Review: Black Radiance Perfect Tone Self-Adjusting Lip Gloss

Today is going to be Lip Day on Nouveau Cheap, as I've got nothing but lip product reviews for you all day. Sound like fun? I hope so, because I've had a blast testing all these lip goodies!

To begin, I'd like to review the brand new Black Radiance Perfect Tone Self-Adjusting Lip Gloss in Berry Perfect, available wherever Black Radiance products are sold (click here for more info). This review is in direct response to several of your requests (and thank you, btw, for giving me such great input as to which of the new Black Radiance products I should review first!). I also want to let you know that I'm currently testing the Black Radiance Face Primer, so check back for that review shortly.

Black Radiance Perfect Tone Self-Adjusting Lip Gloss in Berry Perfect

The very first thing I noticed about this gloss is that it reminded me a lot of mark's Glossblossom Ripening Lip Tint. Do you see any similarities with the packaging?

While I admit it's been several years since I've used mark's version, the one thing I remember is that it turned my lips too fuchsia. If you're unfamiliar with self-adjusting lip products, they appear clear in the tube but then, once applied, adjust to your own particular skin and body temperature. The most common complaint with many of these products is that they tend to turn a bright shade of fuchsia or hot pink on a lot of people, and I specifically remember that mark's version was way too pink on me (but for the record, I know it works for a lot of people so I don't mean to say it's an awful product--it just didn't work for me).

So immediately I was hoping that this wouldn't be the case with Black Radiance's version. First let's take a look at the applicator:

It's your standard slant tip plastic applicator, which tends to work great for this type of product.

Now, here are my lips without any product at all (apologies for the condition of my lips--it's very cold in S. California right now and my lips are chapped and have really taken a beating):

Ick! But let's get past the chapped appearance and concentrate on the pigmentation. As you can see, my lips are of medium pigmentation and are more on the orange side of the spectrum (as opposed to rosy or pink).

Now here is what my lips looked like 30 seconds after applying Black Radiance Perfect Tone:

And here's what they looked like 15 minutes after applying Perfect Tone:

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!! Is it just me, or is this a perfect example of My Lips But Better? No pink, no fuschia, just warm, soft, coral-berry goodness! In real life, this color looks like how I want my lips to naturally look. Kind of peachy, kind of rosy, and kind of like I just ate a bowl of strawberries.

As for the texture, it's sublime. I love it. It's not too thick, not too thin, not too sticky and not too runny. And the staying power is incredible, even for a gloss-eater like me. I put this on and even after deliberately smooshing my lips together several times, it stayed put like a champ. Oh, and virtually no fragrance or flavor to this gloss either. Plus, it's moisturizing as heck--look at how it instantly improved the look of my icky chapped lips?

All in all, I would strongly recommend this gloss to anyone who is curious about trying a self-adjusting lip color, or may have had a bad experience in the past. For me, it just could not have produced a better shade. No fuschia and no hot pink. For around $3 a tube, I think you just can't go wrong.

A sample of this product was given to Nouveau Cheap for editorial purposes, either directly from the manufacturer or from the agency that works on behalf of the manufacturer. All reviews on NouveauCheap.blogspot.com are the honest opinion of its author and editorial samples do not, in any way, affect the outcome of product reviews.