Review: Paula's Choice Berry & Bright Lip Pencil Collection + Giveaway!

Disclosure: Affiliate links.
Because people click my Paula's Choice invite link here on my blog, I've been able to try some things from the brand that I ordinarily wouldn't buy for myself. One such thing is this set of four lip crayons for $45. At $11.25 a piece, they're not too much more expensive than most drugstore lipsticks, but I haven't been especially impressed by PC makeup in the past, so I probably wouldn't have gambled. Since I had some credits, however, I figured I would give them a shot--turns out I like (most of) these! And since I got them because of the blog, it seems right to review them here. As further thanks, there's also a giveaway at the end of the post.

Paula's Choice Berry & Bright Lip Pencil Collection (top to bottom): Winter Berry, Currant, Plum, and Sugar.

These four lipsticks in crayon format are described as "satin matte." There are two reds, a dark berry, and a sheer, pearly shimmer. They apparently all have names, but I threw out the box, and the pencils themselves aren't labeled, so I am getting these names from the Paula's Choice website and hoping I assign them correctly: Winter Berry, Currant, Plum, and Sugar. 

Sugar is the sheer shimmer. I'm sure of that, at least. In trying to sort the others out, we come to something I found slightly disappointing about this set, i.e. that it contains two reds. In fact, the labels of all three colors look so similar, that I usually have to hold them side by side to figure out which one I want. My guess is that Paula's Choice probably intended to create a set that included a pink, a red, a berry, and a sheer shimmer. That would make sense, right? Instead we have a pink-red, a true red, a berry, and a sheer shimmer. The colors are lovely, but the variety is a bit lacking.

Paula's Choice Berry & Bright Lip Pencil Collection: Winter Berry, Currant, Plum, and Sugar.

The differences are clearer when you look at the lipstick itself, but obviously we are dealing with two different reds here, not a pink and a red.

The formula of most of these lipsticks is similar, so I won't describe them individually for each color. They are, indeed, satin-matte. They are stiff and almost a bit waxy when you apply them, which is a texture I prefer, because it means they aren't too slippery. It's easy to apply them neatly directly from the crayon, and they don't tend to smear or feather or settle into lip lines (though they are not transfer-proof). There is something almost gritty-feeling about them when you apply them--just slightly, not uncomfortable, and they seem to melt a bit once you put them on your lips. They feel very soft and comfortable to wear. Not drying at all on me, and my lips are prone to drying out. Not moisturizing, either, but then I never find lipstick moisturizing. The three darker options are very pigmented, especially the two reds. Of the three, only Plum seems to benefit from blotting and applying a second layer. It's slightly sheerer and also slightly slipperier than the reds.

Swatches of Paula's Choice Berry & Bright Lip Pencil Collection: Winter Berry, Currant, Plum, and Sugar.

Winter Berry is best described as a pink-red or maybe strawberry red color. It's a bit brighter than Currant, though as you can see above, the difference isn't huge. It's noticeable that these are two distinct colors when you wear them, but it's not exactly striking. I find Winter Berry very pretty and wearable. It leaves a pinkish stain behind after it wears off.

Paula's Choice Berry & Bright Lip Pencil Collection: Winter Berry

Currant is a true, neutral red. It's very classic, and the shade is flattering (on me, at least).

Paula's Choice Berry & Bright Lip Pencil Collection: Currant

Here is Currant compared to a couple of other reds, so you can get a better sense of what it's like:

On the left is Nars Cruella, which you can see is a bit darker with more blue in it and also more matte than Currant, which is in the middle. (Cruella actually looks pretty awful on me. My skin looks sallow and I look sickly when I wear it. So much for "universally flattering.") On the right is NYX Perfect Red, which is quite close to Currant, but maybe a bit more blue and a bit sheerer.

Plum is a borderline-vampy berry. You can see from the lip photo below that because it's slipperier than the other two it's harder to get a clean line around the edges. Not impossible, but not foolproof. I really like this color. Probably my favorite of the set.

Paula's Choice Berry & Bright Lip Pencil Collection: Plum

Finally, Sugar. This one comes with a big side of WOMP WOMP. I was hoping it might be something like Bite Beauty's Opal lipstick. Instead, it's just an extremely sheer, very (very) subtle pearly shimmer, which I find almost completely pointless. I applied it heavily in this photo so that it would show up:

Paula's Choice Berry & Bright Lip Pencil Collection: Sugar

If I'm going to wear something nearly invisible on my lips, I'd at least like it to be a moisturizing balm. I just don't know what the purpose of undetectable lipstick is supposed to be. Paula's Choice recommends layering it over other lipsticks to make them more "festive," but when I try that it seems to mainly pick up the other color on the end of the crayon rather than adding much to my lips. And then I have to keep cleaning it off before I use it again. Here's Sugar layered over blotted Plum:

Sugar layered over Plum

Is that doing anything for you?

Overall, I think three of the four lipsticks in this set are fantastic--although, unless you are so into them that you need All The Reds, you might find one or another of them redundant. Since not all four are hits, I'm not sure the set is really worth $45 to me. Paula's Choice doesn't label the weights of each crayon individually, but the weight for the whole set is listed as 12.32 g, which means they should be 3.08 g or about 0.11 oz. each--typical for lipsticks in this type of packaging. Doing the same calculations as I have done on other lip crayons, that puts the price per oz. of these lipsticks at $102--a bit more than drugstore crayons like Revlon and quite a lot less than higher ends crayons like Tarte. If, however, you are like me and find Sugar useless, then you'd be paying $45 for three lipsticks, which would make them $15 each or $136/oz. (still much cheaper than Tarte!).

Like I said, as much as I like them, I seriously doubt I would have tried them out at this price without knowing what I was getting into. But I would like to give you the chance to play with them if you want to for free! Just enter the giveaway below.

The prize will be EITHER the Paula's Choice Berry & Bright Lip Pencil Collection ($45) OR, if you have somehow got this far even though you are not interested in lipstick, Paula's Choice Clinical 1% Retinol Treatment ($55) (reviewed here). Winner's choice.

One (1) winner will be chosen randomly (using the Rafflecopter widget) from all entries on Thursday, December 22, and the winner has 7 days to respond with their shipping address and which prize they want. If I don't hear back in 7 days, I'll choose a new winner at random. The prize will be shipped directly from the Paula's Choice North American site, and as such the giveaway is open only to U.S. and Canadian residents. Paula's Choice is not in any way affiliated with or even aware of this giveaway; I just happen to be giving one of their products as a prize.

To enter, all you have to do is use the widget below to provide an email address that you check regularly so that I can contact you if you win--there's no requirement to follow anything or jump through any hoops. You can, however, get additional entries by hoop-jumping. Options listed in the Rafflecopter widget. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway