Review: L'Oreal Colour Riche Glossy Balms in Baby Berry and Vintage Rose

Purchased by Me

Since all L'Oreal cosmetics are 40% off this week at Rite Aid (now through 8/23), I thought it would be the perfect time to share my review of two of the new Glossy Balms, in case you haven't seen them yet. I actually picked these up at Rite Aid when the display first started popping up in my area, and I've been wearing them off and on for about three weeks now. Ready for my verdict? Let's take a look...

L'Oreal Colour Riche Glossy Balms in Vintage Rose and Baby Berry

(retail: around $7.99 each, 0.09 oz)

The L'Oreal Colour Riche Glossy Balms are available in eight shades ranging from Lovely Mocha (lightest) to Deep Plum (darkest). I decided to purchase a medium-warm shade and a medium-cool shade. 

The first time I opened the tube of Vintage Rose, I gouged the tip with the lid. Don't you hate that?

In the pic above, I tried to show you that both of these shades actually contain very fine glitter flakes. Here's a close-up of Vintage Rose, where you can really see the glitter:

three light swipes of each shade on bare skin

Based on the tube colors, I was totally expecting Baby Berry to be a warm-toned red, and Vintage Rose to be a cool-toned pink. WRONG! It's actually more the other way around. Baby Berry is a cooler-toned cherry red, while Vintage Rose is a warmer-toned mauve-ish berry. I've mentioned before that, for me personally, L'Oreal lip colors are rarely what I expect them to be judging by how they look in the tube (they always seem to be different on my skin vs. the tube). Well, these are no exception! I was hoping the tube shades might be a little bit more color-accurate with this new line, but I do not find that to be the case with these two shades. At any rate, both shades work for my skintone so that's a relief!

In the store, I didn't notice the sparkle embedded in the tubes themselves (see my pics of the tubes above). I'm holding the tubes in my hand right now and, from a regular distance, I do not see the sparkle embedded in the plastic, and the labels don't give any indication that these contain glitter. I don't know if all of the shades in this range contain glitter, but just a heads-up that you'll need to look closely at the tubes themselves to give you any indication. I tried my best to enlarge the pic above but I know it's still a bit difficult to see. Baby Berry contains pink iridescent glitter, while Vintage Rose contains gold iridescent glitter. These glitter flakes are quite fine and densely-packed. They don't translate as a full-on "glitter bomb" on the lips, but the glitter is noticeable (especially in direct sunlight). More on that in a moment...

Texture and consistency: These lip colors feel very slick and light on the lips. These are not heavy, thick balms--they are so creamy that they almost cross the line from creamy to greasy. Even though they contain fine glitter, I don't feel any grittiness from either shade. These lip colors are very emollient and they have a nice, shiny finish. They're true to their name as I find these very "glossy" on the lips.

Pigmentation and staying power: These have the look of a tinted lip balm, but with the shine of a gloss. They're sheer (like a tinted lip balm) but they do pack some color and they have a shinier finish than your average tinted lip balm. You can build for more intensity, but neither shade I purchased ever becomes fully opaque like, for instance, Revlon Balm Stains. The word "stain" is not in the name of these lip colors, so don't expect incredible staying power. Due to their light, slick, balmy texture, I can get about one to two hours of wear from these colors. Neither shade leaves a stain behind, but I DO notice an abundance of very fine glitter particles on my lips after the color has faded. This surprised me a bit since the glitter doesn't have an extremely strong presence before the color starts to fade. But as the color fades, the glitter does become a lot more pronounced.

Flavor and fragrance: I detect no fragrance or flavor to these balms (rare for L'Oreal, I know!). If anything, the flavor reminds of plain Vaseline petroleum jelly, but even more mild.

FINAL VERDICT: In terms of pigmentation, color, texture and finish, the new L'Oreal Glossy Balms are exactly what you would expect them to be based on their name. What I did not expect was the color variance (from tube to lips) and the abundance of tiny glitter particles in each shade. For that reason, I'm a bit torn about the two shades I purchased. On the one hand, they feel lovely on the lips and I love both of the colors. On the other hand, I'm not a fan of residual glitter that lingers on my lips after my lip color has faded. For that reason, I don't think I'd purchase additional shades unless I knew for sure that those shades didn't contain glitter. But if you're a glitter lover and you don't mind some lingering sparkle, I think you might enjoy these if you love sheer, buildable colors with lots of shine. I really like that L'Oreal skipped both flavor and fragrance with this new line, since I know that some of you don't enjoy the signature flavor/fragrance of Colour Riche lip colors.

Do you own any L'Oreal Glossy Balms? I'd love to hear about YOUR experiences!

The products featured in this post were purchased with personal funds. For more information, click here.