Maybelline Color Elixir Liquid Color Balm in Raspberry Rhapsody, Nude Illusion and Mandarin Rapture

You probably already know this if you read my blog regularly, but I'll repeat myself anyway : I can't stand sticky lipglosses. I just can't! Oooey gooey tacky sticky stuff on my lips make me cringe. So when I realised that the new Maybelline Color Elixir weren't a liquid lipstick like I thought they would be, but an hybrid between a balm, a lipstick and a lipgloss instead, I was reluctant to try it. But I was surprised to find out that it wasn't as sticky as most of the lipglosses I own.

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To me, the Color Elixir are basically like a gloss, but more pigmented and slightly less sticky than your typical lipgloss. It depends of the shade though, some of them are more sheer. While they aren't super sticky like most of the lipglosses I have tried, they do feel a little thick on the lips. What I really liked about these is that they are very shiny, think super juicy vinyl-like shiny!

The pigmentation is quite good, but keep in mind that the color is translucent. It's not opaque like a lipstick, but I can still see the shade on my lips. The exclusive smoothing angora brush is kinda weird when you use it for the first time, but it delivers a smooth and precise application.

Nude Illusion :

Raspberry Rhapsody :

Mandarin Rapture :

My favorite of the 3 I tried is 015 Mandarin Rapture, of course. I can't resist orange lip products and I think they look more flattering on me. I loved the colour of 060 Nude Illusion, but after 3 hours I experienced the dreadful white line on the center of my lips, so I'd suggest to apply a thin layer of lip balm with this one. 030 Raspberry Rhapsody looks more pink on my lips than in the packaging (which is so pretty, don't you think?), but it's still a pink toned mauve.

Here's another pic where you can see how shiny they are, the colour isn't accurate though.

I like the smell of these but it might not be your cup of tea if you dislike strongly scented lip products. I'm not sure how to describe it but it smell.. perfumey? It doesn't bother me but it does have a slight perfumey after taste, that I wish wasn't there.

The wear time on these is great, considering that a gloss doesn't last more than 2-3 hours on me anyway, but Raspberry Rhapsody did feather slightly on me.

The finish on these is seriously amazing, while they do feel slightly thicker on the lips than your average lipgloss, they aren't too tacky either. Keep in mind though that if you dislike perfumey lip products, you might not like the Color Elixirs.

The Maybelline Color Elixir Liquid Color Balm retail for $12 CDN and is available in 20 shades.

(I received this product in order to evaluate it and give my opinion, but rest assured that my comments are always honest and impartial.)