Red Apple Lipsticks: Swatches and Review

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by a representative of Red Apple Lipstick to see if I'd be interested in trying two of their products for review consideration. I'd never heard of them before, but after a few minutes of perusing their site, I decided I would love to - I am always on the hunt for lipsticks I can wear on my chronically dry lips that will soothe and moisturize them, and Red Apple's claim to do just that. As such, please note that the products in this post were provided free of charge for review.

I was sent two full-size lipsticks of my choice, as well as small blister-pack samples of two other lipstick colors and their lip balm. The full-sized ones you see in the picture above are Sunkissed and Petal Pusher. I didn't even realize until about a week after I started testing out the products that Red Apple has a variety of formulas, and the two I chose happened to both be the same formula, the Summer Passion line (denoted with the abbreviation SP on the website, when you're looking at the full selection of lipstick colors). Here are swatches of all four of the colors I received, first in direct natural light and then in the shade. From left to right: Petal Pusher, Sunkissed, Secrets, and Strawberry Lips.

Direct natural light: Petal Pusher, Sunkissed, Secrets, Strawberry Lips

Shade: Petal Pusher, Sunkissed, Secrets, Strawberry Lips
I have to say that I really like the Summer Passion formula. All of the lipsticks I've found to date that are actively moisturizing to my lips have also been thick, balmy, and glossy in finish (such as Chantecaille Lip Chics, Guerlain Rouge Automatiques, Sonia Kashuk Shine Luxe lipsticks, etc.); the Red Apple Summer Passion lipsticks are a new breed to me, moisturizing and yet thin. They are not fully matte, but they aren't overly glossy either, and I can barely feel them on my lips - far from the juicy, plump-feeling lips I get with the other formulas I mentioned (note: not plumping, just plump). I think people who have dry lips but dislike that thick and balmy feel of the other lipstick formulas I named just might find the Summer Passion lipsticks a dream come true. I find I can comfortably wear Sunkissed and Petal Pusher for hours and my lips don't start peeling, as they do with many other thinner formulas. Awesome! Here they are on my lips:

Petal Pusher

Sunkissed
What fun warm-weather colors, right?! I LOVE bright cool pinks and orange-red colors in summertime.

Unfortunately, I didn't have quite as good of luck with the other two lipsticks, Secrets and Strawberry Lips. They weren't as comfortable on my lips, and I did find they made my lips peel after a couple of hours of wear, though not horrendously so. The Rallye balm didn't dry out my lips, but it didn't improve them either. I think the main problem for me was that it was so thin, it wouldn't stay on my lips more than an hour (and since I know you'll ask: no, I have no idea what "Rallye" means). In my experience, the stickier a balm is, the longer it lasts! That stickiness can be annoying if your hair gets in your face, so a thinner balm might be nice, but I also don't see any point to using a lip balm that doesn't last long enough on the lips to provide any benefit.

Here are those two colors on my lips (I didn't bother swatching the Rallye balm since it's just clear shine):

Secrets

Strawberry Lips
Final verdict? Love, love, love the Summer Passion lipsticks. My only complaint, which I mention because I know it will be important to some of you, is about the packaging. If you enlarge the first picture in this post, you'll see that the bottom half of the tubes have tiny bumps all over them, clearly by design. Boyfriend likened the feel of it as being similar to a pistol grip. On the one hand, it's ultra-functional; if you're digging around in the bottom of your purse for one of these tubes, you're going to know you've found it the second you touch that bumpy surface. There won't be any mistaking a pen or tampon for these, that's for sure. But on the other hand... it's ugly. :( These lipsticks have a truly fantastic formula, but if I were to pay $23.50 per lipstick like Red Apple charges on their website for the Summer Passion line, I'd like to see more elegant, luxurious packaging than this.

ON THAT NOTE (about the product cost), though, I was just poking around on the Red Apple site and discovered something totally awesome. They have a program through which you can send in any used cosmetic item, as long as it's not completely used up, and receive their products at discount. It amounts to about 25-30% off plus a flat rate $5 for shipping, for up to 3 products per customer, per month. My favorite part is how you can choose a "method of death" for your products, if you like, and they get turned into a story with artwork here on Lipstick Graveyard. It's priceless! Too funny.

Okay, one more thing! If you are gearing up to make an order: Red Apple gave me three unique, one-time use codes that are each good for $5 off a purchase on their website. I would love to share these codes with three readers who would like to make their own orders. If you'd like one, please send me an email at sasquatchswatch (at) blogspot (dot) com and I will send you one of them! (Please don't ask for one if you don't plan to use it.) I'll edit this post when all three are taken. :)

Disclaimer: the products in this post were provided free of charge for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.