Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Soothing Lip Balm Part II

Update February 17, 2009

As soon as my order from Victoria's Secret arrived, I tore into the package, only to feel my heart sank -HORRIFIED- they all have shimmers! SHIMMERS!!! I HATE shimmers!!! Curse you, Victoria's Secret! Why did you have to put shimmers into my precious lip balms? Why?!? They are freakin' lip balms, dammit, and they should stay beautifully translucent as they are supposed to be! But nooooo, you just have to ruin them with shimmers! Gah I'm so angry!!!

Okay, I'm calm now :) Anyhoo, just as I thought, the new packaging is different, smaller in circumference but thicker. See for your self!

New packaging (left) versus old packaging (right)


New packaging (left) versus old packaging (right)


No worries though, as the new packaging contains the same amount of product as the old packaging, 17 g or 0.6 oz.

The original lip balm Clear Shine is in a pale angel pink tin pot now, very pretty! And thank goodness, it retains its original milky translucent color (or rather, non-color) WITHOUT any shimmers! Most importantly, its formula also remains the same: it is still the super smooth, moisturizing, minty, soothing, not too thick, not too thin, non-sticky, super glossy lip balm I know and love *smooch*!

Clear Shine (I didn't post a picture of the actual balm inside since it looks the same as before)


As for Pretty Buff, it looks like a gorgeous nude lip gloss with golden shimmers, doesn't it? The only problem is: it is NOT a gloss, as least not strictly one. If anything, it belongs to a generation of gloss-balm hybrids, as in it has a balm's soothing/healing properties but with the finish and staying power of a gloss. I will have an entire post devoted to these gloss-balm hybrids later.


The biggest redeeming point of all that shimmers in Pretty Buff is that although the shimmers look chunky and glittery, the balm is surprisingly smooth. In fact, it doesn't feel any different than the Clear Shine going on my lips! I was so dead sure the shimmers was going to change the texture of the balm like it did with many many shimmery glosses out there, making it all sandy and scratchy, but it did not! I guess that makes me feel a little better, and just a little because the gold shimmers are still very visible on my lips since Pretty Buff applies pretty much clear.


This means if you are looking for a gloss with gold shimmers but wish it was more soothing and nourishing like a balm, this VS Beauty Rush Soothing Lip Balm in Pretty Buff is one of the best candidates out there for you (and I honestly don't know any other comparable ones - please do tell me if you know!). As for myself, I still wish VS hadn't put the shimmers in Pretty Buff as the balm would have been much more beautiful without all the excess sparkles. Sometimes, beauty is in the understatement, you know?

Petal Soft is a muted cassis pink with very fine purple iridescent shimmers. No worries, the shimmers are so fine, Petal Soft actually goes on with only a slight pink tint. The purple iridescent shimmers does not leave a purple cast and the shimmers actually don't show at all! This then leads me to another complaint: why bother adding the shimmers if the balm goes on translucent anyway? Why not leave the product the hell alone and spare it the unnecessary ingredient that doesn't add to the end result?


I'm sorry for hitting you guys over the head with my no-shimmers-in-the-damn-balms rants, but VS already have a gazillion and one Beauty Rush Lip Glosses that are (sticky as hell) glosses with tons and tons of shimmers! With the one unique product that actually differentiates itself, why would they want to change it so that it looks indistinguishable from the rest now? I just don't get it! Good thing Petal Soft's redeeming point is also the fact that it feels identical to the original Clear Shine. Phew!


Out of the 3 colored Soothing Lip Balms, Pink Sugar is probably my favorite. Can you guess why? Because while it is hot pink and has pinkish shimmers, the shimmers are so sparse, far and few in between that the balm is practically translucent! It goes on with a very pretty almost-fuschia pink tint with no visible shimmers. And I also love it that this Pink Sugar feels identical to the Clear Shine too - hooray!


I can't help it, but looking at the shimmers in my balms makes me picture the folks at VS as a bunch of giddy tweens who just got their hands on a giant pot of unicorn glitter and are all too sugar high excited to use it.


Sigh...Fine. I give up. I will stop yapping now. If you don't mind the shimmers in your balms, I give all the VS Beauty Rush Soothing Lip Balms four thumbs up. Yes, my feet too, just to show how much I love these balms, despite the super annoying shimmers!

----------------------------
Original post Friday, February 6, 2009

Okay, ready? Cover your ears, because I'm going to go nuts - kyaaaaa!!!!

So why the hyperventilation? Well, for a while, I was so sure Victoria's Secret was going to discontinue this beloved lip balm of mine. It disappeared from VS's website about a year ago and its presence had been waning from the stores, causing me to stock up whenever I stop by.

And then one day, yesterday actually, -poof!- I was just browsing online (bored, you know?) when I spotted it on the VS website. It looks like VS is revamping the lip balm again, adding another pale angel pink with silver prints to its current hot pink tin pot. And the lid looks more domed this time around too, instead of being kind of flat. Sadly, it looks a bit smaller too, but I can't be sure since I was just looking online. I'll definitely compare the two sizes once I get my hands on some of these, and you bet I will, especially that pale pink tin, it won't escape my grasp. How cuuuuute!!!


But wait, the surprise didn't just end here. I was totally caught off guard, but as soon as I saw this I almost screamed: my beloved lip balm now comes in 3 other beautiful tints too, in addition to its original translucent milk white balm! Ladies and gentlemen, behold the new Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Soothing Lip Balm in 4 colors: Clear Shine, Pretty Buff, Petal Soft, and Pink Sugar.

From left to right: Clear Shine, Pretty Buff, Petal Soft, and Pink Sugar.

***Pictures from Victoria's Secret.

You know how sometimes when a company adds a tinted version of their popular lip balm, and the tinted version always turns out kind of disappointing, like too pigmented, too opaque, too frosty, too...not right? Well, these colors for the Soothing Lip Balms actually look juicy and delicious! All look like translucent without shimmers colors that will hopefully give you that my-lips-but-better, not that the clear version doesn't already does that for me! And you know how I feel about translucent tinted balm/gloss :D Score! Somebody loves me - I feel so blessed! I'm definitely going to get one of each color!

Oh wait, I just did :D Will definitely update when they arrive!

P. S. There is not a "Part I" to this Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Soothing Lip Balm post. If you are looking for the original review for this lip balm, please see my previous Lip Balms post.