Yesterday I did a review on the Revlon Just Bitten lipstain and devoted reader Lazydaisydays asked:
Any chance of a review of the various shades, and what types of coloring/complexions might be best served by each? Or any recommendations from others who have tried this brand? I’m AWFUL at picking colors for lip products, especially things like this which look a lot different on the lips vs. in the tube…and I suspect I’m not the only one who has this kind of trouble! Help?
Dearest Lazydaisydays,
Is there anything worse than lipstick remorse? Sure some would say genocide or stretch velvet, but I say NO. It’s hard enough finding a color you like and then you buy it and it’s totally different than how it looked in the store. Even when you try before you buy, it can be hard because cosmetic counter lighting is not the sort of light you’d find in your every day life. Unless of course you worked at a cosmetic counter or lived on the face of the sun. I hope the following review will be helpful!
Gin and Tonics,
Miss Plumcake
Passion – This is a Full On Pink and it looks just exactly like the visuals with Jessica Biel:
It does look like they layered the color pretty significantly, but I wouldn’t suggest buying this color unless you are willing to commit to a big unapologetic hot pink. It’s probably not going to be a neutral on anyone, but I think it would look most natural on someone who is a “spring”…I bet it would also look amazing on women with deep brown skin.
Lust – I thought Lust would be a deep easy-to-wear neutral, sort of a quasi-goth version of a nude lip, but on its own it’s surprisingly hard to carry off. The pen looks like a sort of mauved-out heathered cocoa, but it went a bit blue on my lips. I probably wouldn’t wear this alone, but I imagine it will see considerable service as an underlayer supporting a nude lipstick or gloss I want to make a little darker for evening. This would look great on women with deeper skin tones, but I think pale gals of any coloring might find this difficult to deploy worn as is.
Crave – More Big Pink, though much easier to wear than Passion. One of my favorite looks for day is a high-colored English rose thing, sort of Jane Austen meets the Fauvists and one layer of Crave on the lips works fantastically. I sketch it on and blend it a bit with my finger instead of lining the lip precisely, because you don’t want perfection. It also works well with an orange sherbet gloss on top if you want something a little more aggressive and chic.
Gothic – Like I said yesterday, this is a blue-red almost exactly reminiscent of the original Revlon red, the iconic Cherries in the Snow. It’s a toss up as to whether this or Flame is my new favorite red. The marker-style pen means getting that super-sharp, precise line that’s so necessary when you’re wearing a RED red lipstick is dead easy. This is definitely the better red for winter skin tones (who, let’s face it, wear the screaming reds best anyway.)
Flame – Pretty much the old formulation of Revlon’s OTHER legendary red, “Fire and Ice.” This is an orange-red and the only Just Bitten product that didn’t go on slightly bluer than the tube.
They’ve actually relaunched Fire and Ice but the formulation is way different than the original. Also, how AWFUL does Jessica Biel look in the visuals, especially as compared to the painfully fabulous Dorian Leigh? Seriously, WHAT were they thinking? (image and more reviews after the jump)
Twilight – Eh, a sort of neutral dusty rose. Not exciting enough for me to wear alone very often, but I’ll sure I’ll use it under glosses when I want to do a long-lasting lip. Also might be good as a lipliner for nude lips or a true neutral for someone with dark skin. Pretty much anyone can wear it and it won’t look bad, but I’d say the autumns would wear it best.
Stay tuned next week when I’ll review the other colors in the line, and try to respond to the much-requested “One Bag of Fabulous” guide to packing for a trip.
Thanks, Miss Plumcake. I’m delighted to report that Just Bitten is available in Oz (yay!).
Thank you also for the information on what the colours looks like. For us complete noobs (ok, just me), can you refresh what you mean by “autumn”, or “spring” complexion. Or just tell me what I am – somewhat olive complexion, med-dark brown hair, blue-grey eyes, and I wear a lot of jewel tones (teal, purple)?
Comment by abdabs — March 11, 2011 @ 9:30 pm
and where in Oz did you find these delightful items? Looks like Ulta ought to have them, but thought I’d be sure before I hastened on down to BubbaLand.
Comment by Velia — March 11, 2011 @ 9:40 pm
Chemist Warehouse (my office is located above one). $14.99 IIRC
Comment by Abdabs — March 11, 2011 @ 10:55 pm
AbDabs, this may help. =)
http://www.colormebeautiful.com/seasons/
Comment by Leah — March 12, 2011 @ 1:40 am
Thank you thank you thank you!
Comment by lazydaisydays — March 12, 2011 @ 1:41 am
These may be better
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_analysis
http://www.squidoo.com/pp_seasons
the online resources for this are NOT great… =(
Comment by Leah — March 12, 2011 @ 1:44 am
Hmm, going to have to disagree with you a little bit there on a couple of the colors. The colors I have now are: Gothic, Crave & Passion. Gothic is indeed desirable. I bought it first, some time before your blog posts on the subject. Today, spurred on by your other blog post, I went out and bought Crave and Passion. That was before I read your current blog post, and I have to be honest and say I’m glad I bought them before reading your post. For me, Passion is the perfect mild rose for my lips, it almost makes them look like they do after I’ve been kissing. Perfection. Whereas for me it’s Crave that appears as the super-hot pink that sears the eyes. I don’t think I’ll be able to pull off Crave, but Passion is almost a neutral for me.
Comment by Fata Morgana — March 12, 2011 @ 1:49 am
Thanks! Looks like I’m supposed to be an Autumn, but dresses like a winter. I’ll look at the Twilight and the passion – near-nude is what I’m looking for. (not a make-up wearer for the ver most part)
Comment by Abdabs — March 12, 2011 @ 8:59 am
I like stretch velvet, bitch.
Comment by Barthway — March 12, 2011 @ 5:48 pm
Ok, further adjustment of my ideas about Passion. I have been looking at it under different lighting, when I originally saw it the lighting wasn’t the best. Even at home, it seemed to be more a ‘blush’ than a ‘hot pink’, but I checked the mirror in my car, in the sunlight, and it appears more hot pink than I first thought. I still have an easier time pulling it off than I do Crave, though.
Comment by Fata Morgana — March 12, 2011 @ 7:18 pm
I bought Gothic and Crave today (I’ve always wanted a good lip stain). I lovelovelove gothic, but Crave may need a bit of finesse. It came off pretty brightly pink on me. I will
Probably try Passion out soon :) I will say, if your lips are at all dry or cracked, fix it before you put on a stain. When I tried them out, after a week of sinusitis hell, they of course brought out every bit if chappedness. But that’s just stains in general, one would think.
Comment by Catrina — March 12, 2011 @ 8:41 pm
“Lust” works out as a neutral on me and I’m on the ruddy side of fishbelly white. But it does match my natural lip color only darker. Lipsticks that have a tendancy to go orange on me are the ones I avoid.
Comment by Melodie — March 13, 2011 @ 9:23 pm
I’m wearing Twilight today, and it’s perfect for the office: Not too brown, not too pink. I bought Flame a few weeks ago, but on me it reads as traffic-cone orange — which is not exactly the look I’m going for. I’ll try layering it with something, but that particular color might be a bust for me. I bought Gothic, but I haven’t tried it yet. (Red lips would really stand out in my office, and not in a good way.)
Comment by Chicklet — March 14, 2011 @ 11:11 am
Thanks for the review. I have pretty low expectations for lip stain anyway. I can never get it to stay on past lunchtime.
Yeah, that is not a good look for Jessica Biel. On the Revlon website, her ad for CustomEyes Mascara (retro 1960s look)is much better. http://www.revlon.com/Home.aspx?#/2
Comment by dcsurfergirl — March 14, 2011 @ 8:09 pm
I bought Gothic today, and I adore the color. Thanks for the review!
Comment by Courtney — March 14, 2011 @ 11:03 pm
I bought Beloved, which is a rosey sort of mauve. Darker than I would normally purchase in a lipstick, but it works because it is fairly sheer. It didn’t last long on me, though. Wore it to church and it was gone before the second cup of coffee. Still a good color, so I’ll keep wearing it.
Comment by Carol — March 15, 2011 @ 8:19 am
I got Frenzy because it was in the Crave slot & I wasn’t paying attention, that being said, I liked it. I abhor lip gloss & am a daily chapstick wearer. I put this on, put my chapstick on top & it worked great. I am a Snow White clone (white/blue skin & dark hair) & this looked good. A little bright but it faded well & lasted about all day as nice berry pink. =)
Comment by Leah — March 16, 2011 @ 12:08 am
I’m wearing Midnight today, and while I love it, it’s a color that goes very goth, very quickly. I’m an Autumn, and I tend to be a “severe” dresser and enjoy a high contract between my skin tone and my lip color or eye color, but Midnight ain’t for the faint of heart, I’ll tell you that.
Comment by Miss Chevious — March 16, 2011 @ 11:53 am
@Leah: I’m built on the Snow White model too (literally, when I would meet Style Spy somewhere, she would always put the waitstaff on lookout for a “woman who looks like Snow White”) did you try the lip balm that came with the stain? It reminds me a lot of just a normal chapstick instead of something goopy and gross.
@Miss Chevious: Midnight is great, isn’t it? Not for the faint of heart, but great. It goes 1920s vamp on me rather than straight out goth, but that’s by virtue of my face and its magical ability to turn any look from any era to Clara Bow. Actually I got Midnight because I wanted something that would be as close to the 1920’s cochineal pigment as possible for the look that I was doing. It’s interesting to think of it on an Autumn, but I bet it works!
@Carol: That’s really odd that it didn’t last on you. My thought is either your lips weren’t entirely bare or you didn’t wait the 90 seconds or so before applying the balm. I’m glad it’s a good color on you though!
Comment by Miss Plumcake — March 17, 2011 @ 11:04 am
Soooo, Plummy. Dahling. About that buffing with a finger. Could you please share some of your infinite wisdom regarding how to get the stain off? I just bought flame (LOVE) and put it on, buffing as you suggested, but it’s now permanently adhered to my right ring finger. I tried using regular soap and also used Boscia make-up removing oil–no dice. Help!
Comment by teteatete — March 19, 2011 @ 7:26 pm
Thank you for posting this review! I just went out and bought Twilight and was amazed at how well it works! It really is like a marker for your lips. Twilight is just a tad darker than I would like (I don’t normally wear any makeup except on my lips), but a wee bit of buffing and it’s perfect. I am so ridiculously glad to find a truly long-lasting lip color. I eat/chew off absolutely everything else and get busy with work and forget to reapply. This is the answer to my pasty-lip prayers! :D
Comment by Suze — March 21, 2011 @ 3:30 pm
I went out and bought “Twilight” on your recommendation of the line, and it’s perfect. I don’t wear makeup except for the occasional gloss (and special events), but I love putting this stuff on. I’ll usually layer a thick swath on the lower lip and then press my lips together to transfer the color. I’m like Suze in that I forget to reapply, and this is the answer to my prayers. Thanks so much!
Comment by Sealink — March 28, 2011 @ 3:40 pm