What it is: Clinique Vitamin C Lip Smoothie in Strawberry Bliss, a new shade featured in this winter’s Strawberry Fudge collection.
The packaging: I quite like the look of the Lip Smoothie line — the tubes are cute, and while no click-pen applicator is 100% precise, I find these to be a lot more predictable than other pens that I’ve tried. I have only one (okay, two) complaints, because I’m a whiny child: I wish that (1) the brush tip was larger, and (2) the tube contained more product! The brush tip is a little too thin for my liking (though I suppose it’s better to have it a bit too small than too large, for the thinner-lipped), and the tube contains a measly 0.05oz.
(For comparison’s sake: e.l.f.’s Hypershine click-pen glosses contain the same amount for $16.50 less, and Clinique’s non-click-pen Long Last Glosswear line contains four times the amout per $14 tube.)
The texture: Clinique’s Smoothies are thick, plush, and a little sticky. Not as bad as, say, Stila glosses, but this is still stickier than I’m used to! Thankfully, the shimmer is incredibly finely milled — I can’t feel a single bit of graininess, even when the rest of the gloss has worn off. (If these were both sticky and gritty, this review would be on a giant, fiery tailspin taking a totally different direction.)
The shade: Strawberry Bliss is a lovely neutral pink interspersed with the aforementioned shimmer — which, by the way, is a seriously gorgeous gold. It’s quite glossy, but also quite sheer: sheer enough to turn me off it a bit. I like a little more bang out of my dollop of gloss, especially when the cost-per-ounce is this high!
The wear: Here’s where this review goes downhill. I can only get 2-3 hours of wear out of these, and that’s pushing it a little. This gloss needs seemingly constant reapplication, and leaves my lips feeling dry, despite a very moisturized appearance. (Heck, they even feel as if they’d be moisturizing, upon application — but after a few hours, my lips are parched.)
I should also mention that these are totally scent-free, which (of course), I absolutely LOVE!
The verdict? To be totally honest, I wouldn’t shell out for one of these Smoothies — they’re nice, but they could definitely be better. True, they’re easier to apply than Clinique’s regular gloss line (doe-foot vs pen-tip), but for the formula and the cost, and are much less sticky, but… I just don’t feel they’re worth it.
That shade, though? I’m usually not into sheer, or into gold glitter, but I kinda love it!
Oh, and one more random image off the Clinique site, just because I thought it was cute:
