Review: Etude House Sugar Tint Balm

I have a secret… well, not really. More of a fact than a hideously scarring secret.

I’m normally not a makeup wearer. On most days, I walk around with just a basic skin routine and sunscreen on my face. Heck, even all of the pictures on my posts are of my bare face; dark circles and acne scars in all their glorious form with no photoshop in sight.

However, I do extremely love lip products. I’m a self-proclaimed lip product junkie and whenever I see some lip product I want, I go for it even if I have other products waiting for me to use (as they cry as they laze around my drawer. Mama is sorry…not really lol~). This was the case with the subject of this review: Etude House’s Sugar Tint Balm in #08 Rd303. (Note: I don’t have the box anymore, I’m sorry OTL)

 

I was definitely interested in the idea of a tint balm, especially since I was suffering from dry lips at the time, I got this because of the color and the emphasize that it is hydrating. And, let me tell you, this thing is hydrating. No joke.

The product comes in a easy to use and carry, twist up tube. It’s definitely easy to apply since it comes in a slight angle, so when you apply it on your lips, you can get into the corners if needed. It’s not exactly accurate as a lip brush, but it gets the job somewhat done. (You can totally use an lip brush if you need to for precision if needed)

The balm smells pretty nice. It definitely smells sweet like most stuff from Etude House, but it has undertones of a floral scent. It’s not a bad floral scent either. It’s not overwhelming that it seems like you’re sniffing a bouquet or something. It just helps take the edge off of making it smell too much  like candy. It honestly tastes just the way it smells too, kind of odd, but not unwelcome.

The best part of the balm, to me, is the application. Man, is this thing creamy and buttery. It glides on your lips very well, but doesn’t weigh it down. It’s not really sticky on your lips either and your hair doesn’t get stuck on it…Cause let’s be real here, some lip balms makes my hair to get stuck to my lips and they’re not even lip glosses. I don’t know why, but it happens.

The color payoff is pretty darn impressive. Since I got mine in #08 Rd303, the darkest shade available, I play around with how I wear it on my lips. Basically, what I like to do is either pat it on, do one swipe or for intense color, do three swipes of it on my lips. The swatches below show the three different types with the one on far left being the three swipes, the middle being the one swipe and the one on the far right being when I pat it on. The color is visible in all three different types of lights (in order: darker lit room, brightly lit room and flash photo).

Now for the best part; how do the look on my lips. Well, here is how lips look in natural light and in flash photo, respectively.

My lips are pretty much on the pale side (to me anyway). In these photos, I don’t have anything on.

This is my lips after I pat the balm on. The color is definitely not overly dramatic and gives a nice natural look. It’s basically my version of the ‘my lips, but better’ color. Out of the three, this is the look I wear the most.

Look how pigmented it is with just one swipe!  Normally, I’m the type who doesn’t like pink kind of lip balms/sticks because it never seems too right on my skin tone, but this balm is red enough to make it look nice.

TADA~, the most dramatic of the three. It’s definitely a stand out color. It might not look it in the two photos, but in real life, it’s pretty bold. I like to wear this occasionally, but not often as the other two ways.

Now before we all forget, the product is called Sugar Tint Balm. You can probably tell from the last set of the photos, the tint power on this is pretty strong. The corners of my lips are stained with the product in the photo and it does happen when I get careless on how I apply the balm. Sometimes, I use a q-tip with toner or makeup remover on it to remove it, but most of the time, I’m too lazy for it so hahahaha~. After my hand swatches and taking my lip photos, I tried to wipe the product off my hand two hours later with water, lotion and toner (I don’t have makeup remover at the moment DX). This was the result: Hanging on there pretty strong and still is (as I am typing this). Even though the balm doesn’t last long in the sense that the color you originally put on will last 24/7, it leaves a nice flush to your lips as it fades. I don’t have any real problems with that especially since it doesn’t really claim to last 24/7 and leaves behind a nice tint. As long as there is some sort of color, I am satisfied.

Overall, I definitely recommend this product. I like it a lot and even though my lips aren’t that dry, I do sometimes grab for it since it’s so easy to use! I might get the other colors (anyone recommend a color?) since I like this one so much and it’s not that expensive in my opinion. Doesn’t really hurt the wallet…but you know who got hurt during this whole thing…

Me…Somehow….Oh wells~