I was lucky enough to be contacted by a representative of the Balmshell brand to test and review one of their lipgloss products. Balmshell is a Canadian founded company developed by two identical twin sisters. To find out more about the company you can visit their website @ www.balmshell.com. I absolutely love the name!
There are 17 different shades listed on www.balmshell.com and I was allowed to pick one. It was really hard to choose because there were so many shades and packaging designs that caught my eye. I ended up picking "Sleep-in-Beauty" which is described as a "Princess Pink". I'm not going to lie, I was kinda swayed to pick this colour because I heard Megan Fox wore it in Transformers 2. Whether or not this rumour is true or not does not effect my review of the product.
Formula: The formula is non-sticky (a major plus) and doesn't dry out my lips (another major plus!). "Sleep-in-Beauty" has lots of glitter which adheres to the lips well and stays put. The gloss lasts a fair bit of time. I wore it for several hours before it started to come off. The glitter stayed longer than the gloss. They say it is vanilla scented, but it doesn't smell that way to me. It doesn't smell bad, it's a very light scent, but I just can't put my finger on what it smells like.
Colour: "Sleep-in-Beauty" is very sheer so it mostly just adds to my natural lip colour. It gives a beautiful sheen to my lips making them appear really plump and shinny! I absolutely love the effect it gives and can see myself wearing this all the time on nights out! When I run out of this colour I will definitely purchase a new one! It is so beautiful and I have nothing like it. Also, since it is so sheer, it pairs wonderfully over pink lipsticks!
Packaging: This is probably the cutest, most unique packaging I've ever seen from a makeup product! Attached to the lipgloss is a moving illustration that can be unscrewed and kept as a keychain (they give you a keychain ring in the package to screw on top of the picture end). You really have to see it in action to realize how neat it is. Every lipgloss has a different moving illustration! In terms of application, I had to dip the applicator in several times to get the amount of product I desired, but I think this is a good thing so that I don't get too much product at once.
Price: I got this FREE as a gift from the company, but the Balmshell lipglosses are considered "High-end" (around $20). You can purchase them at www.balmshell.com, Sephora, or select Shoppers Drugmart locations.
I also got three samples along with the full-size product. The samples include "Yummy Mummy", "You Give Me Fever", and "Shopaholic". I've included swatches on my hand of all the colours so you can see how they look if you are interested in picking one up yourself! My favourite of the samples was "Shopaholic". I definitely recommend this brand of lipgloss if you are looking for something sheer, moisturizing, and unique!
