| Review | Charlotte Tilbury Hyaluronic HappiKiss Hydrating Lipstick Balms

| Review | Charlotte Tilbury Hyaluronic HappiKiss Hydrating Lipstick Balms

Give me juicy lips any day! As I've gotten older, I have been gravitating toward comfort over longevity but I still want some rich color and a little gloss. While many brands have been coming out with products like these, I'm hoping this formula will be the best one yet. After all, can we really go wrong with anything that contains hyaluronic acid? I have high hopes for my lips feeling as happy as the name indicates. 

The Charlotte Tilbury Hyaluronic HappiKiss Hydrating Lipstick Balms retails for $34.00 USD and is available at Charlotte Tilbury Nordstrom, and other retailers. These balmy lipsticks are packaged in a slim plastic tube with a rose gold starburst-like design. I can't even emphasize enough how cheap and terrible this packaging is! The tube is disappointingly light and feels so cheap for such a pricey lip product. When you pull off the cap, it makes a popping noise that just emphasizes how hollow and light the plastic is. I personally think that a luxury price should translate to both the product and the packaging. This is a new low for Charlotte Tilbury packaging and it's very disappointing! 

Additionally, the packaging has a twist mechanism that slowly clicks the product up but it doesn't reverse. You need to be very careful not to twist it up too much or you won't be able to bring it back down. This is the same mechanism and packaging as the Em Cosmetics Lip Cushion Tinted Lip Luminizers (full review here) and unsurprisingly, the formulas are very similar. The thing about the Em Cosmetics lip balms are significantly more affordable and the packaging actually feels better quality than these Charlotte Tilbury ones. 

SHADES 

There are currently 8 permanent shades in the range and 2 limited edition shades. All the shades are very wearable and span a large range to flatter many skin tones. 

Balms from left to right: Crystal HappiKiss, Pillow Talk, HappiPeach, HappiPetal

Balms from left to right: Crystal HappiKiss, Pillow Talk, HappiPeach, HappiPetal

Swatches from left to right: Crystal HappiKiss, Pillow Talk, HappiPeach, HappiPetal

Swatches from left to right: Crystal HappiKiss, Pillow Talk, HappiPeach, HappiPetal

Crystal HappiKiss - This shade is an extremely sheer barely-there-pink. It is pretty much clear with a light and cool pink tint. It is reminiscent of the pH adapting lip balms on the market that just enhance your natural lip color and adding just a touch more pink to the lips. The more you layer, the more of a pink tint you'll get. 

Pillow Talk - This shade is a cool mauve with a strong pink undertone. On my lips, the color appears pinker with a neutral undertone. This is a very natural and universally flattering shade. 

HappiPeach -  This shade is muted peach with a subtle orange hue. This is very close to a true peach and is on the lighter side. This will suit fair to tan skin tones but it may look too stark on deeper skin tones. 

HappiPetal - This shade is a warm peachy-pink. It is almost a muted creamy coral that will suit a variety of skin tones. It is a deeper and pinker tone than HappiPeach. 

COMPARISON SWATCHES 

Since this formula is so similar to the Em Cosmetics Lip Cushion Tinted Lip Luminizers (full review here), I decided to swatch them next to each other for a color comparison. 

Swatches from left to right: CT Pillow Talk, Em Cosmetics Venitian Rose, Em Cosmetics Magic Hour, CT HappiPeach, Em Cosmetics Faded Clementine, CT HappiPetal, Em Cosmetics Angele

Swatches from left to right: CT Pillow Talk, Em Cosmetics Venitian Rose, Em Cosmetics Magic Hour, CT HappiPeach, Em Cosmetics Faded Clementine, CT HappiPetal, Em Cosmetics Angele

FORMULA 

This balm formula has a very smooth and slightly tacky texture. It reminds me a lot of a lip gloss with a balmy texture. The slightly tacky texture helps the balm adhere to the lips and it creates a nice glossy veil on the lips. It feels very smooth and comfortable but it does have a touch of tackiness. It isn't uncomfortably tackiness but it is noticeable due to its thicker texture. While the texture will make you want to press your lips together, I urge you not to because you can leave weird indentations in the lip color. The product moves around very easily on the lips so, pressing them together, eating, or drinking will cause it to transfer and fade. You will get anywhere from 1 to 4 hours of solid wear out of these, depending on what you're eating and drinking. If you drink or eat minimally for 3 hours, you can get some very solid wear out of these. 

The shape and size of the balm itself are a little large, not allowing for precision application and with this formula, it's a little annoying. This product is very similar to the Em Cosmetics Lip Cushion Tinted Lip Luminizers in both formula and packaging but the Em Cosmetics ones have a smaller and more oval tip that allows you to apply the formula precisely. I feel like the Charlotte Tilbury balms get messy and even when I am cautious, I have balm smeared outside of my lip lines. I feel like a product like this should be effortless enough to apply blindly without a mirror, and I just don't feel that's the case here. 

The other problem with the larger format of this lip balm is that these balms are fairly pigmented. Some shades are very sheer like, Crystal HappiKiss but the other shades are quite richly pigmented and in about three swipes can give you an opaque glossy lip. Well, with pigment being smeared everywhere due to the larger size of the balm, it's a messy application situation. That being said, I do like that the pigmentation is rich and can be built up easily. 

The balms have a very soft vanilla fragrance, which is both pleasant and fleeting. While these do have a smoothing effect on the lips, they aren't necessarily hydrating. The balmy gloss texture is deceiving because it makes your lips feel smooth but they don't feel hydrated. I don't feel this formula is any more hydrating than a sheer lipstick or gloss. In fact, it just feels like I have a gloss on my lips. This is disappointing considering the hype built around being infused with hyaluronic acid. I do notice the longer I have it on, the smoother my lips feel but they don't necessarily feel hydrated. I would not apply these on very cracked or dry lips because the pigment will apply very unevenly and it doesn't treat dry lips. 

Balms from left to right: Crystal HappiKiss, Pillow Talk, HappiPeach, HappiPetal

FINAL THOUGHTS 

This formula is nice but for the price, I find several things very disappointing. To start, the packaging is so cheap and flimsy feeling. These feel like lip products I could have bought in a dollar clearance section for children. They just really don't feel luxurious at all! Second, the biggest selling point of this formula is the hydrating hyaluronic acid formula, which doesn't seem to do much for the lips at all. I don't find it any more hydrating than some other sheer balms and glosses I already own. The best thing I can say about this formula is that they have a rich color payoff and they're smoothing on the lips. This doesn't make this formula spectacular or unique. Overall, while I like this formula, I can't recommend them especially, for the luxury price tag! I really wanted to love these and I had such high expectations but this launch is a serious flop for me. I recommend saving your money and checking out other brands that offer something similar for less. 

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