The ideal combination to enjoy a monsoon morning is a cup of black masala chai and the newspaper.
Who doesn’t love that feeling of warm spicy tea which goes down your throat when the weather is cold outside?
Well, we Indians are known for our love of spices. So when Maybelline introduced the Spiced Up Baby Lips lip balms exclusively for the Indian market, I was overjoyed since Cinnamon is one of favourite spices (apart from Vanilla) and one of the lipbalms was called ‘Spicy Cinnamon’. *jumping up in joy*
What is it?
A collection of three tinted lip balms to suit Indian skin tones. These are aptly named as Berry Sherbet, Spicy Cinnamon and Tropical Punch.
Price and Quantity: 175 INR for 4g
What the brand says:
Maybelline New York launches the all new Baby Lips Spiced Up, made for the Indi pop generation specially and developed to perfectly suit the range of Indian skin tones.
With every application lips are reborn and feel supple, plump, moisturized, giving you intense care. Baby Lips Spiced Up comes in delicious flavors – Spicy Cinnamon, Berry Sherbet, and Tropical Punch that guarantee to delight. Pout in confidence this summer with the best lip balm in India, Baby Lips Spiced Up.
Here’s why you’ll love it:
– Deeper shades to suit sun-kissed skin tones
– Stronger, lip-smacking flavours
– Intense 12hr care
– Enriched with SPF 20 for sun protection
Color:
Berry Sherbet is a berry color tinted lip balm with a teeny tiny hint of red in it.
Spicy Cinnamon is a brown color tinted lip balm. This surprisingly looks good on fair as well as dusky skin tones. Browns never suit me but I loved how this looked on me.
Tropical Punch is a universal favourite deep warm pink color.
Packaging: The packaging is the same as the regular Maybelline Baby Lip Balm but with the outer color of the tube reflecting the color of the lip balm. I love it when the color of the outer packaging tells us what the color of the product is since it makes life a lot easier. Trust me, you wouldn’t want to pull out every lipstick, open it and check the color when you have just five minutes to spare. There should be some way to identify the color of the product on the packaging in my opinion.
Pigmentation: Surprisingly these lip balms are way more pigmented than I expected them to be. I do not have pigmented lips and these colors show up in one swipe on my lips. It might take two three swipes for the color to show on pigmented lips but it is a lot more pigmented than most of the lip balms available here.
Texture/Finish: The texture is a little on the thicker waxy side and is a little heavy on the lips. The finish is glossy with immense color for a lip balm.
How is it best applied?
Since it is a tinted lip balm, you could use the lip balm on it’s own or apply it and top it off with a similar color long staying lipstick. This would not only help keep your lips moisturized but the intensity of the color would be more and would last all day. You could touch up (if needed and if your lips feel dry) with the lip balm as and when needed.
I use Berry Sorbet most of the time and use a matte lipstick of a similar color on top. This keeps my lips hydrated and soft despite using a matte lipstick on my extremely dry lips.
Staying Power: The brand claims intense 12 hour care but neither does the hydration nor color stay for such a long time – a claim that proves to be unrealistic! The color, hydration lasts for approximately 3 to 3 and half hours which is pretty decent for a lip balm.
Pros
- All three colors are designed to suit Indian skin tones
- All three have decent pigmentation – way better than other tinted lip balms
- Decent staying power in terms of color and hydration
- I personally love the scents of the lip balms but some may find it way too overpowering
- Has SPF 20 (Hurrahhh!!)
Cons
- Slightly heavy, wax like texture
- Claim of intense 12 hour care is unconvincing
Rating: 4/5
Final Word: Love these! Love these! Love these! If you want to try out dark lip colors, then these lip balms would be ideal to start off with. For those love their berries and browns, these work as a great base for your lipsticks! Give it a shot!
