are nicely hydrating but the lack of pigment, heavier texture, and small amount of shine they provided just disappointed me a bit. It’s an ok product but I’ve seen better.
Almay Color & Care Lip Oil-in-Stick are available on Amazon and should be popping up soon at other online retailers.
Where to buy
Almay Color & Care Lip Oil-in-Stick is a new hydrating lip balm launching for Spring 2020 in six shades that provide hydration with a hint of tint. I wasn’t really keen on these. I felt like the texture was a bit heavier for a balm and looked less than smooth on my lips. They apply very sheer with very little color with a hint of shine but not a lot of color. They had a nice hydrating feel and kept my lips pleasantly moist but I wasn’t terribly keen on the texture overall. They had no flavor nor fragrance.
- Cute packaging.
- Nicely hydrating.
- No flavor nor fragrance.
- Heavier texture.
- Bit expensive.
- Very sheer, provides very little color.
Almay Color & Care Lip Oil-in-Stick might be a nice pick if you have drier lips but the lack of color and the heavier formula made me feel like there were better options out there!