Lipstick Limit

These Maybelline ColorSensational lipsticks were a turning point in my lipstick habit. By that I mean after I bought them, I decided to myself that unless I found the perfect yellow-based pink lipstick for me, or came across a truly unique, special and (key word) flattering shade, I would not be buying any more lipstick in the foreseeable future. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with these lipsticks, but after purchasing them I just felt an acute sense of excess. There may be such a thing as too much lipstick.

l-r: Rosy Dream, Juicy Bubblegum, Mango Diamonds, Coral Crush

I bought three shades from The Shine range (Rosy Dream, Juicy Bubblegum and Mango Diamonds) plus a lipstick from the main ColorSensational range (Coral Crush). "The Shine" lipsticks smell like juicy fruit candy and are sheerer and glossier than the normal ColorSensational lipsticks.

Rosy Dream (109) Sheer, milky, blue-based pink with fine silver glitter. Not the best colour for me as I'm not pale enough to pull it off. This one seems to bleed into the lines of the lips and isn't as moisturising as the other two shades I bought from "The Shine" range. Because it's sheer, I sometimes layer this underneath other pink lipsticks to neutralise and lighten some of the natural pigmentation of my lips.

Juicy Bubblegum (140) Medium pink with violet tones. Typical that I'd be drawn to this shade when I have about 5 other lipsticks that are more or less identical (it's true, I swatched them). This insanity must stop.

Mango Diamonds (445) Vibrant orange-leaning coral. Has more of a red tone and is shinier than Revlon Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti, a shade that I thought it would be very close to. There's also fine diamond-like glitter that doesn't really show when applied to the lips (I only noticed after wiping the lipstick off my hand and inspecting under fluorescent lights).

Coral Crush (515) Bright (bordering on neon) coral red. Somewhat like a pinkish tomato red. One of those fun, summery lipsticks that can instantly brighten up the face. Much more pigmented and a tad more drying than the other three lipsticks, leaves a red stain when taken off.

I bought these when Priceline was having a buy one, get one free offer on all Maybelline lip products (making them $8.50 each). At first I was intending to buy only Juicy Bubblegum and Mango Diamonds, but the store I visited only had Juicy Bubblegum, so I ended up buying Coral Crush with it instead. On my second trip, I bought Mango Diamonds and kind of settled on Rosy Dream because no other colour particularly appealed to me. Basically, I ended up buying twice as much lipstick as I had initially intended, defeating the purpose of saving money in buying at half price. These are perfectly adequate lipsticks but by virtue of having too many similar shades, I find that I can't really enjoy them. They offer nothing new or markedly better than what I already have, so I regard them to be quite superfluous. At least I'm now encouraged to be much more discerning and selective when it comes to future lipstick purchases and not buy just for the sake of taking advantage of an attractive sale.