Lipstick Queen Chinatown Glossy Pencil

I've heard lots and lots about Lipstick Queen but have always been reluctant to drop $22 for a pop of lipstick, especially when the brand is unfamiliar and I don't know anything about their products. I do know they offer these lipstick trios, 3 for the price of 2 at $48 a set, but again I'm kind of a hard sell because I think $48 for 3 lipsticks is still kind of pricey. Yeah, I'm cheap like that. Recently, I scored 5 pieces of Tarte Amazonian Butter Lipsticks for $33, so it's not impossible to get a good deal.

Which is to say I recently scored a good deal with the Chinatown Glossy Pencils in the Three to Thrill Chinatown Mini Glossy Pencil Trio set. These pencils are regularly $22 for a 0.25oz./7g full size, but this set was for 3 minis (0.11oz./3g - a little over 40% of the full size) for less than the price of 1 full size, and with an additional mini pencil as GWP! I guess I can deal with that ^.^

Look how lovely my order arrived - the items were wrapped in pretty tissue paper and in a bag! Wow! All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

The Three to Thrill Chinatown Mini Glossy Pencil Trio set comes with the colors Chase, Pink Bluff, and Catalina. The extra mini pencil I got as GWP is also in the color Catalina. Sizing wise these mini one are perfect for my handbag, as I prefer carry minis with me for obvious reasons!

All three colors are lovely! They all are shimmer free and unscented. In fact their texture, down to the waxy lipstick smell, is identical to Clinique Chubby Stick! All has a semi translucent finish, Pink Bluff and Catalina more so than Chase, which is a touch more opaque. Depends on how dry my lips are, Chase would slip around in patches, so I don't often wear it by itself unless I have a good lips day. At least all the colors do stay on for a good few hours, which is nice! 

The reason I'm not jumping on more colors (Crime, Genre, and Thriller are oh so enticing!) is that these pencils aren't as moisturizing as they should be. Despite the balmy texture, they don't do anything for my dry lips. There are so many lip colors that give me that relief the moment of application, but sadly these don't. Within a couple of hours, I'm left with a layer of waxy residue that I just want to wipe off :( Also, forget about the "Glossy Pencil" name. These pencils give a nice sheen but I wouldn't call them glossy, at least not in the same sense that Stila Lip Glaze Sticks are glossy (and superbly moisturizing too at that!). And even then this sheen wears off within the hour. I'll be trying the lipsticks for sure since that's what the brand is famous for (will review later), but for more moisturizing lip pencils I think I'll just stick with Chubby Sticks and Tarte LipSurgence pencils.

- Chase: semi opaque and shimmer free yellow based juicy watermelon red. It's not an in your face fire engine red, but it's still pretty bright. For this color to work by itself, you'll need well-moisturized and well-exfoliated lips. Since my lips are always dry and flaky, I mix it with Pink Bluff and Catalina below for a super flattering semi translucent coral that will actually hide the cracks and flakes on my lips. Problem solved, yay! ^.^

- Pink Bluff: shimmer free and semi translucent warm tawny rose. It's definitely a my-lips-but-better color, and I would love it more if only it was more moisturizing. Mix really well with Chase above.

- Catalina: a shimmer free and semi translucent warm fleshy pink. This color is super duper easy to wear and it's my favorite out of the three (I would have picked Chase if it were more translucent!). This is a lighter shade of my-lips-but-better above, more like a my lips but pinkier with a touch of nude. Like Pink Bluff, it mixes really well with Chase.

From left to right: Chase, Pink Bluff, and Catalina.