There was such a ruckus when this product went viral that I immediately bought all four colours intending to doing a review video. Well, the video has been in the making for a long time, to be honest, and I’ve had these photos edited and drafted for a while. I think the hype about this product has started to dye down – especially considering that other brands have now started with lip powders – but I thought I would write down my thoughts anyway.
This is going to a relatively short post, but hopefully the photos of these pretty things make up for it! Let’s get started:
So here are all four shades that were available – Orange Pop, Hot Plum, Sugar Rose and Fusion Red. I don’t think they have released any new colours since, though they do have a box set that comes with a tint remover.
To be honest, I was a little worried at first that all of the colours would be too similar. I had watched a Youtube video of them being swatched and the colours all looked the same. I’m really glad that they aren’t though and the colours are actually really pretty. Hot plum is a personal favourite.
The packaging is pretty plain. It comes in a paper box and the design is rather lacklustre. I won’t be too critical of it though since, at the time of launch, Rire was still a very new brand. It’s decent but incomparable to chain store designs.
Here are the bottles! They’re plain and made of plastic, though the clear design makes it really easy to see what shade you have and the amount of product. The round shade is actually sort of annoying as it will roll when placed on the side (you won’t believe how hard it was the take the below photo) and takes up a lot of unnecessary space in my make up basket.
The black cap is actually really hard to twist because the shape is so smoothly fitting with the bottom. It slips when you try to open it and is an awkward shape to hold on application. I am probably the most disappointed with the bottle design of the lip powders – and I’m sad to see that other brands have brought out their own still using a similar bottle.
As you can see, the formula is definitely a powder – though it is a little damp. It’s a bit cool to the touch and, once spread, turns into a liquid cream sort of formula. The product doesn’t feel powdery on the lips and is really very much like a lip tint. The doe foot applicator (which I didn’t photograph for some reason) is easy to use, though the shape of the bottle cap makes it difficult to hold.
The powder acts like a stain, so it is usually considered to have a matte finish. Overall, I don’t think the powder gives me enough control. The formula is rather drying and, when faded, settles into and accts any dry parts of your lips. It has an average lasting powder so I wouldn’t consider it long lasting – it just leaves a stain behind.
And above are the swatches in order of 1 – 4: Orange Pop, Hot Plum, Sugar Rose and Fusion Red. Orange Pop is definitely a true orange while Sugar Rose is a more subtle pink. Hot Plum and Fusion Red are actually similar, though Hot Plum has a more hot pink undertone.
The pigmentation of the product is really strong so you don’t need to do layers to get a brighter colour. It could be fun to mix them and experiment though as all of the shades are fairly basic enough to combine. I have also noticed that they had started promoting these as lip and cheek powders, though I haven’t tested to see how this blends.
SO WHAT IS IT?
A cool powder that turns into a liquid lip tint.
THE GOOD
- Interesting formula
- High pigmentation
- Leaves behind a stain
- Minimal to no taste
- Combinable colours
THE BAD
- Poor bottle design
- The round cap makes the applicator hard to hold
- Can accentuate dry lips
- Average lasting power
- Limited basic colour range
- Hard to control the product
WOULD I REPURCHASE?
I was really interested in the lip powders, but I definitely don’t think I will be repurchasing them. In fact, I still have all four of them and I hardly ever reach to use them. I don’t like the finish, nor how they make my lips feel (with the dry weather). The worst would be this bottle design that makes application annoying, even with a decent doe foot! I will retest these in the summer when my lips aren’t as dry but I don’t have high hopes for it.
This product was a fail for me, but I hope that the industry keeps experimenting with new formulas and out-of-the-box ideas like this. They might not always be successful, but innovation is always good!
