Might be too subtle for some (in the colours I own)
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
This year, in the approach to my birthday I was feeling rather down, so in an attempt to cheer me up my sister splashed out on a set of Lancome Juicy Tubes as an extra birthday present. She has great taste; almost identical to mine in all things cosmetic. The set I received consisted of four mini sized Juicy Tubes lip glosses.
Juicy Tubes are unlike many other lip glosses in that I would describe them more as an amalgamation of a lip gloss and a lip balm. I say this partly because they don’t come packaged in the standard slim cylindrical lip gloss tube, and partly because I have never tasted a lip gloss like it – only lip balms come close!
WHAT ARE THEY?
They are marketed as ‘lip gloss’ but have a very unique feel – I have never encountered a lip product like it. They look gorgeous, taste even better and there are endless ways that you can wear them. Worn on bare lips they are subtle, sheer and natural looking, but there are ways to dress them up which I will explain later.
THE TUBES
The products come in smart little plastic packages (see picture below). The tubes I own are about 2.5 inches long, contain 6ml of gloss and have a plastic screw on lid. The full size product is identical in design, only about twice the size and contain 15ml of gloss. The tubes are conveniently designed for ease of application, but I’ll explain that later. I have not come even near to finishing a tube yet, but I think the design being as it is, as opposed to the normal tube and wand applicator you will avoid that age old problem of having a lot of product left but simply not being able to manoeuvre the stick to get it!
COLOURS/FLAVOURS
Three of the colours I own are from the ‘Transparent Shimmers’ range
14 – Framboise (Raspberry to us Brits!) 15 – Cerise (Cherry) 16 – Violette (Violet – why is this a colour and not a fruit?!) 17 – Fraise (Strawberry) – this is from the ‘Pearly and Semi Transparent’ range
There are three ranges, depending on what type of coverage you desire. I only have experience of the first two ranges, as mentioned above, and the third is ‘Pigmented – medium coverage’ which I am unable to comment on.
The three ranges include: Lychee, Melon, Raisin, Peche, Mangue, Pamplemousse rose, Myrtille, Miracle, Simmer, Coral Rush, Bonfire, Beach Plum, Berry Bold, Blueberry Blast, Citron, Daiquiri, Dreamsicle, Grape Escape, Miracle, No Reserve, Simmer Spring, Fling, Sun Bronze and too many more to mention!
And if the names haven’t convinced you already, I shall go on….
Three of the flavours that I own are similar in colour, but all four are distinctive in their fragrance and flavour. I say flavour, these aren’t for eating! However, if you have ever worn one you will know it is inevitable that you are going to be licking your delicious glossy lips all day!
Framboise – hmm, the smell is not distinctly strawberry, I’m not sure I could guess it without being told the name, but it is delightfully sweet and girly. On the lips I would say it is one of the lesser flavoured Juicy Tubes, as you do not taste anything in particular if you lick your lips whilst wearing it (could be a good thing for some, although others may like snacking on their lip gloss between meals!)
Cerise – As soon as I sniffed this I knew EXACTLY what it reminds me of. Cherry flavoured Jolly Ranchers!! I know they don’t sell them any more but it immediately put a vision of those beautifully artificial cherry tasting boiled sweet into my mind. For those of you who never experienced Jolly Ranchers I would say it smells vaguely like glace cherries with a dash of grapefruit. When I am wearing this it tastes much like my description of the smell, only the taste is very light, much like Framboise it is not overpowering if you do have a tendency to lick your lips.
Violette – My favourite, by far. The aroma – much like a blackcurrant Chewit, which to me is out of this world! Possibly the best flavour I can imagine for a lip gloss given that blackcurrant has always been my favourite flavour in a packet of sweets. This gloss has more flavour when it is on your lips although it is still subtle, but definitely don’t buy it if you are not a blackcurrant fan.
Fraise – Rather disappointing this one as strawberry is a flavour that I adore, but I almost have the tube up my nostril and I am unable to distinguish any fragrance. Again, this may be a good thing for some people, but I was rather let down. There is no taste whilst wearing this gloss either, so you decide whether that is an advantage or a disadvantage.
EASE OF APPLICATION
Very easy indeed! Each tube has a slanted applicator through which the gloss emerges from a small hole in the middle. This makes it very easy to apply as you don’t particularly even need a mirror (although I usually use one anyway). See the picture that I have included below of the tip of the tube.
I find it easiest to place the tube on my lips and apply it as I would a lipstick, only squeezing slightly at the same time so that the gloss comes out. How you apply it is down to personal preference but you could also squeeze a bit out onto the tip and then apply it to your lips with your finger. However, I find that this makes it less glossy, as it results in a thinner coat.
SO, WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE ON?
Lancome describes them as ‘Ultra Shiny.’ I think this is a little exaggerated for the shades I own, although not far off. I have seen lip glosses far shinier than these, but as I said before, I would place them somewhere between a lip gloss and a lip balm, so in that category they do marvellously well.
Framboise – very subtle, for that natural barely-there look. In the tube you can see that the gloss has little flecks of glitter suspended in it. This is not noticeable as glitter when applied, but it gives the lips a beautiful expensive looking sheen. I sometimes wear this if I want to look pretty, but not overly made up.
Cerise – almost identical to Framboise. In fact, I can’t really tell a difference apart from the fantastic Jolly Rancher aroma!!
Violette – on its own, this is hardly noticeable as it is very pale purple (yes it sounds like you might look dead with it on! But trust me….) I never wear this on its own, but prefer to wear it over another colour of lipstick (or gloss if I’m feeling brave). See the ‘Tip’ below for the colour.
Fraise – similar to Framboise and Cerise, but can be worn alone as it is slightly darker pink (but not bright by any stretch of the imagination). It is subtle pinky/red, which simply makes your lips look plump and healthy. It appears to be made up of tiny flecks of shimmering colour, which reflect light superbly and look slightly more obvious than the other three ‘Transparent Shimmers.’
TEXTURE
Personally, I quite like the texture of the gloss when you first apply it. It feels quite sticky, but not in the way that you are unable to part your lips – it just feels thick and expensive. If you run your tongue over the gloss it feels shiny, and your tongue tends to glide over the gloss rather than remove it, which is a great advantage!
STAYING POWER
The bit that really matters! Well, this is debateable. Do you want a high shine lip gloss all day long? Or are you not fussed as long as your lips are a bit shiny, and covered by something?
I find that the Juicy Tubes lip glosses stay glossy and super shiny for around 30 – 60 minutes and then after that they start wearing off a bit. When I say wearing off though, I don’t mean that they totally disappear; they just get slightly less glossy as time goes on. It tends not to wear away totally, it just gets a bit stickier on your lips. I'm not so keen on the feeling as they're wearing off as it's more tacky than other lip glosses, and if you want to remove the feeling I find it's only ever totally removed by makeup remover - you can't just wipe it all clean.
One thing I do find great about these is that they do not go into horrible little lumps around the edges of your lips as I find some thick gloopy glosses often do after about an hour of application. When they wear away, they wear away evenly and do not leave any tell tale marks around the outline of your lips (although bear in mind I have fairly pale colour glosses, I couldn’t comment on darker ones).
Predictably the gloss does come off on glasses when drinking and sticks to your hair in the wind (what gloss won’t though?). They fair pretty well during a light snack, although will need to be touched up after a main meal.
DOES IT DRY YOUR LIPS OUT WEARING IT?
No, it doesn’t seem to. They don’t feel particularly moisturised after wearing the gloss but then I have never noticed that they feel bad afterwards. So I guess they have no particular after-effect on your lips, and neither do they claim to.
TIP
As I mentioned above my favourite way to wear Juicy tubes (particularly Violette) is to combine the gloss with a different colour of lipstick underneath:
1) Apply the lipstick as usual 2) Carefully apply the gloss over the top. If I want a subtle look I will apply it with my fingers, but more often than not I want high shine, so I apply it with the tip of the Juicy Tube. 3) Purse lips and rub together a bit to distribute the gloss evenly. 4) Voila! Perfect pout!
If you are applying a dark lipstick try not to get the colour in the hole of the tip, as it might ruin the colour of the gloss next time you use it – and always clean the tip of the tube with toilet paper so that it is not all dirty next time you go to use it.
With the Violette over the top of my lipstick, it is not clearly purple, but when you go near a light it shimmers with an impressive little glow of pearlescent colour. Subtle, but classy.
The full size product comes in a 15ml tube which retails at £11. I do not know how much the mini 6ml ones I got cost as they were a present, but if you could find them I would definitely recommend them. They are great because the glosses are something I would rather have more of in smaller tubes but different flavours than having just one large tube of one flavour.
STOCKISTS
Lancome is sold in bigger Boots stores, most large department stores, and plenty of discount internet cosmetics sites, so shop around as you can probably get a good price online! See www.lancome.com for more details on the brand itself.
Provides transparent tint of juicy lip color and Topped with patented Juicy Seal technology. Seals in sparkling crystal shine. Longwearing up to 12 hours, Preserve...
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