I may have purchased a couple more Balm Stains over the past few weeks…
Charm, Rendezvous, Romantic, Crush, Smitten, Sweetheart, and Honey
Since the formula is so similar between the shades, I decided to do one big megapost of all the swatches and a general review of the formula. (The fact that I am swamped with work right now might have contributed to this decision.) Here goes!
Charm, Rendezvous, Romantic
Crush, Smitten, Sweetheart, Honey
Charm
This is a strange color. Sometimes it looks like orange creamsicle and other times it’s sheer enough to look normal. To be honest, it’s not my favorite shade, but I think it could look better on someone who looks good in nude lip colors. Nude lips on me = corpse. If you have naturally pigmented lips, this could look amazing!
Rendezvous
Rendezvous is definitely one of my favorites. The tube is very orange but in reality it’s a jelly red-coral that can be worn full on for a more intense look or sheer. Really can’t go wrong with coral in summer!
Romantic
I reviewed this one a few weeks ago and for whatever reason called it Adorable, which doesn’t even exist as a shade. Here’s a better picture of it, which shows that it’s a bright tomato red.
Crush
Crush is a deep berry that I actually really like. I think it’s much more wearable than Smitten (the next shade), especially when blotted down.
Smitten
Smitten is a bright fuchsia that looks alien on me no matter what I do. The stain is so strong that I really can’t blot it down well. On the other hand, it’s near impossible to remove, so it will wear all day without issues. Reminds me a lot of MAC Girl About Town (which looks so great on cool fair skin and medium/dark skintones).
Sweetheart
Sweetheart is a bright pink that, once again, is a bit too cool for my coloring, which I couldn’t tell from the outside packaging. There’s another warmer bright pink that I will probably get next time they’re on sale.
Honey
Finally there’s Honey, which looks like a nude pink here but definitely has more purple tones in person. I’ve worn this almost every day since I bought it, and several of my coworkers have complimented. A great “my lips but better” shade to fall back on!
PRO
- Darker shades stain very well and last through eating and drinking
- Mint-scented (pro for me, could be a con for others)
- Easy to apply accurately thanks to crayon-style tip
- Lots of product, don’t need much for each use
- Good value, especially since there are drugstore sales/coupons to use
- Not drying
CON
- Not moisturizing, either
- Lighter shades (like Charm) don’t really stain and don’t last well
- Packaging makes it hard to choose shades (clear window, please!)
- Small and somewhat strange color selection
- Hard formula crayon probably hard to use on mature skintypes
OVERALL
In my mind, the pros outweigh the cons by far. I wish I could find shades more easily than ‘trial and error”, but it has been fun trying all these new colors. Keep ‘em coming, Revlon!
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