Revlon Cherish and Charm Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains Review, Photos and Swatches!

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains ($8.99) is a lip balm infused with a lightweight stain in a convenient retractable crayon.

These have been pretty popular in the beauty blogosphere over the past few months, and although I admittedly don't like giving into products that seem to be fads of the moment, I've read nothing but good things, so I had to give them a try.

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains are available in (12) shades: Honey, Crush, Darling, Cherish, Lovesick, Sweetheart, Smitten, Charm, Rendevous, Romantic, Precious and Adore.

I have two shades: Cherish, a light, cool-toned pink. The cool blue/purple undertones are so strong that when built, it looks rather purple on my lips. With a light wash, it's a pretty natural pink. The other color is Charm, a light, warm peachy nude.

The balms are very firm/waxy and keep their shape well. Even after several uses, they haven't placed much of a dent in the tip.

I would have never expected these balms to be moisturizing - you never really think of a product labeled as a "stain" to be anything but drying, but these are shockingly moisturizing on my chronic dry lips. I wouldn't use it to replace an actual lip balm, but they keep my lips moist and don't dry them out.

The pigmentation is very good. They are sheer, but very buildable. After the color has been on my lips a while, Cherish stays just about the same color and brightens just slightly. Charm darkens a little bit from a light nude to a light coral. If I wipe my lips off, Charm leaves an orange-red stain behind, which is something I really don't like about it. It's not exactly the look you want if you're going for a nude lip. Cherish leaves a bright pinkish-red stain behind.

After exfoliating my lips, I applied Charm and it seems to magnify every piece of dryness on my lips, that I didn't know existed. It gets much worse when the color is built as the color just looks uneven and it settles a bit odd on my lips. Cherish also doesn't apply as even as I'd like it to, but it's not as noticeable as Charm.

I don't see Cherish to be a shade I'll get much wear from. To me, it looks a bit cheap on my lips, and I'll most likely never wear it alone (maybe for mixing). I really like the way one layer of Cherish looks with a few coats of Charm on top. It creates a light, peach-pink shade that's perfect for every day.

After reading some reviews, I think I picked a couple of the most problematic shades from the range. I've heard much better things with the brighter pinks and red shades.

I love the fact that the balms are retractable - thank goodness! No need to hunt down a gigantic pencil sharpener.

Revlon Cherish

The stain Revlon Cherish leaves on my lips

Revlon Charm

The stain Charm leaves on my lips

One layer of Cherish with Charm on top

They have a slight mint scent that reminds me of Altoids or mint dental floss, but I don't mind. The lasting power is pretty average. I don't find it particularly long lasting, but the stain from Cherish lingers around a bit.

The packaging is really cute. Revlon does pretty well with the aesthetic nature of their products, and these little sticks are probably as chic as a lip pencil could get. The sturdy plastic tubes are colored to match the color of the balm, and the silver part at the bottom twists the product up and down. I never understood retractable products that only twist up, so if you twist too much, you're just crap out of luck.

For a good comparison of the often correlated Clinique Chubby Stick and the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain, check out The Sunday Girl.

Overall, I'm not all that impressed with these, but like I said, I most likely picked the worse performing shades from the range. I might give one of the bright pinks a try and then call it quits.

What do you think of these?

The Round-Up
Pros:

• Easy to use
• Moisturizing - feel great on the lips
• Retractable, no sharpener needed
• Provides nice shiny color to the lips and a leaves a light stain behind

Cons:

• Both shades applied uneven
• Charm gives the appearance that it will be the perfect nude, but it morphs into a coral shade, so it's not ideal if you want the muted lip look.
• Charm leaves an orange stain on the lips, which I'm not too crazy about.

Price: $8.99, at your local drugstore. Prices will differ based on location (they are typically cheaper at Walmart and Target.) Look in your Sunday paper for $1 off coupon for Revlon lip products. Right now CVS has a sale going on that if you purchase (2) Revlon Lip products, you get $7 Extrabucks. If you have that $1 off coupon, you're on the road to good savings!