Almay Color + Care Liquid Lip Balm in Lilac Love

Hello! It's been a while since I've reviewed a lip product due to my finicky eczema, but it's been behaving just well enough for me to test and photograph Almay Color Care Liquid Lip Balm in Lilac Love. This product promises to provide the hydration of a balm with the sheen and colour of a gloss in one cute little tube. I was impressed with the ingredients list that seemed to back up their lip balm-esque moisturizing claims, which included skin-conditioning agents such as avocado oil, sunflower seed oil, beeswax, and cholesterol (not as glamorous but still a legit skin-conditioner!)

Comparison swatches: Almay C C Liquid Lip Balm in Lilac Love, Korres Lip Butter Glaze in Raspberry, Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Smitten, Annabelle TwistUp in Plump It Up
Don't let the deep plummy mauve scare you (or overly excite you, depending on your preference!), because Lilac Love swatches much lighter and pinker than the tube would suggest. Out of my stash, it's closest in colour to Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Smitten, but milky and in sheerer lip gloss form. Lilac Love also has iridescent shimmer running throughout the gloss, although it's not very noticeable on the lips.

The sturdy plastic tube contains the standard doefoot applicator to distribute the gloss. Lighter lip colours like this tend to "fight" with the discoloration and dark spots on my lips, with rather unflattering results. However, I was pleasantly surprised that Lilac Love actually looks pretty good on me! Although it's too sheer to fully cover my dark spots, it is pigmented enough to give a glossy pink look. In terms of overall feel, this "liquid lip balm" was not super sticky and also definitely lived up to its name--my sensitive lips felt comfortable and hydrated.

Final notes: yes, there is petrolatum in it, so if this is an ingredient you are avoiding then this product may not be for you. Personally, I use petrolatum-based products as part of my eczema care regimen because of its excellent occlusive properties. That means it creates a barrier to prevent water loss in your skin, which means it certainly has a place in a product that is designed to hydrate and provide "care" to your lips. Another thing to note is that the gloss has a super sweet vanilla fragrance to it that reminds me a lot of the marshmallows in Lucky Charms. I'm not usually a fan of that kind of scent, so luckily it doesn't hang around for long after application.

Overall, I think Almay Color Care Liquid Lip Balm in Lilac Love lives up to its claims and provided a good combination of hydration and colour. It was comfortable to wear but was pigmented enough that you are definitely wearing a lip colour product. I do love deep, vampy lip looks, so I'm a bit disappointed that the actual colour is more pink than plum though.

Ingredients: Polybutene, Petrolatum, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Tribehenin, C10-30 Cholesterol, Lanosterol Esters, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, Hexyl Laurate, Polyglyceryl-4 Isostearate, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Cera Alba (Beeswax), Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Wax, Tocopheryl Acetate, Pentaerythrityl Tetraethylhexanoate, Calcium aluminum Borosilicate, Palmitic Acid, Synthetic Wax, Aroma (Flavor), Benzoic Acid, BHT.

Available at London Drugs, Shoppers Drug Mart: ~$9.99 CAD / 0.24 fl. oz