L’oreal recently launched a new line of tinted lip balms and who doesn’t want more tinted lip balms in their collection?

These appear to be a permanent addition to the line and also seem to be in addition to the existing line of lip balms (comparisons at the end).

According to the L’oreal website:

The next generation of lip balms has arrived. Balm Pop enlivens lips with pure, vibrant color and contains Jojoba and Shea butter to nourish and hydrate for a full 8 hours. Available in six daring shades.

There seems to be some confusion about how many shades are in the line. The site states that there are six shades but only shows four shades. In stores there are four shades of the Pop Balms and four shades of the Nude Balms but the nude shades aren’t even mentioned on the site. Mystery!

Moving along then. L’oreal claims that these give 8 hours of hydration. Umm…no. Just no. I do find these to be moderately hydrating but only for about an hour. Hurray for ludicrous marketing claims! In general I have very dry lips and lip products tend to fade and dissipate quite quickly on me but the wear time on this product is very short. On the other hand, this is the type of product that I really don’t mind reapplying. It has a pleasant creme brûlée scent that I really like and it is easy to apply without a mirror because the color is relatively sheer. This is the type of product that I keep on my desk at work and reapply as I’m working and I’m a big fan of that whole MO.

On to the pictures! (And there are a lot so hunker down, we’ll be here for a minute)

Swatches on the top are a single swipe while the lower swatches are built up a fair bit.

I always appreciate photos of lip products on the lip because you get a better idea of what they look like in real life. Let’s start with a reference photo of my lip color with no product applied.

Nude Balm in Nourishing Nude

This gives a hint of nude that just works with any makeup or no makeup. I’ve already used this a fair bit and really enjoy it.

Pop Balm in Caring Coral

Caring Coral is just so pretty. It’s almost the same shade as my lips but slightly warmer toned. I find this type of shade to be so flattering on me so I enjoy this shade. The color on this lasts slightly longer than the nude shade and it wears off evenly. It is slightly more intense in person than in this photo (really that goes for all of these photos, they’re just ever so slightly washed out but the shade of the product is accurate)

Pop Balm in Wild Lily

Wild Lily is a slightly cool hot pink. If it was more opaque I would not be able to wear this shade at all, as it is, it’s borderline too pink for my complexion (I was hoping this would be a bit more purple than pink). I’m not sure if this is a one off fluke or if all of the “wild lily’s” are the same but this has no added scent. It’s just a tad chemically smelling like they forgot to add the creme brûlée scent that hides the scent of the actual product. This is the second time this has happened to me recently and I’m not sure what the deal is.

I wanted to provide a brief comparison to the Colour Riche Balms that L’oreal already has in their lineup. Based on the three shades from the line, the Pop Balms and the Nude Balms seem to be a bit more pigmented. Both lines have a similar scent and both lines have a similar wear time. Besides the slight increase in color intensity, the main difference does seem to be simply shade selection. The newer releases are in “fun colors” while the older line has more “classic colors”.

More photos! Yay!

The “built up” swatches of the regular balms are approximately twice as many passes as with the newer line.

Colour Riche Pink Satin

Colour Riche Tender Mauve

Colour Riche Balm in Plush Plum

Overall I really enjoy L’oreal’s iteration of the tinted lip balm. They are more moisturizing than Maybelline’s Color Whispers or Cover Girl’s Baby Lips and they are far more sheer than Revlon’s Lip Butter’s but they are a nice, easy pleasant product.