Review: New Black Radiance Radiant Lip Gloss in Blackberry Ice

I'm a HUGE Black Radiance fan and I always say that the best-kept secret for oily-skinned gals is the Black Radiance Complexion Perfection Shine Control Primer (click here if you missed my review). Not only are Black Radiance products inexpensive (hello! They're made my by Markwins, which also makes Wet n Wild) but so many of their products are of excellent quality and really deliver on performance.  If you haven't explored the Black Radiance line yet, I highly suggest you take a look at their eyeshadows, eyeliners, face primer, powder blushes, nail polishes and pretty much anything else I've talked about on this blog. You can find this line at select Rite Aid, Walgreens, Walmart and K-Mart locations across the US and you can also find an assortment of Black Radiance products at Walgreens.com if you can't locate this line in your area.

Today I'm going to talk about one of their newest lipgloss lines called "Radiant Lip Gloss".  I believe this line was actually released back in January, but my local Rite Aid recently revamped their Black Radiance display and only recently started to carry the complete assortment of "Radiant Lip Glosses" so I still consider this line "new". 

I received the following shade for review, but I want to tell you that, even though this was sent to me, I love this gloss so much that I will not be limiting myself to just this shade. It's a good thing I have Black Radiance at my local Rite Aid because I'm pretty obsessed with these, so let me explain why.

Black Radiance Radiant Lip Color in Blackberry Ice (retail: $2.99)

Blackberry Ice is a difficult color to describe. It's a deep chocolate-berry with beautiful flecks of gold and bronze, but I also detect a very subtle streak of multi-colored shimmer running through it as well. In certain lights, you can see green and orange and blue sparkles in this gloss, but the predominant shimmer is gold.

Before I forget, Walgreens.com has these glosses on their site and if you click on a swatch, you can see the actual tube, which is very helpful. Click here to check out some other shades.

So what do I love about this gloss? Well for starters, the brush applicator rocks. It's small and firm, which means you can apply this gloss with the utmost precision and you can also easily line your lips with it as well. 

Another thing I love about this gloss is that, even though it's sheer, the pigmentation is EXCELLENT (which is the case with so many Black Radiance products). I don't know about you, but I can't stand sheer glosses that don't show up at all on my lips. Why bother, right?

Let me talk about the texture for a minute: this gloss is not sticky, tacky or heavy. It really feels nice and light on the lips, and even though it's packed with sparkle, it's not gritty.  Also, to me, it smells like raspberry bubble gum, which I love.  But the fragrance is not super strong (and it fades pretty quickly). The flavor reminds me of raspberry bubblegum as well, but it's very subtle and it's not one of those glosses that is so sweet it feels like you're swiping artificial sweetener on your lips.

Let's take a peek at some swatches:

For a chronic gloss-eater like me, I'm also impressed with the staying power of this gloss. I have a bad habit of smooshing my lips together whenever I'm wearing gloss, and even through all the smooshing, I can get about three hours of wear before I need to reapply.  Also, I love that this gloss fades evenly and leaves a nice, subtle hint of color on my lips as it fades.

I just adore the chocolate-berry shade of this gloss, and it's exactly what I need for fall and winter. This one's a winner, lovelies. At just $2.99, I cannot recommend it enough. 

Do you own any Black Radiance products? What are your favorites from this line? Are you thinking about picking up one of these new Radiant Lip Colors? I'd love to hear from you!

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.