Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Glossy Shine Stick

Loooooong post ahead. You've been warned.

Now this is what I call a freakin' lip stain!!! These Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Glossy Shine Sticks are definitely lip stains in stick form (with the exception of a couple of colors), and they are so f*ckin' fantastic I went back to buy multiples of each and am still planning to go back again to try the rest of the other colors out too!

It started out with a $10 off coupon I had. After proving myself correct on the demise of the VS Beauty Rush Pool Party Lip & Cheep Pop, I saw online that they made a newer version called the Lip & Cheek Tint. Armed with the coupon, I made my way into a local VS Beauty store, knowing there will be some damages. Of course, VS always has evil ways of tempting me, this time with their current promotion of mix and match any Beauty Rush item 5 for $20. I wasn't about to pay the retail price of $7 for the Lip & Cheek Tint, and there are only 3 colors available. Even if I were to buy one of each color, which I did, I still needed to get another 2 of something to make it 5.

That was when I spotted these Glossy Shine Stick and proceeded to play with the tester on the back of my hand. And ooh, they felt goooood on the back of my hand, very thin but shiny veil of color, think Clinique Almost Lipstick, only glossier. Out of the 6 colors available, I picked the 3 I would most likely wear: the Lemon Twist was too violet, Citrus Sorbet too beigey, and Colada Love too mauvey, so I ended up with the Mango Tango, Melon Out, and Strawberry Fields.

Mango Tango


Melon Out


Strawberry Fields



Turns out I hit major jackpot with these, and I don't even wear pigmented lip stuff on my lips that often! I mean, I have a truck load of lip stains, lip sticks, and pigmented glosses, but the majority of the time I wear sheer glosses and colorless balms. But shoot, I love, love, LOVE these Glossy Shine Sticks! In my humble opinion, these are waaaaay better than the Clinique Almost Lipstick. Yeah, ahoy hate mails (and flames) from fans of Clinique, but at least let me explain myself.

Like the Clinique Almost Lipstick, these Glossy Shine Sticks has similarly soft and buttery formula that glides on smoothly and applies beautifully. However, in addition to providing a thin veil of color, the Glossy Shine Sticks also provide shine AND an excellent dose of moisture. And don't you dare underestimate that thin veil of color, because it's a thin and mean veil of color. Holy crap these Glossy Shine Sticks are devilishly pigmented (with the exception of Mango Tango - see the color review below)! I was expecting a dupe of Clinique Almost Lipstick, and what I got was mother of all lipsticks almost lipstick!!!

Of course it has to take a whole lot more than formula, texture, moisture, and high pigmentation for me to publicly declare this love (and no, I'm not jumping on my couch...yet). But yes, contrary to what you may think I do have standards. What sets these Glossy Shine Sticks clouds above the crowd is that this buttery, glossy, and moisturizing punch-packed, but thin, veil of color actually turns into a stain that will last, last, and last. And last. Yes, I'm saying applying these Glossy Shine Sticks onto bare (emphasizing BARE) lips will stain them for a good several hours, lunch (or dinner) included!

My actual process of discovery for this wonder, no joke:

1. One idly Sunday afternoon a couple weeks ago, I got bored and pulled these out (I didn't try them right away after purchasing).

2. Lah dee dah I grabbed my mirror and applied them by the window for a good look in natural light.

3. Reaction: Oh my freakin' God this stuff is pigmented!!!

4. A few hours later, the glossy shine and some of the actual product had faded, but my lips still felt soft and decently moisturized. However, the color was still there, blaring at pretty much the same intensity as though I had just applied it minutes ago!
Mind you, I wasn't gabbing away during all that time, but I was talking to hubby occasionally and snacked on candies and whatnot. So do keep in that if you're going to do some heavy chatting, the stuff will probably fade a bit faster. Still, I was very impressed with how long the color stayed on my lips despite the fading of the shine and the actual product.

5. Went off to cook dinner, and prior to eating I wiped off my lips with a tissue. I didn't actually use a makeup remover to remove the stuff off of my lips, just wiped with a tissue, you know, so I could eat and taste my dinner instead of the lip stuff. Ate dinner, wiping my mouth constantly with cloth napkin throughout, and on to brushing my teeth.

6. Reaction from looking into the bathroom mirror: Oh my freakin' God that stuff is still there!!!
Well, more like just the color since the actual stuff had been wiped off long ago, but yes, the color was still there! It wasn't blaring with the same just-applied intensity, but the color had definitely stained my lips. I was wearing Strawberry Fields that day, and let me tell you my lips looked like I'd just had authentic Si-chuan cuisine for dinner. Yes, even after several hours of wear, wiping with tissue, eating (a non-spicy) dinner, and constant wiping with cloth napkin. If I wanted to, I could have reapplied a sheer gloss or a color-less balm on top and I would have had stained lips still! N.U.T.S.

- Mango Tango: smells like artificial mango, but sorta yummy nonetheless. This particular color is actually nowhere as pigmented as the other two, however, it's not sheer either. The color looks like a blush pink in the picture, but it actually goes on a lighter and opaque fleshy pink that will turn my lips a bit pale. By opaque I mean if your lips are dry, it'll magnify every flake and crack. So it's sufficient to say this is not my favorite out of the 3 colors I currently own, but I don't hate it and I do wear it occasionally.


- Melon Out: I don't love this scent, it smells like fake melon, and on top of that I already dislike all melon scents in general. But I really really like the color. I don't care if the bubblegum-pink-lips trend has gone by the Ice Age, but man, it's a lovely (and LOUD!) bubblegum pink, warmer and not too cool, and I wear it proudly. Hubby came home from [punk - ha!] band practice one day and the first thing that came out of his mouth when I greeted him at the door was, "Woh." LOL! Yes, that made me happy because he's not an impressionable guy and it takes a whole lot to provoke a reaction out of him. So this lippie is definite keeper, despite the yucky melon scent, and I already bought backups.


- Strawberry Fields: Hey Citrine, you were talking about wanting red lips the other day? Well, here's an atomic red lip color you might want to check out. Despite looking very warm in the picture, it actually goes on a bit cooler, but gorgeously sensuous, of a strawberry red, similar to the color in Zhang Xinyuan's picture where she's wearing the heart-shaped sunglasses. As for me, I've found yet another red lippie I would absolutely wear, though not too often probably. I need major esteem boost, or booze, to work up the courage first). Actually, having said that, I did wear this at work one time and the grand unified response from my colleagues was, "Wow. That's...bold." :D Yep. I bought backups of this one too.