A matte lip crayon I like much better than Revlon's (Be A Bombshell Lip Crayon in Hot Damn)

I'd say that 90% of the blog reviews of the Revlon ColorBurst Matte Balm crayon that I've read have been raves. A couple have found some shades patchy, but were cool with it, but most of them are just big fans. Obviously that's not how I felt, and it kind of makes me feel like I was being unreasonable or doing something wrong.

But I recently got a matte jumbo lip crayon in my Ipsy bag that I prefer a whole fucking lot. It's the Be A Bombshell Lip Crayon in Hot Damn. They describe it as "glossy," but it's definitely not. It's matte. It seems to have a few specks of shimmer (?) in it, but they don't show up at all on the lips. You can sort of see them in the macro shot, but they are completely invisible from a normal distance. Even in the swatch photo below, you can't really see the shimmer. (Judging from swatches, some of the other shades seem to have more shimmer.)

Be A Bombshell Lip Crayon in Hot Damn

How it compares to the Revlon matte balm: The Be a Bombshell crayon has a thicker, stiffer texture. The Revlon feels almost buttery - actually kind of like frosting. For me, the Be a Bombshell texture works much better, because you can go back and forth over your lips to build up the color without it getting patchy. It stays in place really well, unlike the Revlon matte balm, which had a tendency to smear and wear off in an ugly way. After I put enough on my lips to make it really opaque, and then blotted, very little came off on the tissue. I tend to worry about wearing bright/opaque lip colors, because they always smear and look messy on me eventually. I think this one has solved that problem. It's going to be my go-to red. It wears very evenly and leaves a nice stain. It doesn't emphasize dryness and lines like the Revlon one does. It also doesn't have a minty scent or tingle, which was something I didn't like about the Revlon. I don't find it drying, either - no more so than not wearing anything on my lips. Basically, this is everything I was hoping the Revlon matte balm would be but wasn't.

50% off everything from Be a Bombshell Cosmetics today only

Enter code BDAY50 at checkout to get the discount. Expires at midnight tonight (Sept. 19).

I've got a few things by this brand from Ipsy in the past. Personally, I really like the lip gloss in Hot Mess and the blush in Sweet Cheeks (which is a lot brighter than it looks on their website). In general, I think they make good stuff, but it's overpriced. So now is maybe a good time to get some, if you're so inclined.

Tricky tricky! Which package contains more product? Lip Gloss Edition (PLUS photos and review of L'Oreal Colour Caresse Wet Shine Stain in Infinite Fuschia) (picture heavy post)

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Here is the third (and possibly final) installation of the series in which I look at the tricks packaging design plays to make you think you're getting more product than you really are. You can see the previous editions here. This time I'm going to look at a bunch of tubes of lip gloss, and holy shit, there's a lot going on here. Not one of these is without its illusion - so it took me a long time to choose which products to compare here, because every time I checked the label, I was surprised by the size. Some of these still confuse me, even when I know how much is actually in there. Let's get to it. Which of the two tubes below do you think contains more product?

L'Oreal Colour Caresse Wet Shine Stain in Infinite Fuschia ($10)
vs. e.l.f. Super Glossy Lip Shine in New York City ($1)