RMK W Irresistible Lips

I stumbled onto RMK W Irresistible Lips in 04 Deep Red purely by accident. It's a LE from a rather old collection, so the lippie is not exactly fresh. Thanks to my friend J., I've been kind of obsessed with dark lip colors, wine, blackberry, etc., think vampire lips, so I took a chance and bought it anyway (don't be nutty like me, folks...). It was a small comfort that it arrived still sealed in manufacturer's shrink wrap. Ha. ^.^"

***Screencap courtesy of the interweb. 

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Well what do you know, I'm really glad I bought this! The packaging is the same silver metal tube, but it's slimmer and sleeker. Not only that, the formula is better than both the current Irresistible Bright and the Irresistible Glows! What's going on here, RMK? How is it that the newer stuff is worse off than the super old stuff?

Check out the nicer old lipstick tube (far left) versus the chunkier square new ones! I definitely don't like this newer and bulkier trend.

So how's the old formula better? Well, it's slightly thicker than the Brights and isn't as slippery. Being packed with shimmers, it's surprisingly smoother than the shimmery Glows--there's no grittiness in it whatsoever. Pigmentation is better also, and it's not just because of the darker color. The moisturizing factor and the glossy finish remain the same.

- 04 Deep Red: a gorgeous translucent violet-wine with fuchsia and violet shimmers and a transparent hot pink core. It's so flattering on just one try secured its place among my favorite lip colors! Where can I find more of these?!?

Here are similar colors in my Japanese collection:
Maquillage Dramatic Melting Rouge RS555 Chic Rose, Coffret D'Or Premium Stay Rouge WN-74, Suqqu Creamy Glow Lipstick Moist 13 茜薔薇 (Akanebara), and this 04 Deep Red. RS555 appears plummy next to these three, and 04 Deep Red is the deepest.

Among my Lipstick Queens, there are several in the same family of colors also. Here are Saint Bordeaux and Saint Wine, Butterfly Ball Goodbye, Bete Noire Possessed Sheer, and 04 Deep Red. The Saints turn plummy-bordeaux here too and Butterfly Ball Goodbye a blackberry. Possessed Sheer is one of my all time favorite as it's super flattering. 04 Deep Red isn't identical to Possessed Sheer but it's close enough.

Other similar colors in my collection:
Tarte LipSurgence Lip Tint Skintuitive Energy Noir and Moody, Urban Decay Vice Lipstick Vintage Bruise and Revolution Lipstick Shame and Sheer Shame, and this 04 Deep Red. Skintuitive Energy Noir is blackberry but Moody is plummy brown, and all three Urban Decay lippies are too violet.