The product: Hard Candy Visibly Wet Shockingly Glossy Lip Pencil in Jezebel
The first thing you need to know about Hard Candy’s new pencils is that they’re nothing, nothing like regular lip pencils. Rather, they’re incredibly soft (the softest stick product I’ve ever tried, no joke), intensely pigmented, and ridiculously bold (I’ve heard the finish described as “vinyl,” which I’d say is spot on.)
The second thing you need to know is that I’m not going to be able to properly review them.
The third and final thing you need to know is that I’ve finally, finally found a lip product that I’m allergic to.
unblended / blended in natural light
Obviously, an allergic reaction isn’t a good thing, but it’s certainly an interesting one! I feel as if I’ve finally completed a rite of passage into womanhood, except for the part where it’s makeuphood, and the rite is not nearly as fun as buying your first tube of lipstick.
By the time I had finished taking product swatches for this post, both my swatching wrist and my lips were feeling sort of… peppery. If you’ve ever tried a cinnamon-based lip plumper, you’ll know what I mean!
(If you haven’t, here are a few choice adjectives that might help describe the experience: burning, stinging, tingling, and painful.)
Jezebel is a dark magenta with plenty of hot pink glitter. It goes on thickly but blends out easily, and I’d definitely recommend using a lip brush to blend and/or pairing it with a lip liner – getting a sharp line is virtually impossible with the thick-but-creamy formula.
The ingredients: (no idea what causes the burning!)
Dilsopropyl dimer dilnoleate, polyglyceryl-2 dilosoterate, hydrogenated polyisobutene, polyethylene, octyldodecanol, bis-diglyceryl polyacyladipate-2, microcrystalline wax, c10-30 cholesterol/lanosterol esters, castor seed oil, candelilla wax, silica, disteardimonium hectorite, propylene-carbonate, 1, 2-hexanediol, caprylyl glycol, tocopheryl acetate. +/- pigments.
The verdict?
Honestly, I’d give these ones a pass – I’m not the only one who’s had problems with the, erm, burning, and there are plenty of other, non-burning products out there!
If you want to give them a go, though, and you’re lucky enough that you can wear these, you can expect a triple-threat lip pencil: glittery, opaque, and glossy. (Or a quadruple-threat; they’re cheap, too.) From the tackiness and the stain left behind, I’d guess that the wear on these is closer to that of a long-wearing lipstick than that of a gloss, and the shade range is fairly impressive.
The reaction (most obvious on the upper lip, around the lip line.)
Sorry about the lighting; I had to flash it because I didn’t have enough light to take the photo otherwise!
More detail on the rest of the makeup look here.
