Review: NYC Rose Kiss and Mulberry lip glosses

I know I've been talking a lot lately about the limited edition NYC Berry Bloom collection, but darnit, this collection has such a lovely assortment of products and shades--it might be my favorite fall collection so far (considering the low, low prices of the products, it's no wonder). 

Over the past few weeks I've reviewed several items from this collection (click here if you missed my past reviews) and today I'd like to show you my most recent purchases. I bought these a few weeks ago when NYC was BOGOFREE at Rite Aid, and I also had coupons, which means I got these goodies practically for free. Yay for coupons and sales!

(click to enlarge, again to magnify)

NYC Rose Lip Gloss in Rose Kiss (retail: $2.99)

NYC Lippin' Large Lip Plumper in Mulberry (retail: $3.99)

I have to be honest with you and tell you that my expectations ended up being completely turned around with these lip colors. I thought I'd fall in love with Rose Kiss (like I did with Peony Kiss) and I thought I'd end up disliking Mulberry (as so often is the case with lip-plumping products for me).  Well dip me in chocolate and call me Sally! I never expected that I'd end up loving Mulberry and feeling "meh" about Rose Kiss.

Rose Kiss is gorgeous in the pot. Really, it's just a beautiful mid-range, cool-toned pink with very slight shimmer. I thought it was going to be one of those out-the-door-without-thinking-too-much shades, and while this does have excellent pigmentation (almost complete opacity with one swipe), it wears a little bit chalky on my lips. That's really the best way I can describe it. The pigment seems to settle into the lines in my lips, and it just doesn't look as flattering as I anticipated.  

I do want to note that this color might work better for you if you have less pigmented lips or a fairer complexion than I--so don't rule it out if you're fair-skinned.  But I think if you're an NC20 or deeper, you might be a little disappointed with this one.  But who knows--it could just be an issue with me and you may end up loving it, regardless of your skintone. You never know with these things. It just wasn't a love match for me.

But now let's talk about this Lippin' Large Lip Plumper! Wow! I was really, really hoping that this would be a wearable sheer reddish-burgundy, and that's exactly what it is! I love the just-bitten look it gives my lips, and if you look closely at the above swatches, you will see that while it doesn't really enlarge my lips too much, it does plump them up a tiny bit! I mean, the little lines on my lips seem to smooth out when I wear this gloss and I really, really love that.

As with most effective lip-plumpers, there's a tiny bit of sting to this gloss. If you read my previous post about this collection, you know that NYC uses cinnamon and ginger as "plumping" ingredients, and this gloss is also infused with Vitamin E. So the sting I feel on my lips does feel a bit like the sting of cinnamon, which is not too painful--but I do want to warn you that it's not a feeling that goes away quickly. I can still feel the slight sting on lips for about a half hour after I apply this gloss.

The one thing I do not like about this gloss is that, to me, it smells and tastes exactly like cherry-flavored cough drops. Sadly, this gets my gag reflex going a little bit when I apply it, because I absolutely cannot stand cherry-flavored cough syrup, cough drops, etc.  But you know what? I love the results so much that I power through and it hasn't stopped me from wearing this gloss at all.

I also found that for a sheer red gloss, that staying power is great. I can get three hours or more from this one, which is rare for me when it comes to sheer red glosses.  Oh Mulberry, how I love thee! I just wish you smelled and tasted differently, but I'll take you just as you are if you keep making my lips look like this!

That's it for this NYC review--I hope you found it useful! Have you purchased anything from the Berry Bloom collection yet? What are your favorites?