Sammi the Beauty Buff: Review: CoverGirl Colorlicious Oh Sugar Vitamin Infused Lip Balm in Caramel

Hi, friends! You guys know how much I love tinted lip balm, so today I'd like to share with you a new product from CoverGirl: the Oh Sugar Vitamin Infused Lip Balm. These are part of their Colorlicious line (where you'll find a lot of their other lip products categorized).

I'll be reviewing the shade Caramel, since that's the shade I received in the mail. I got this product for free, but that's not going to impact my review of it at all. But enough about that--let's get into the good stuff!

About

About COVERGIRL

CoverGirl started over 50 years ago in 1961, can you believe it? It's now owned by Proctor & Gambel, much like Olay and many other drugstore beauty brands. Their website has a lot of how-to's and tutorials, which are surprisingly helpful and not just throwaways. They also have a Discontinued section, which is a great reference if you've been looking for a product in stores and wondering why you couldn't find it.

About Oh Sugar Vitamin Infused Lip Balm in Caramel:

These are a new launch for 2016. Along with the shade I'm reviewing today, Caramel, there are nine other shades: Taffy, Spice, Punch, Soda, Cupcake, Candy, Gumdrop, Jelly, and Sprinkle. Immediately, the names reminded me of the Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters (which follow the same theme of sweets and candies as names, some of them even sharing names like Gumdrop and Cupcake). However, the Lip Butters definitely pack more of a punch, since they definitely lean towards "hydrating lipstick" rather than "tinted lip balm."

Many bloggers have been comparing these to the Fresh Sugar Lip Balms, and while I see the resemblance (with the packaging and shade selection), I think you're going to have to cough up the dough for the real thing if you're interested in them. These are certainly not dupes.

Fun fact: they also have application directions on their website in case for some reason you don't know how to apply lip balm (LOL)

Other Claims (from COVERGIRL's website):

Infused with grapeseed oil, avocado butter & Vitamins C&E
Sheer tint adds hint of color
Available in 10 scented shades

Ingredients

CoverGirl does not have the ingredients listed on their website for this product yet. When they are added, they will appear here.

Price and Availability

.12oz - Walmart [$6.94], CoverGirl [$7.99], Ulta [$8.99], Drugstore.com [$8.99], and your local chain drugstore (CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, etc.).

My Experience

The Packaging:

The CoverGirl Oh Sugar Lip Balms each come packaged in a little plastic tube. Each tube is colored to match the corresponding shade, which is cute and makes it easy to pick out "what to wear" that day (unlike MAC lipsticks and brands that make you guess what you're picking up with their identical packaging).

The Stuff Inside:

In this picture, you can see there's a little random marking on my lipstick bullet. I'm assuming it's from when I screwed the tube up all the way. Well, it's cheap, so I'm not surprised. If it doesn't affect the product, I'm okay with it at the price it costs.

My Experience

Left: 1 Swipe | Right: 4 Swipes

Above are two swatches of my shade, Caramel, swatched on my wrist. Be warned: Caramel is really sheer. The swatch on the left (see above) barely showed up on my arm. It does provide some shine, though, and it feels nice and moisturizing on the lips. Think of it as a lip balm with a little something extra (you know, lip balm with a tint--a tinted lip balm).

Much like the swatches predicted, this lip balm goes on very sheer. Still, I think it's a pretty nude color for everyday. If I was going to a friend's house just to bum around, I might wear this as "lazy day makeup."

So far, I think they do everything they've been advertised to do. They provide lightweight moisture and a sheer wash of color (and by sheer I mean sheer). The color doesn't last long (its a tinted lip balm, so I wasn't expecting it to have amazing staying power). These are also scented. I don't know if they all share the same scent or if they're different, but I'm guessing each shade has a corresponding scent. I'm assuming this is supposed to smell like caramel, though the scent is actually indecipherable to me. Still, it's not bad. It doesn't affect my opinion of the product at all.

The Verdict

Pros:

Hydrating
Comfortable to wear
Good shade selection
Inexpensive (drugstore prices)

Cons:

Poor color payoff (for this particular shade)--but they don't claim to be very pigmented

Overall, I'm a big fan of these. This shade that I'm reviewing (Caramel) wasn't very pigmented, but I've seen other shades in this line give a lot more impact in the beauty blogging community, and CoverGirl doesn't claim for these to provide much color to begin with. If you want to try this line but like a color that provides a bit more punch, check out the darker shades like the reds and berries. If you're a tinted lip balm fanatic like I am, I think you'd like these!

What's your favorite tinted lip balm?

Stay tuned for my Favorite Products of 2015!