Almay Hydracolor Lipstick- Blushed

Almay Hydracolor Lipstick contains SPF 15 and 100 times more water than regular lipsticks. It does feel really refreshing when I put it on- in fact, that watery feeling was a little weird at first because it felt like it was about to drip off my lips and made me want to reach up and wipe it off.

Call me picky (okay, I AM picky) but the initial moist feeling didn't last very long. Now I know I'm utterly obsessive about keeping my lips well-moisturized, so maybe that's to blame, but I felt like I had to slather on a layer of Aquaphor after an hour or so. I think that a product that is represented as being moisturizing should actually do so for more than an hour.

Almay smart shade blush in Pink

Almay smart shade blush is similar to Smashbox's O-Glow Intuitive Cheek Color, which I really liked, but at $26 for a .5 oz tube, it's not exactly budget makeup. It's like the mood lipsticks of the 70s! How groovy is that?

I applied Almay's version (under $10) on bare skin and I find it is much more subtle than O-Glow, perhaps a bit too subtle. So much so that it's almost unnoticeable. The funny thing is that the color was much more vibrant on my fingertips than on my face. Almay smart shade blush simply doesn't make enough of an impact on me to buy it again. Maybe I should have chosen Berry?

Revlon Just Bitten Lip Stain- Cherry Tart

This is the drugstore's version of Benefit's benetint lip and cheek stain. It's got a roll-on applicator, which is very handy. Just Bitten is meant for the lips, though I went a little wild and applied some on my cheeks. It actually went on pretty nicely, though I had to hurry and smudge it around a little so it wouldn't give me an 80s flashback.

I'm not sure I like products like this, at least, not for my lips. I think it's a fabulous idea, except it doesn't seem to work that well for me. I feel like I have to do a delicate balancing act between moisturizing my lips enough so that they don't flake, and applying too much Aquaphor and preventing lip stains from taking hold. A lot of it makes its way to the edges of my lips, though it never actually goes PAST the edge. This leaves the center of my lips kind of bare and I feel compelled to apply MORE.

I like Just Bitten, but it's not something I want to use when I'm in a rush; it needs a little more babysitting than I'm willing to do.