The Body Shop: Flavoured lip gloss tubes

I was lucky enough to win five pretty lip glosses from The Body Shop's new flavoured lip gloss range after participating in an Instagram 'Lippyaday' challenge hosted by the lovely Norlin of Melbourne style and beauty blog Baubles, Bubbles & Bags!  

After being terrified of showing my face on social media, this selfie challenge made me conquer my fears as I had to get out there and post a picture of myself wearing a different lip colour every day (or nearly every day).  Well, I'm still self-conscious but I'm still doing it because I've reasoned it's worth the "pain" to show you guys how something actually looks on my lips and against my pale complexion - winning the glosses was a wonderfully unexpected reward for taking that metaphorical plunge! Anyhow, enough of the social media therapy session.  This is not why we're here is it!

Time for some thoughts and swatches.  At first impressions these tubes remind me quite a bit of a glossy lip balm range European brand Essence included in their lineup a year or so ago.  The packaging and concept are quite similar as the tubes are tinted, fruity 'flavoured' glosses (I suppose the other obvious comparison would be with Lancome's iconic Juicy Tubes although I've surprisingly little experience with those).  That's where the comparison with the Essence glosses ends.  I found The Body Shop glosses to be surprisingly thick as you'll see in the swatches later in this post.  However they're not watery at all so they hold within the lip line very well, even when worn alone.  Thick yes, but tacky no, and they feel lovely and buttery on the lips giving a high shine, wet look to the lips.  Wear time was average so these do need regular reapplication and most of the colours I received were quite sheer worn alone but they work beautifully for layering over lip pencil or lipstick.  I've hit on a few combinations that I enjoyed and I'll share those with you as I go through the shades/flavours.

Left to Right:

Peach - This peach scented gloss has a slightly golden shimmer and is very sheer worn alone.  I layered this over Rimmel's caramel beige lipstick Undressed and it gave it a warm sheen with a very subtle shimmer.

Coconut - A pearly ivory shimmer with a rather delicious coconut scent, leaving virtually undetectable colour on my lips.  I preferred layering it over Wet n Wild's 666 Brandy Wine lip pencil for a cool nude look.  As a matter of fact I enjoyed this combination so much I wore it three days straight!

Watermelon - Watermelon scent and watermelon pink as the name says, with a barely detectable sparkle.  I wore this alone for a tiny hint of flush on my lips.  

Strawberry - A slightly warmer, more red tone than Watermelon, sans shimmer or sparkle. I thought this smelt more cherry than strawberry!  Another good shade to wear as a standalone sheer glossy tint.

Plum - The most pigmented shade in my collection and a little old fashioned too with its icy finish.  Again, this scent fooled my senses as I thought it was more grape than plum - but what does plum really smell like?  This cool, almost frosty blue-toned pink reminds me of the lip colours I favoured in my twenties.  I still think it has its place in my lip wardrobe though.

Swatched in same order as above:

What are your thoughts on flavoured lip gloss tubes?