Liz Made Me Do It: Pixi Shea Butter Lip Balm in Ripe Raspberry

As a beauty blogger and regular blog reader, 99.9% of my purchases are inspired by fellow bloggers. I've also noticed that because of the current move towards sponsored and ad content on YouTube as well as more popular beauty pages, I'm becoming increasingly distrustful towards their recommendations, turning instead towards my b-blogging friends and more niche blogs. That was precisely the case with this Beauty Reductionista's influenced purchase: Liz blogged about the Pixi Shea Butter Lip Balms ($8 for 4g/ 0.141 oz) about a month or so ago, and as I was stocking up on their Glow Tonic anyway, I promptly plopped the shade Ripe Raspberry in my basket.

The final nail in the lemming coffin was Liz stating that she preferred the Pixi Shea Butter balm formulation over the pricey Fresh Sugar Lip Treatments. The Fresh lip balms are some of my absolute favorite tinted lip products on the market, and one of the very few balms I keep using up and repurchasing. Any time my lips are feeling particularly dry and flakey (which is 90% of the time), I put one on and it not only doesn't exacerbate the dryness, but in fact also helps to heal it. But anyway, this is not a review of the Fresh Sugar products (there's one coming later on), I just wanted to explain why Liz's statement made me so excited - could I really get the same Holy Grail results from a product that's almost $15 cheaper?

Well, spoiler alert: no, I can't. Not even close. What makes the Fresh Sugar Lip Treatments so unique in my book is their thick, unctuous, slippery, balmy texture that covers the lips in a cushiony layer of moisture (or grease, however you want to look at it). When my lips are dry, I NEED that heavy, oily layer of product to fix and smooth over the texture underneath, seal in the moisture, and prevent me from trying to bite off the flakes (sorry, TMI).

The Pixi Shea Butter Lip Balm doesn't have that - you can even see the textural difference between it and the Fresh Treatment in the arm swatch photo. That is not to say it's not a nice tinted lip balm in its own right: somewhat hydrating, pigmented, with a thinner consistency and more long lasting color than the Fresh balms, so much so that I even found the shade Ripe Raspberry to stain my lips a bit. But a Sugar Lip Treatment it ain't.

L-R: Pixi Shea Butter Lip Balm in Ripe Raspberry, Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Monte Carlo, Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment in Passion, L'Oreal Caresee in Blushing Sequin

Ripe Raspberry is more of a berry fuschia shade than a pinky red I was expecting (so, coupled with the difference in texture, it didn't turn out to be a good replacement for my now defunct tube of Fresh Sugar Treatment in Passion). Because of its thin but harder waxy texture, it takes a bit of work to get on the lips, but like I said above, once you do it stays on very well, even through a meal. The closest shade dupe in a sheer formula that I have in my collection would be the L'Oreal Caresse lipstick in Blushing Sequin, swatched on the far right. There's no shimmer or glitter in Ripe Raspberry, which is my preference for a tinted balm, and it has that delightful vanilla scent reminiscent of MAC lipsticks.

Two layers of Ripe Raspberry applied on freshly exfoliated lips: you can still see it clinging to some pesky flakes. It also doesn't do much for vertical lip lines. However, it looks perfectly smooth on Liz's lips. My conclusion is that I must have much, much drier, and much more puckered lips than she does :(

You can probably tell that I can't help but feel a trifle disappointed with this Pixi Shea Butter Lip Balm; well, the expectations were certainly running high (though I still love you, Liz. We're good). I'll dig it out again once the weather starts warming up, but for now, I'm sticking to the Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment - fortunately, I just purchased a new tube; not because I was expecting the Pixi to fail, but rather because I have no self-control. Tell me, what is your favorite tinted lip balm? Do you prefer thick, heavy formulas like the Fresh or something more lightweight like the Pixi?