theNotice: a beauty blog

The product: Clinique Chubby Stick Intense Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm

↳ in 01 Curviest Caramel, 02 Chunkiest Chili, 03 Mightiest Maraschino, 04 Heftiest Hibiscus, 05 Plushest Punch, 06 Roomiest Rose, 07 Broadest Berry, and 08 Grandest Grape.

Psst: before you start in on this one, have you read our Chubby Stick Intense posts with full-face swatches & shade name mockery coverage?

The formula

Now, the shades and packaging of these are super-cute (of course), but what actually has me head over heels for them is the formula.

Rich, moisturizing, and shockingly pigmented, the Intenses apply with buildable colour and settle well into the lips — I find the colour “sets” once applied, going on a little slippery but wearing with more of a satin-gloss finish (and without any colour displacement!) after 5-10 minutes.

(Ingredients behind the cut.)

The wear

I do find the formula of these varies a bit by shade, but not enough that I’d recommend some wholeheartedly and others not at all. Chunkiest Chili is a little gritty, for instance, and Grandest Grape is a little more slippery — I prefer a drier formula, which I found in Curviest Caramel, Heftiest Hibiscus, and Plushest Punch. (The latter two have much more opaque colour).

On the whole, however, the Clinique Chubby Stick Intenses last much longer than the original Chubby Sticks, starting off glossier and wearing into more of a stain, visually. I don’t find they really stain the lips, though — a bonus, if you want to be able to switch between colours through the day.

I would put the wear time of these at 3-5 hours; I can make it to five with most of these as long as I’m not eating or drinking (or talking a lot), but I prefer to touch up around the three hour mark for more even colour and added moisture.

The shades

Clinique Chubby Stick Intense swatches – hover for shade name labels

I’ve been getting the most wear out of 01 Curviest Caramel, a cream-finish natural lip shade with the perfect yellow-pink balance. It pairs well with both everyday makeup and a smokey eye (the sign of a truly great nude!) 02 Chunkiest Chili, on the other hand, gets almost no love; the the silver glitter adds a frosty finish to this understated, reddish base.

Next, 03 Mightiest Maraschino is a bright, shimmer-free red leaning more strawberry than vamp — perfect for both a lively holiday lip and a carefree summer pout. The real showstopper here, though, is 04 Heftiest Hibiscus. I hate most orange hues, but the pink-touched tangerine-hibiscus hues coming off on this one are so undeniable that I can’t help but pull it out again & again.

Clinique Chubby Stick Intenses, swatched L-R: 01 Curviest Caramel,  02 Chunkiest Chili, 03 Mightiest Maraschino, 04 Heftiest Hibiscus, 05 Plushest Punch, 06 Roomiest Rose, 07 Broadest Berry, 08 Grandest Grape

I think 05 Plushest Punch is going to fly off the shelves; a bright bold pink, it’s a vibrant shade that’s still easy to pull off, grabbing attention without verging on “obnoxious”. 06 Roomiest Rose is more subdued; darker, but still bright, it’s shot through with subtle shimmer that gives lovely depth (minus the frostiness of Chunkiest Chili).

For a much more subdued (but still very noticeable) shade, 07 Broadest Berry is the Curviest Caramel version of a lip with colour: with brownish berry undertones, it’s very wearable, but still gives a lovely, defined lip.

Finally, I found 08 Grandest Grape to be a little slippery at first (though, like the others, it does settle into the lips!), but it’s absolutely lovely — still very wearable; more of a crushed-berry stain than a theatrically purple lipstick.

Don’t miss this post for full-face & lip swatches of the Intense lineup!

The verdict?

The press materials for the Chubby Stick Intenses promise “the perfect marriage between a moisturizing lip balm and a full coverage lip colour,” and I think they absolutely deliver. Silly names aside, the shade range offers a gorgeous mix of brights with a couple great “everyday” shades to fall back on, and the formula is both intensely comfortable and high-impact.

(What, did you seriously think I was going to make it through this entire review without using the word “intense”?)

A few other things I love about these: the twist-up packaging (no product is lost to sharpening) and the scent-free, paraben-free formula.

Availability: $16 USD/$19 CAD at Clinique (US), Sephora, Nordstrom, & Clinique counters.

Additional photos, ingredients, & more »

I’m working on a Chubby Stick Intense review for tomorrow (finally!), but I just had to take a moment and say: seriously?! No one at Clinique could do better than these for names?

I say this as lovingly as possible, but as much as I adore Clinique, this is ridiculous:

• 01 Curviest Caramel
• 02 Chunkiest Chili, because that doesn’t make you think of chili that’s already been consumed
• 03 Mightiest Maraschino » this one, I love
• 04 Heftiest Hibiscus, seriously
• 05 Plushest Punch » this one, too!
• 06 Roomiest Rose
• 07 Broadest Berry when it could have been a fitting, relatable “Boldest”
• 08 Grandest Grape

I get that Clinique wanted to use big-sounding superlatives for the Intenses, but there is no excuse for Roomiest Rose. Or, for that matter, Chunkiest Chili!

Why couldn’t we have had a Cheeriest Chili? A Revival Rose? A Heidegger Hibiscus (yes, I am joking about this one, but this gorgeous shade is practically a way of being), or the aforementioned Boldest Berry? Boldest Berry, at least, should have been a no-brainer — why on earth someone would choose ”broadest” when you could go with boldest for such a gorgeous shade, I have no idea.

And for that matter, why is Oversized Orange not an Intense? It’s oversized!

If you have better names for these, come snark it up the comments!

Which names do you love, which do you hate? Can you think of any better names than these? I (and your fellow readers) would love to hear ‘em!

The product: Clinique Chubby Stick Intense Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm

↳ in 01 Curviest Caramel, 02 Chunkiest Chili, 03 Mightiest Maraschino, 04 Heftiest Hibiscus, 05 Plushest Punch, 06 Roomiest Rose, 07 Broadest Berry, and 08 Grandest Grape.

Clinique Chubby Sticks Intense: full product range (in numerical order)

The full review for these will be coming up next week, but I just had to slip them into the Week of Awesome — and understandably so, I think.

The new Chubby Stick Intenses pair everything I love about Chubby Sticks (comfort, packaging, and a scent-free formula) with everything I love about a great lipstick (wear time, colour, and intense pigment), and then adds some extra awesome (a gorgeous, smooth formula; colour that doesn’t move around; surprisingly great hydration.)

They’re… basically the best.

Clinique Chubby Stick Intense lip swatches

for reference

 01 Curviest Caramel / 02 Chunkiest Chili

03 Mightiest Maraschino / 04 Heftiest Hibiscus

05 Plushest Punch / 06 Roomiest Rose

07 Broadest Berry / 08 Grandest Grape

A few shades I think you’ll love

05 Plushest Punch

07 Broadest Berry

08 Grandest Grape

In the tubes & with the rest of a face

Clinique Chubby Stick Intense in 01 Curviest Caramel (my favourite Intense — will be featured in a look next week!)

Keep reading »

Hope you’re all having a warm & festive holiday with your loved ones… and that someone out there cares enough about your makeup stash to have snuck a few Clinique Chubby Stick Intenses underneath the tree.

(Because the only thing that’s better than moisturizing lip colour is moisturizing lip colour that looks like a giant, shiny crayon.)

See you back here tomorrow with a return to our regularly (un)scheduled posting!

Keep reading! »

This month’s Lipstick Bandits focus is summer sheers (to follow up May’s pre-season summer brights), and despite the fact that I didn’t write this post until late Sunday night — I’ve had my summer sheer picked out for weeks.

Have you ever met Mega Melon? It’s a Clinique Chubby Stick that’s a total summer must-have, with its buttery, moisturizing formula and gorgeous, finely-milled gold shimmer. I’m not kidding about that “buttery,” either: Chubby Sticks are amped up with shea, jojoba, and mango seed butter (as well as some others), and the formula wears really comfortably.

Clinique Mega Melon

Mega Melon Chubby Stick swatch

Wearing Mega Melon (plus some other things).

To be totally honest, I had reviewed this one last winter, tucked it away in a drawer, and promptly forgot about it. While looking for a lip to pair with last month’s storybook daisies festival makeup look, though, I brought it out again — and it pretty much hasn’t left my side since. 

The thick, buttery formula is really comfortable in the hot weather (not to mention, it glides on like a dream), and the melon shade is absolutely perfect. It’s a really rich, fresh shade — just enough orange to keep the lip looking natural and beachy, but no so much that cool skintones need worry. The shimmer is just the cherry on top, leaving your lips looking super-moisturized and–

Can I say lustrous without anyone throwing produce at me? Because I’m totally going with lustrous if I’m allowed.

The verdict?

I know I rave about Clinique’s Chubby Sticks all the time, but this one’s a definite summer must-have. It’s one of the stronger shades in the line; more complex and pigmented than most of its siblings. It looks really natural when on, but the colour makes a huge before/after difference in a look — for a sheer shade, it has a lot of impact!

(And, I mean, admittedly: as much as I love the Chubby line, some of the shades are pretty boring. Which is great if you’re looking for some really basic basics, of course, but, well. If you just wanted the super-basic basics, you probably wouldn’t be on a makeup blog, now, would you?)

Availability: $16 USD, permanent product. Online at Clinique, Sephora, etc.

See it here: Holiday 2011 Chubby set review, plus in these two makeup looks.

Additional photos & more »