Revlon Matte Balms Review - Gosh They're Bright!

I have heard such a lot about the Revlon Matte Balms, mainly from Miss Budget Beauty, however, I wasn't sure if they would be for me as I don't like bright lips on me. I think it makes my face look unbalanced, so I rarely wear a bold colour.

The reason I succumbed in the end was that they were 2 for £10 at Boots, so I would get 2 rolls of the flattering-lip-colour dice for only £10.  I bought them in the shades Sultry and Standout.

The packaging is pretty standard lip crayon packaging with a twist up bottom (hurrah for no sharpeners).  They smell slightly minty so nothing offensive.  The texture feels smooth and glides on really well without any dragging which a lot of other lipsticks suffer from.

The main point about these though is that they are ridicously pigmented, they make my deep red Chanel lipstick look wishy washy in comparison. On my first attempt I put on WAY to much and scared the bejesus out of myself. I then got busy with a strong makeup remover. My second foray into the the matte balm world was more successful.  I have found that if I apply around a tenth of the amount I usually would and blend in, then they make a great base for my lip glosses.  Both colours provide a nice depth of colour to my lips and a bit of moisture.  I can then apply the gloss of my choice without worrying that the moment all the gloss has evaporated away to wherever excess lip gloss goes, I won't be left with completely makeup free lips.  

I imagine the point of these was for them to be matte, hence the name, but for me, they are just great lip stains.

I have pretty much always taken a two pronged approach to lip products anyway as I find that must products give either too much or too little coverage.  I also find the colours to be just out also.  I like something warm yet with enough blue in it to make my teeth look whiter, which is a pretty hard thing to pull off.

I imagine that as the end becomes more blunted you may have to be a bit more careful applying these as the colour is so dark that you couldn't apply without a mirror, as I would usually with a lip crayon.

Here is me in Sultry with no gloss (not terrible) and then with the excess removed with a tissue and with gloss on top (much better, phew!)  The gloss is Rimmel Stay Glossy in Stay My Rose. 

And here is Standout, which most certainly lives up to it's name.  Please excuse the kitchen picture the light is pants in my house at 11am, so I have to take photos in bizarre places, hence the green coloured kitchen (it isn't green honestly!). I DO NOT like this colour at all.  So I have followed it with a picture of it applied as a stain with Tanya Burr Picnic in The Park Gloss on top.

Arrrgghhhhh!

So all in all, I am really happy with these but not for the reason for which they were intended, still though, £10 well spent.

Revlon Matte Balms - 4 stars - they are moisturising and super pigmented so will last a long time and well priced. I prefer Sultry btw...