Every time I explore the vast world of beauty blogging, I chance upon random things that people seem to always rave about. One such thing is the Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter.

(Sidenote: Between purchasing two Revlon Lip Butters and writing this, I have actually encountered another brand of lip butter—Korres! So now, what I’m wondering is who came up with it first? Also, is it a “thing,” like lipstick or lip gloss is a “thing,” or is it a “thing” like NARS Soft Touch Shadow Pencils are a “thing”? Another thing: is lip butters the proper plural form?)

Last Sunday, the Revlon counter was on sale, so my sister and I were picking out products. She had been looking for “Pink in the Afternoon,” which is apparently a Hepburn shade from Breakfast at Tiffany’s or something like that. And I was just nosing around and looking for a lip butter because I’d seen someone on YouTube rave about it.

Lip Butter is sort of a lipstick balm, an in betweener in the land of tinted balms and lipsticks. I was always afraid of lipsticks because I heard they dried out your lips, and if I had known about these wonders before throwing myself into cosmetic abandon, I’d probably have hoarded all twenty shades. After all they’re just about Php 525 a pop—a little over Php 300 on sale—and they are amazing.

I got two: Sugar Plum and Creamsicle, colors on the opposite ends of the color spectrum.

First up is Sugar Plum. As you can see, I was not able to resist trying this on before snapping a product picture.

Sugar Plum is a sweet pinky plum color that registers a bit dark and rich, but is quite lighter on the lips (and I guess the swatch!). It reminds me of both red wine and grape juice—or maybe the two mixed together, then watered down. It is reasonably pigmented and it goes on smoothly, despite the chappy mess that is my lips.

I swiped this on and—BAM!—instant love connection.

I tend to gravitate towards darker colors that have a sheer finish an a bit of shine and sheen—not gloss, shimmer, glitter or frost. So this was perfect!

Now, Creamsicle is a different story.

I don’t even know why I left with this shade, because guys, where I was looking, there were at least twelve shades to choose from. Twelve. Ah well. I suppose that’s how life goes.

Let me explain why I’m so mad at myself. Creamsicle is an attractive nude with a hint of orange. Named after a summer staple in America, it was something that I imagined it to be a pretty, sticky orange. In other words, something to warm up the face and hearken back to the days of my youth. Ahem.

Instead I get this. Can you say corpsified?

Another issue I have with Creamsicle is that it sticks to dry flakes like a clingy girlfriend! I apologize to you (and to myself) for this picture, but the public must know:

No clings for Sugar Plum! A shade for the independent woman! (It looks extremely light here, but I think it’s the lighting.)

I suppose I asked for it, since I knew my lips would be pigmented, but I didn’t expect it to go on so opaquely if the pigmentation was going to be that light. Alas, I can’t complain. I imagine this would look good on a) darker skin tones or b) warmer natural lip colors. Thankfully, you can layer lip products, so I’m not so torn up about it. The thing is, there were so many other colors I could have gotten.

At least it looks like a pretty nude in Photobooth?

At the end of the day, it does what it says it would. I had hydrated, reasonably pigmented lips, which is all I ever wanted anyway. The texture is amazing, and it has no unseemly smells.

My mom warned me about this, though. Apparently, she’d had a tube of lip butter for a while (I’m slow on the news, it seems) and hers dislodged from the casing because in The Philippines, it tends to get a bit warm. I’m on the lookout for this hazard but so far, it hasn’t happened yet.

I also DO NOT like the packaging. The “quilted” plastic cover covers about 90% of the whole tube, leaving a small black base at the end. I made the mistake of putting on lotion on my hands before my lipstick and I could not get the darned thing open. I think I’m the only person who thinks this, but I think I am also the only dumbo who tried to open it with lotioned hands. I appreciate that it comes in a twist-up tube though.

All in all, a good buy, although I would have to harp on about the price difference. These cost between $5 and $7 in the US, but in Manila, they’re about $12. That’s practically extortion! I would feel better if it were a bad product… but it’s not. I’m in a crazy “I must get more of these!” zone right now, and I’m hoping the sale isn’t over tomorrow.

VERDICT: I want s’more.
Will you purchase again? Obviously, yes. Maybe not Creamsicle.
How much? $7 or Php 525 for 0.09 oz.
Where to purchase in Manila? Revlon counters in most department stores. I bought mine in SM Megamall.