Buxom Lolita

Wow, not too suggestive, amIright? One of the things I bought with my Sephora giftcards was the Buxom Big & Healthy Full-Color Lip Polish in the color Lolita:

Buxom Big & Healthy Full-Color Lip Polish in shade Lolita

I had never tried Buxom or even the mother line, Bare Escentuals, before, but Phyrra has raved about so many beautiful lip products by this brand and I trust her opinion! I actually was looking at the Big & Healthy Lip Sticks display when I noticed a little sign in front of a mostly-empty part of the display, hidden down in the bottom corner. Evidently two shades* of gloss were on sale for $9, down from $18 - if you can read the title of this blog you'll understand that 50% off makes me happy - and although there was only one shade left in stock, it happened to be gorgeous. So I bought it!

Swatched on bare skin, direct sunlight, no flash

Lolita is a very pigmented mauve, slightly cool-toned but warm enough that it could still look great on those with warm skin tones (or a tan). The gloss itself is ... um, interesting: it's meant to be plumping, as well as opaque and moisturizing, and while two out of three ain't bad .... it's just a little weird to me that my lips feel cold and wet the entire time the gloss is on my lips because of the plumping agents, yet my lips don't actually look any plumper (sorry, Buxom). Weird cooling/ damp sensation aside (it's not actually unpleasant), I am very impressed with this gloss! It's almost more like a liquid lipstick because of the opacity, but very shiny as one would expect with a gloss, so it's the best of both worlds :D

Compare my naked lips to glossed lips:

One semi-thick layer of Lolita, direct sunlight, no flash

The sunlight seems to have washed out the color a bit; the hand swatch is much more color-accurate. In real life this is darker on me, and completely covers my lips like a really pigmented lipstick would. I can apply a thin layer for a more natural color and it still covers my lips perfectly. When I apply a slightly thicker layer, it doesn't goop up or gather in nooks and crannies, just behaves very nicely and stays right where it is supposed to be, giving me dark mauve shiny lips to die for!

When I bought this, I thought I was getting a fantastic deal since the lipgloss is so huge. Well, it is a good deal at 1/2 off, but the tube is very deceptive! It looks like you're getting way more gloss than the norm, but in reality it's only 0.15oz. For comparison purposes, MAC Lipglass have 0.17oz, Stila Lip Glazes are 0.08oz and Hard Candy Glossaholics have a whopping 0.38oz. So never let an item's packaging fool you! Look at the actual net weight before you buy it ^_^;

And now for the bad news: I think this color is discontinued ... it's not on the Sephora website and obviously it was half off the regular price in-store. So if you're interested in this color, I'd advise either calling your local Sephora to see if they have any left, or turning to evilBay - sorry :(
 
Although the tube is tricksy and doesn't contain as much product as it would seem, and the gloss feels super different on my lips but doesn't really plump them, I am actually very pleased with this gloss! I really didn't buy it for plumping; I bought it because of the color and the price, and on those counts it doesn't let me down. I'm not sure I'd buy one of these at full price unless I had another giftcard, but this set of seven mini Lip Polishes for $15 (originally $29) is very tempting :) To the birthday wishlist!!

*I can't remember what the other shade on sale was >_<