Lip Crayons: Combination Lip Balm/Lip Stain

Today at the department store, I saw something of interest in the makeup section. They look like over-sized crayons, and are for use as lip color. It's Revlon's "Just Bitten Kissable" Balm Stain. All of the colors looked pretty appealing to me (red, orange, light pink, hot pink, mauve) but I managed enough discipline to only buy two, the hot pink (#20, "Lovesick") and the mauve (#01, "Honey"). Here I'll talk about the hot pink.

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain, "Lovesick"

As you can see, it's a lip crayon. It's fairly large, and very easy to apply. It doesn't take a whole lot of precision. It's fairly sheer, so you can layer it to get as much color as you want. It goes on slightly shiny, though it's not super glossy. It also has a slight mint fragrance to it.

I definitely like the shade of pink. It's bright but wearable, and I could've made the color weaker by putting less on. I went over my lips several times to get this shade. It goes on smoothly and looks more or less like a sheer lipstick.

To test the lip stain component, I waited about half an hour and then pressed a tissue to my lips a few times. Only a little bit of color came off onto the tissue, so it would seem that my lips absorbed most of it. Here's the result:

My lips certainly aren't shiny anymore, and the color is a little faded, but it's not that far from the original shade. I'd say it definitely works as a lip stain. You wouldn't have to reapply all that often to keep it looking plenty bright, since this is what it looked like after I tried to remove it with a tissue. Now, two hours and one nap later, it looks more or less the same as it did in this picture. So it's very long lasting. But makeup remover and a cotton pad are sufficient to remove nearly all of it if you want it off. 

I really like this product. It's bright and slightly shiny like a gloss, but not at all sticky or thick. It looks a lot like lipstick but doesn't have to be applied as often, and is easier to apply well. Although it looks like a crayon, it doesn't need sharpening; as it wears down you just twist the bottom end like you would with a tube of chapstick, and it advances. I think it will be handy in a lot of situations. You could also wear it under glosses or lipsticks to make sure the color won't completely fade off your lips at any point. And once you've had it on for a while, very little of it comes off onto other things, like cups, or people. Okay, so I didn't test it on people. But you can drink out of a glass without leaving a major lipstick stain on it.

I especially like the color options for this balm/stain. I would have happily bought all of them, but I figure I should save at least a little money for use on other things, what with Christmas coming up. Still, it's nice that in addition to the several very bright shades, there's one more subdued option, which is the mauve ("Honey"). I'm not posting any pictures right now because the light has gone and I can't get an accurate shot of the color, but I've tried it on and I think it's a great shade. It's not a nude shade, but I'd say it's business appropriate. I'd be comfortable wearing it to work, or to a nice dinner party. Although I love bright colors, I think "Honey" might be the one I'd recommend the most strongly.