Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters

The Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters revolutionized the whole "balm" game. I came across these in late 2012 and swatched them in Farid's, Dolmen Clifton and thought - WOW, this is BAD :-D Really. The salesgirl pitched these to me as MATTE LIPSTICK. And I was a makeup novice, so I thought, they suck at being pigmented and matte. Fast forwarding through the Dark Ages to the Renaissance of makeup knowledge, I want these in my life and wanted them bad :-) So, did it pay off...?

Yes, BIG TIME!

I can't keep a calm exterior when it comes to Revlon's Colorburst Lip Butters. I'm gushing with nothing, but praise. This is going to be a rave review. Heads up!

These come in a sturdy plastic packaging which snaps shut quite firmly. Great to carry in your bag without the danger of smearing anything on your stuff. With Shrek-sized fingers, I initially had some issue opening the tube for my first swatch. However, that was temporary (and my own fault). I love how their caps are kind of color-coded. That makes it easier to spot your pick from the makeup stash.

Pigmentation is one of the primary concerns for me. Even the high-end lip products that lack pigmentation are a turnoff for me. The second most important thing for me is longevity. I rarely reapply the lipstick (that's why balm stains have been my best friends). Comfort, packaging, finish, etc. follow the checklist after these two. So, I looked through the dozens of lip and arm swatches on different skins & lighting to see which shade from these lip butters should I seek first. Raspberry Pie was different from the pinks, browns, and reds I had in my collection and it looked super pigmented. I laid hands on it and this was the love at first swatch. I gave this few more swipes to build the color, and MAN, it was GORGEOUS. I loved how glossy and light my lips felt, without the gooey-ness of the gloss or some lip topper.

Lollipop was the second shade I got - which I mistook for being Sweet Tart :-/ I was a little put down by the fact that it "looked" almost the same as the Raspberry Pie on my lips. But when I built the color up, this was brighter blue toned fuschia. There was my salvation. Candy Apple and Peach Parfait were the next buys, followed recently by Tutti Fruitti.

Let's have a look at individual swatches, followed by a combined review - I vow to keep this shorter :-P Please forgive the blurry pixelated swatches. There was a whole lot of technical and human glitches :-D I'm just learning to take better photographs :-)

Raspberry Pie - A dark berry pink

Lollipop - A bright fuschia pink with blue undertones

Peach Parfait - A rosy peach with fine golden glitter

Tutti Fruitti - A sheer light orange with yellow undertones

Candy Apple - A sheer orange-red with a hint of rose

As you can see, all the colors are gorgeously moisturizing. They can't replace a full-blown "lip balm" (like Nivea, Neutrogena, etc focused towards the lip care), but you won't need a separate lip balm underneath these. The first swipe of all colors has been sheerer than their multiple swipes, so you can wear it according to the intensity you like. On my lips, Raspberry Pie, Peach Parfait and Lollipop achieve almost-opaque-like finish with multiple swipes. The other two - Tutti Fruitti and Cherry Tart - are on the sheerer side when it comes to my pigmented lips. I don't mind that though. Personally, I do prefer Tutti Fruitti giving a soft peachy orange look instead of looking Fanta-Orange :-) That might clash with my skin tone. I'm a reds fan, but sheer reds - hmmm.. not my favorites. That's why Cherry Tart was the neglected one among these (and now it has been given a new home through a Blog Sale). Again, that's just a matter of personal preference.

In terms of lasting powers, all except Tutti Fruitti remain good 3-4 hours without fading. A reason for this could be that I never applied Tutti Fruitti with its full throttle multiple swipes. Like most creamy moisturizing lip products, these cannot survive meals. Nonetheless, they fade from the middle and can be reapplied easily afterwards. Such impromptu layering does not mess up the previously-applied/remaining lip butter and blends smoothly - thumbs up!

Since they're creamy, I expected them to run a little down the lips without liner in Summers. They haven't caused such problem so far when I wore them last Summers. I have yet to wear them under the Sun for extended period in extreme heat, but till now, they have survived my 1-hour extreme gym sweating sessions. 

P.S. Yes, I wear lipstick to the gym, 7 in the morning. I do everything and anything that would convince me to leave my snuggly bed and go knock myself out with "activities" :-D FYI, I'm Garfield-lazy.

When I think of lip butters, it's usually the nighttime lip treatment or some casual layering for dry lips. These babies, however, are for every age and occasion. I wore Peach Parfait on my Engagement dinner. No lip liner, nothing. Just plain ol' Revlon Peach Parfait. It photographed nice and subtle, but gave nice peachy color throughout. 70% of it also survived the open-air dinner we had and 40-50% remained till the late night back-home selfie-session I did. :-D These have been a part of office events, dailywear, shopping trips, and whatnots! My next picks would be Sorbet, Macaroon, Berry Smoothie (which my friend promised to give me from a trio her sister gifted to her. Waiting.), and Sweet Tart.

In the excitement of writing about these, I hope I'm not skipping any essential details... Am I?
No...?
Time for the verdict then:

These are available through Revlon counters in Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad for around Rs. 1,175/-. You can check your desired shades via www.just4girls.pk and www.beautyarena.pk. Since many shades go out of stock, you can find better prices and shades if you pre-order via Facebook pages.

Have you used the Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters yet? Which one(s) is/are your favorite? Let me know your thoughts on the comments below!

Cheers,

Bia