Peachy Boost

I first heard of the Bourjois Color Boost Glossy Finish Lipsticks from Sandra back in June and soon enough, they started popping up everywhere. I didn't know if I wanted to cave and buy my 327th lip crayon, even if one of my favourite brands was producing it. When they were released in Australia, I resisted buying one immediately, but with 25% off Bourjois this week at Priceline, I caved. I already had tried all four shades and knew that Peach on the Beach (04) was my clear favourite.

The Bourjois Color Boost Glossy Finish Lipstick is more or less identical to the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains in packaging and size, maybe just slightly shorter in length. The actual product inside is surprisingly quite different. The Revlon crayons are hard and drier in texture and relatively transfer-proof, while the Bourjois is very emollient (kind of oily, even), soft and glossy, almost like it's melting upon contact with the skin/lips. Although it's sheer in the sense that it doesn't apply opaque like a traditional lipstick, it's still really pigmented. While it claims to have a "bare lip sensation", it feels more like a creamy lipstick coating the lips rather than something closer to a balm stain that sinks into the lips and is weightless.

Peach on the Beach is a pinky coral that is borderline neon. The more you apply, the greater tendency it has to settle into lip lines, so I normally blot once and then press my lips together to blend. If I don't want a full-on lip, I dab a small amount on the centre of my lips and then blend out with my finger for a subtler look. It imparts a reddish pink stain when it's taken off, though nothing like the crazy staining properties of some of the darker, brighter Revlon shades. It purports to be waterproof and provide 10 hours of "comfort and hydration", but those claims are ambitious to say the least. There's SPF 15 which is a bonus.

I thought I'd surely have something close to identical to Peach on the Beach among my vast peach/coral lipstick collection, but pleasingly, nothing was an exact match. I pulled out Revlon Super Lustrous lipstick in Melonade (180), Maybelline ColorSensational Vivids in Shocking Coral (910), Australis Colour Inject Mineral Lipstick in Honky Tonk and Sportsgirl Pout About It! Lip Colour in Fruit Tingle to compare.

l-r: Bourjois Peach on the Beach, Revlon Melonade, Maybelline Shocking Coral, Australis Honky Tonk, Sportsgirl Fruit Tingle

The Bourjois is clearly the most sheer and glossy of the bunch, but still pigmented. It's more peachy and 'wet'/glossy look than the rest, and also the lightest, almost with a pastel tone. Revlon Melonade is more orangey red and significantly darker. Maybelline Shocking Coral is more watermelon pink, redder, bolder, more intense. Australis Honky Tonk is the closest colour match, though slightly darker, more opaque, less glossy and sheer. Sportsgirl Fruit Tingle, like Melonade, is more of a fiery orange, but matte.

Though I'm becoming more selective about any new lip product purchases I make because of the insane number of lipsticks, lip crayons, lip butters, lip stains, tinted lip balms, lip glosses etc. that I have, the Bourjois isn't an unwelcome addition. I still enjoy the jumbo lip crayon look for the child-like novelty of wielding a fattened pencil, and the emollient, spreadable texture makes it easy to sport a summery slick of bright-yet-pastel colour.