Careline Extra Shine Lipgloss in 02

For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.

~ Audrey Hepburn

True, true. But a girl definitely can use some help in achieving the best lips ever, aside from speaking words of kindness, through the wonderful makeup breakthrough called the lip gloss! So you know how big of a sucker I am for affordable finds? Yeah, if you regularly tune in to my randomness on this site, or even if by some twist of fate, you somehow landed on this page and decided to read on, you will notice that this blog is aptly titled She Goes Thrifty. So yeah. I like being my usual kuripot self in whatever it is in life, from makeup, to skin and hair care, to clothes, shoes, bags, and accessories -- you name it, I will try my best to get more bang for my buck at just about anything!

So lately, I've been discovering lots of fun things from local cosmetic brands. On my last review, I featured a foundation from Ever Bilena (check out the post HERE). The day after I got that foundation, I bought two yummy-colored lip glosses from Careline. If I'm not mistaken, Careline is under the Ever Bilena umbrella brand. Anyway, on to the review:

I've been hearing and reading so much about this lip gloss. Check out Youtube. A lot of fashion and makeup gurus (I've seen mostly Pinays) rave about it. At Php 75 a pop, you can stack these babies up and use a different shade for each day and every occasion!

Hello there, Sarah G.! LOL.

I got one in 02, a coral-ish orange hue that I found super pretty. Apparently, they changed the packaging. They used to come in test tube-like packaging and had not-so-different tags/numbers.

What is it and what's in it?

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The batch number and manufacturing date are printed on the packaging.

What I like about it:

• There are 12 shades to choose from! One shade for each day! ;)
• Very affordable. A tube only costs Php 75 (a little less than $2)
• It's a local brand! Support PH made!
• It smells and tastes like watermelon! Yummy! - This has got to be my favorite take-away from this product. It's the ultimate consolation.
• Not too thick.
• Staying power is pretty decent. Mine stayed on for about 4 hours (without eating and drinking)
• Packs just the right amount of shimmer to cheer up any solid base color
• Widely available. I got mine from a local department store in our village mall. Check drugstores for availability as well.  Whenever there's an Ever Bilena stall, there will always be a Careline rack next door.
• The manufacturing date and batch number are printed on the back of its casing and on the bottom of the tube as well. (so you'll know when to toss it out once you started using it)
• Comes with a sponge applicator. I advise that you don't share lippies as much as possible, especially the tools you use to apply them (for sanitary purposes).
• Super compact. I can just put this in my pocket and go!
• Doesn't dry out my lips, provided that I prep 'em with lip balm.

What I dislike about it:

• I want the test tube packaging! *stomps feet angrily* Hehe, just kidding with the brat attack.
• This used to sell daw for Php 60, according to the video reviews I've seen on Youtube. Oh well. :(
• Not as pigmented as the reviews said! I was so disappointed in that regard.
• Despite the not-drying factor, it accentuated the already-existent dry flakes on my lips.

I wanted the test tube-ish packaging sana. :(

I'm easing into using orange-hued lip products. This is a good start.

A swatch on my arm. It's kind of sheer.

The gloss on my lips.

Doesn't go on too orange. :(
But when I use this with my Maybelline Lipstick in Cozy Tangerine, they
brought out the hints of orange in each other. Cool!

Sample look when I have the lip gloss on (all shots are done under natural lighting):

Over all, I think this was an pretty good purchase. Will I buy it again? I'm not sure. There might be more lip products out there that can serve more opaque color and pack some sheen as well. I recommend this to young girls who are just starting to build up their make-up kits. It's perfect for girls on a budget who are not too picky on their lippy. I suggest, however, that you use a more solid-hued lipstick as a base and use this as it is intended to be used - as a lip gloss, because if you rely solely on its color power, you won't get a lot of that. It basically goes on almost sheer, but not clear. This is so easy to use and very affordable too. With the applicator that comes with it, putting it on will be a breeze. If you're still new to makeup and just need something that's quick and cheap, this might just be for you.

I'm not completely dissing it, for I commend its decent staying power. Most of the more expensive lip glosses that I've been using don't really stay that long on me. I tend to lick my lips a lot (hence the dryness) and this gloss really stood the test of constant attempts at removal! :)) 

I like it a lot, at least for now. Until I find a better alternative to this, I might stick with it for a while. The only thing that threw me off really was the lack of pigmentation which I really did not expect from it. I initially thought that it's as good as the Youtube gurus say, but in my humble opinion, they fell short in the pigmentation department. Other than that, I don't regret buying this lip gloss. A review on shade 04 is coming up. Stay tuned. ;)

Love,

SGT <3