Quickie Review - L'Oreal Colour Riche Balm

Hey there!

I have two L'Oreal Colour Riche Balms from my last CVS haul. L'Oreal products were BOGO 1/2 off so I thought I'd pick up 2 colors. You know how much I love my lip glosses and lip butters. I own several Revlon lip butters and Maybelline whispers. I thought if I was going to call myself a lip gloss connoisseur I'd better check these out too! I picked up 219 Plush Plum and 819 Caramel Comfort.

First, the colors were a bit deceiving. Plush Plum appeared to be a darker, plummy brown color (don't you love my color descriptions?!) and Caramel Comfort appeared to be a soft latte color. The Caramel Comfort ended up being frosty, milky latte color and the Plush Plum, when built up, is a pale berry color. The Caramel Comfort was fine when I used a brown lip liner underneath. It reflected a very pretty color then. The Plush Plum was fine on its own, just pale.

They claim to have 8 hours hydration, precious nourishing oils and sheer coverage (according to their website - lorealparisusa.com). They get a check mark on the sheer coverage front. They are sheer but kinda buildable. They also get a check mark for nourishing during the time they were on my lips. They felt moist and reapplication went smoothly. My lips felt really good that night. Sometimes lipsticks can make them feel dry and in need of a special balm at night. No need for balm after these.

8 hours of hydration? I understand that hydration is not the same thing as lasting lip color so I wasn't expecting 8 hours of color. I did get 2 or 3 hours of color and perhaps they keep on hydrating beneath the surface.  But I've had longer lasting balms before. I cannot say that my lips would have felt hydrated until lunch time. I did have to reapply before lunch, after lunch (but that's a given really) and before heading home from work.

I have other lip butters and I have to say that these are at the bottom of the list. The color payoff, even for a balm or butter, wasn't great. They also didn't last very long. I can hear some folks saying, "Yeah, but it's a lip butter." That's correct but even lip butter should be truer to color and last a bit longer, especially if you say 8 hours hydration. I can't say that these are bad balms, because they're not. They are moist and they do provide some color. They just aren't the ones I'll reach for first.

Will I purchase them again? Well, if they come out with new colors, it's my duty to try them! Will I pay full price? Oh hecky, darn no! Will I recommend them? Well, kinda...

...but I'd probably recommend something else first.