Me and lipstick just don't get on - my lips are often dry so I always opt for lustre's or crayon style lip colour. However as soon as I eat or drink they disappear. To solve this I've tried long lasting formulas but they are just too dry and make my lips dry out even more.
Is there a solution to this? No. However I feel a stain is half way to solving the problem when I'm sick of wearing lip gloss or lustre formulas that wear off. Of course stains cling to any dry areas on the lips so it's crucial that I remove all the dry skin with Blistex and a Cotton bud. But once the stain is on it lasts and it doesn't add to the dryness and I also all apply a lip balm over the top!
My stain of choice has to be the Bourjois Rouge Hi-Tech Lip Tints 8.5ml which use to come in a wide range of shades but not so much now as I don't think they ever became that popular. Boots still do stock them in afew stores and online here for £7.29. But I personally think this is on the pricey side (even though these will last you forever & a day) however lots of discount websites such as Cheap Smells £3.99 and Fragrance Direct £2.49 sell them in a wider range and at a discounted price.
As you can see I own two of the lips tints - Cyber cassis and Praline digitale which I've had for around a year now and have used up very little even though I do use Cyber cassis quite alot.
The packaging is exactly like the Bourjois Shimmer Shine eye shadows (which I also really love) as they are both water based products and I actually think Bourjois have done pretty well on the packaging front as these haven't dried out in the slightest and are still very liquid based. However the plastic packaging shade definitely doesn't represent the shade inside quite could be misleading if you don't swatch them - however be warned they do stain the skin when swatched!!
Application
As you can see the stains definitely give a bitten lip look and just deepen your own natural lip colour slightly and give a bit of vibrancy. My lips above are afew dots of the stain blotted out with my finger though it is buildable if you are patient and let each coat of stain dry between application.
I have to say the doe-foot applicator isn't helpful as you really can't get a neat application with it, which is why I resort to using my fingers and just blotting it out.
The other major benefit of these if it already hasn't popped into your head is that they can be used on the cheeks as a cheek stain. Now they do work well however it can be hit and miss especially if you apply it in a rush (like I have done afew times)! These dry really fast and then just don't budge as they have already soaked into the skin, basically staining it, so only foundation really can cover up any errors. So I always apply a drop of this onto my index finger and then work it in really quick before it dries.
Again the stains last all day even in hot weather - but they do take some getting use to!
Shades
Cyber cassis is clearly my favourite as it reminds me of the lovely Benefit tint I use to own - minus the lovely rose scent that Benetint has. As for Praline digitale I'm still abit unsure of it as brown lips aren't all that appealing to me and on the cheeks it just looks all wrong so I sadly don't use it all that often.
So I'd definitely suggest looking at the bright shades in the range, as a vibrant stain can look striking where as a dark stain can just look abit on the bland side.
The other thing I love about them is they are weight-less something I'm very into in summer when I can't be bother with too much makeup - so on goes the tinted moisturizer, a sweep of black liner and abit of this on the lips and cheeks and it literally feels like I'm makeup-free.
Though staining is an issue especially as I seem to always use afew fingers to apply it! If I don't remove the product from my fingers with nail polish remover before I go out this will actually still be on there the next day!
I guess this just shows how long the pigment does last!
Over the next few weeks I'm going to try and do more individual reviews on the products I truly love I think!
Fee xo.
