I'd been eyeing these Opera Lip Tint for a long time, since their release in the fall of 2016 when I'd just moved home from Tokyo in fact. As it happened, they were sold out on Opera's official online shop for the longest time, until the summer of 2017, can you believe that? As soon as I saw them in stock again, I grabbed one of each color, 01 Red, 02 Pink, 03 Apricot, 04 Orange, 05 Coral Pink, and 06 Pink Red.
All pictures taken in natural light without flash.
First thing first--love the packaging. Slim and sleek, and the shiny gold appeals to my monkey brains. I've echoed Citrine that with Japanese lip and cheek products, anything with "tint" actually means "stain." These Lip Tints aren't an exception. If their popularity says anything at all, it's that they work pretty well. They apply with a transparent but great pop of color, then wear off to a soft stain, which you can leave as is or top with clear balm or gloss to revive the color on your lips, so check for great formula. Texture wise, I wish they weren't so thin but I found them adequately moisturizing, so no complaints here either. All the colors are transparent and shimmer-free, and you already know I love that.
What I do want to complain about is the similarity in colors. Then again, most Japanese lippies split hair when it comes to color variations. If you want my take, the four colors that applied unique on my lips, and swatched unique on the back of my hand too, are 01 Red, 02 Pink, 04 Orange, and 06 Pink Red. Even then, of these four only two left discernibly different stains: 01 Red and 02 Pink. The rest just look too similar.
- 01 Red: applies warm red but stains neutral red.
- 02 Pink: applies cool rose and stains even cooler pink.
- 03 Apricot: applies orange-coral and stains coral.
- 04 Orange: applies fiery orange (love, love, love!) but leaves the second weakest stain of all six colors, a faint coral. I don't mind this as I'm just over the moon with the orange.
- 05 Coral Pink: applies true to its name, a pink-coral, but leaves the weakest stain of the bunch, an even fainter coral than 04 Orange.
- 06 Pink Red: applies raspberry but stains an identical but weaker cool pink than 02 Pink.
Will I buy more should they release new colors? Yes ^.^
Hmmm I am trying so hard not to get the orange one (as an effort to downsize)but I think I am failing...
ReplyDeleteBtw, I got your card (love your family photo!) just got sidetracked by the bomb cyclone and "other stuff I can't say on public blog"...But it's getting better. Maybe another lipstick doesnt hurt...
Hey Mina,
ReplyDeleteThanks! Keep warm over there, and another lipstick definitely doesn't hurt ^.^ I love the orange so I'd totally recommend it.
Cheers,
D.
Gosh, these sound nice!
ReplyDeleteHi Claire,
ReplyDeleteThese are really nice! I do wish they were thicker but hey, I'm not complaining ^.^
Cheers,
D.
Last year I was just wandering around a Loft store while browsing @Cosme Award on my phone, read that the Lip tint won Lipstick of the Year 2017 or something like that.. and when I Looked up I was standing right in front of a towering display of Lip Tint. And yes, I think it totally deserved the award.
ReplyDeleteHi amadl,
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading and commenting.
These Lip Tints won for 2016 too, I think. And may be their Sheer Lip Colors too (http://alittledabintomakeup.blogspot.com/2016/11/opera-sheer-lip-color.html) though I'm still bitter that these Sheer Lip Colors are so tiny with so little product content for the retail price.
Cheers,
D.
Hi may i know if these can be found readily at drugstores in japan?
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteActually, Opera is a "boutique" drugstore brand (I know, it's weird), so they're not available at drugstores at all. Instead, you can find them at Plaza, Loft, may be Tokyu Hands too, and other specialty/lifestyle stores.
Hope this helps,
D.
Hi D,
ReplyDeleteBetween OPERA Lip Tint & CANMAKE Stay On Balm Rouge TINT, which one do you find is superior/the better one of the two (more moisturizing and longer lasting)?
Thank you so much in advance!
Cheers,
A
Hi D,
ReplyDeleteBetween OPERA Lip Tint & CANMAKE Stay On Balm Rouge TINT, which one do you find is superior/the better one of the two (more moisturizing and longer lasting)?
DIOR Lip Glow is my current tinted lip balm HG but I'm currently looking for a more reasonably priced product to alternate with the DIOR :)
Thank you so much in advance!
Cheers,
A
Hi Anya,
ReplyDeleteI just tested both, each on one side of my lips, just for you :)
Upon application, Opera feels thinner and with more slip while Canmake has more of a balmy feel. Once on though, I can't tell the difference between the two. They feel equally nice and moisturizing.
Stain-wise, Opera leaves a weaker stain than Canmake.
What remains to be seen is how long the moisture and the stain will last. I'll update this in a couple of hours if you want to check back. Hope this helps.
On another note, I heard YSL has a better and more moisturizing formula than Dior. Have you tried YSL? Either way, you're totally right, neither Dior nor YSL are reasonably price at all. Whereas Canmake retails at around 600yen and Opera at 1,600yen ^.^
Cheers,
D.
Hi again Anya,
ReplyDeleteWoops I totally forgot to update this until now. So sorry!!!
The verdict: Canmake moisture lasted for longer than Opera, but the Opera stain lasted for longer than Canmake.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
D.
Wow this definitely helps a lot. Thanks sooo much, D! Hopefully this helps others too in the future 😍 xoxo
ReplyDeleteHi Anya,
ReplyDeleteYou're so welcome and I'm sorry again for the long wait. I'm so forgetful these days. I guess they say "mommy brains" for a reason xD
Cheers,
D.