Tints, Balms & Butters: My Sheer Lipstick Collection

Maybelline Color Whisper Pin Up Peach

L'Oreal Colour Riche Caresse Lipstick Sunset Angora

Maybelline Color Whisper Lust for Blush

Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm Pink Blossom

Revlon Lip Butter Raspberry Pie

I'm the first one to throw my hands up and confess to being a lipstick junkie. There's nothing like a beautiful, crisp, opaque red lip to make me feel like a classy lady. Unfortunately, my life does not allow for me to wear high maintenance lip products on a daily basis, and I'm willing to bet that I am one of many. Having a lip balm/butter/tint thrown in your bag is never a bad idea for slapping on a little bit of somethin-somethin to make you look more lively when on the go. The beauty of sheer lip-products is that you don't have to worry about ruining your lipstick on your morning latte, don't have to touch up a thousand times in a day, don't have to worry about it getting on your teeth and dry lips are usually a non-issue. Sheer lip color can be the answer to looking polished and put together with the ease of a mirror-less swipe. This is my current collection of sheer lipsticks (or whatever you want to call them), though I have went through countless products to find a few I like. I tend to give away things that don't tickle my fancy, and one of these puppies is soon being shipped off to someone else's hangbag, or the garbage. Here are the current contenders and my thoughts on them:

MAYBELLINE COLOR WHISPERS
These are probably my favorite sheer tinted lipstick/lip balm/lip butters. They are ultra moisturizing, with a solid colour pay off. They can pretty much be slapped on without a mirror and they last for quite a long time. After they wear off, the lips are left with a pretty stain. I have two shades, Pin Up Peach (which is more pink than peach, but still leans warm) and Lust for Blush (a pretty pale pink), and they are both beautiful colors. I love these lip balms so much and I would not hesitate to purchase more colors.

Grade: A+

L'OREAL COLOUR RICHE CARESSE LIPSTICKS
I enjoy this offering mostly because of the beautiful shade, Angora Sunset. This lipstick is super creamy and feels moisturizng on the lips but I'm not blown away by the wear time. After about an hour it tends to go a little patchy on me. It also requires a mirror to apply because it is so creamy that it could literally end up all over my face if I applied it blindly. This was my favorite until I bought a Maybelline Color Whisper.

Grade: B

BURT'S BEES TINTED LIP BALM 
I truly think this lip balm was designed for nurses (my mom loves these too). It can be swiped on without a mirror and applied multiple times a day without looking overboard. The tint is subtle but buildable and it has a sweet scent that I find quite enjoyable. The beauty of this lip balm is that it has the soothing properties of the good old original Burt's Bees Lip Balms with a pretty pink hue (I have the color Pink Blossom). It has a lovely, light feeling on the lips and almost feels as if you are wearing nothing but Chapstick. This is amazing for dry, chapped lips from the cold that can't tolerate anything else.

Grade: A+

REVLON LIP BUTTERS
This may be a controversial statement, but I cannot stand the formula of these lip butters. I was likely the first person to buy them when they were released and I probably bought 5 shades at once from pure excitement of the launch. Raspberry Pie is the last man standing and I'm not even sure why I still have it. If you can't tell from the picture above, the color is absolutely gorgeous... but that's about the only good thing about it. It dries out my lips horribly, it fades to leave a funky ring of colour around the lips and it smudges easily. It is impossible to make it look neat around the edges because the formula is SO slippy and pigmented. I never wear this. Ever. Don't buy them.

Grade: D.