Review: New Revlon Just Bitten Lipstain + Balm

So as many of you know, I've had both car issues and computer issues for the past few weeks. This has not only kept me away from my blog, but also from the drugstores (the horror!). Yesterday I had a chance to finally get my booty over to CVS and I was totally blown away by all the new products I spotted! In addition to this review, please stay tuned because I also found the new Maybelline Color Sensational collection and FINALLY I saw the Limited Edition Salsa Sun collection too! I bought some goodies from both collections to share with you, so please check back soon for those reviews.

Of all the new goodies I spotted, THIS is the one I was the most excited about:

Revlon Just Bitten Lipstain + Balm collection (retail: $8.99 each at CVS)

This collection features ten shades, with something to offer for every skintone and taste:

L to R: Midnight, Forbidden, Flame, Gothic, Lust

L to R: Passion, Twilight, Frenzy, Beloved, Crave

Clearly, Revlon is playing off the current vampire craze with not only the name of the product, "Just Bitten", but also with the names of the shades (Twilight couldn't be more obvious, right?).

But what REALLY sets these lipstains apart from all the others on the market is the dual-end tube. One end features the standard felt-tip marker for the stain, while the other end features a lip balm. That's what totally sold me on this product and I knew immediately that I had to get one (good thing I had a $2 off Revlon coupon in my purse!).

Revlon Just Bitten Lipstain + Balm in Frenzy (retail: $8.99)

I love how the cap on this lipstain has an inner core that helps keep the tip from drying out:

Pretty much a standard felt tip applicator and, when applied, it feels like all of the others (Cover Girl, Palladio, etc.). In other words, it feels like you're running a Sharpie over your lips, which takes a bit of getting used to if you've never used a lipstain before.

Now for the part that I'm sure you're the most curious about (I know I was): the balm!

At first glance, this totally reminded me of a pencil eraser! It sticks out a lot from the tube (in real life, I'd say the balm extends about 1/2 an inch from the base of the tube, which is kind of strange).

Also, there is no way to retract the balm! I tried for a good ten minutes to twist the base of the balm and it does not budge. I also tried just pushing gently on the stick itself to see if it would retract into the case, but no dice. It's just a half inch worth of balm that juts out from the tube and stays there. So weird, huh?

The good thing is that this balm is VERY solid. I don't foresee it becoming so soft that it starts to break off from the tube, but you never know.

So, how do I like this product so far? I have to say, I've got mixed emotions. My biggest complaint is the complaint I have about basically *all* lipstains. what you see in the tube is never what you get on your lips. I was really hoping for a beautiful deep berry shade in Frenzy, but what I got is actually much more of a deep red. These pics actually make the color look REALLY red, but in real life there IS more of a berry hue to this shade (but it's still pretty red).

Here is the lipstain on my lips WITHOUT the balm. This is just after applying the stain (please excuse my very dry lips--they're super chapped at the moment).

As the directions indicate, you need to wait 30 seconds before applying the balm.

And here are my lips after applying the balm.

At first, I thought the balm was going to be like all of those balms that you get with longwear lipcolors (Cover Girl Outlast, etc.). But after applying it, I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised. When the balm mixes with the stain, it makes your lips feel like you're wearing a very plush lipstick. It's super moisturizing and creamy. I really love the feel of it it.

So how do my lips look after three hours? That's the big question, right?

Well, you probably know by now that I'm a chronic gloss-eater. I tend to smoosh my lips together a lot whenever I'm wearing lip color, so that probably didn't help the staying power of this product one bit. But even so, what I don't like about Just Bitten is that it seems to leave the dreaded ring around my lips, making it look like I'm in the 90s again with the dark lipliner. I cannot stand the fact that I will have to live in fear of the dark-liner-on-bare-lips look as this product wears off, but I am wondering if this has more to do with the balm than the lipstain itself?

I'm definitely going to have to experiment some more and try using the stain by itself, and maybe using less of the balm the next time around. I'm definitely not giving up hope on this product yet, because the stain itself is pretty darn good. What I REALLY love about this stain (aside from the berry fragrance) is that it doesn't have that sharp, bitter taste that all other lipstains seem to have. The taste of this stain is much more mild and less off-putting, so that's great. And, as you can tell, this stain is SUPER pigmented, which is also a plus.

Final verdict: I still have hope for this product. So far, I believe that the lipstain part of the product is of excellent quality. It's insanely pigmented, has a milder flavor than most other stains, and it wasn't drying on my already dry lips. The balm part of this product is very moisturizing and the texture is quite creamy and luxurious on my lips. My issue right now is when I combine the two products. I think that the balm might be contributing the lack of staying power (when compared to traditional lipstains that don't have an accompanying balm). I need to try using the stain by itself to get a feel for how long this product lasts, and hopefully I won't be left with dark-liner syndrome when I use the stain by itself. The worst case scenario for me right now would be using each product individually instead of together (the balm doesn't have a flavor or fragrance and actually would be a nice balm to wear all by itself).

I'm very curious to see what the other shades in the Just Bitten line are like, so I can't wait for the reviews to start pouring in!

In the meantime, what do you think of Just Bitten? Do you think you'll be picking up a tube when you spot this display? As always, I'd love to hear from you!