this ain't a matte lipbalm, it's an arms race (revlon colorburst matte balms review)

Revlon is a company that, to be frank, really does not mess around when it comes to creating new products. Their color collections are always "meh" to me, but when it comes to an actual new product line, I am so there. This goes double for their new Matte Colorburst Balms, which are like their Kissable Balm Stains but in Matte and Glossy finishes instead of just the one-size-fits-all sheer semi-gloss finish the previous had.

But do they hold up compared to the original?



I gotta say, while I'm not a fan of any of Revlon's actual lipstick formulas at all, these blow everything out of the water. Homerun. GOOOAAALLLL! REVLON SHOOTS AND IT'S GOOD!!!!

They're matte and super pigmented, go on like a dream and wear very nicely. They also have a slight minty scent like the originals, and the tubes are a frosty matte plastic instead of shiny.

I, being a brights type of girl, went for Audacious and Standout.

Audacious, which was the color Emma Stone was shown wearing on the display, appears to be a bright orange from the tube. This is...not quite true. On the lips it's more of a slightly chalky and pale pinky-tinged orange, which disappointed me a little. I was hoping for more OOMPH! from it.

The formula on this was also not quite as good as Standout, since it wanted to cling to every lip line and flake, even after I exfoliated my lips and tried it again. The pastel-ness is has seems to be what probably causes this sort of thing, since I find the slightly patchy and line-clinging tendencies some lipcolors have to exist mostly in paler shades.

But Standout? Ohohoh, it's basically the most appropriate named thing ever!

Standout is a darker, slightly berry-ish red that applies like a dream, no issues with chalkiness or clinging to lip lines here at all. After putting this on I had to hold myself back from buying more of these balms. It's that good. It made me a believer. THIS is the type of color I think of when I say Revlon ain't messing around. The pigmentation and smoothness of application are probably on-par with the new NARS Matte Velvet Lip Pencil I bought, if I may make a claim as bold as that. Totally perfect, and I think this one will be making a permanent home in my go-to lip stash.

Overall? Yeah. Buy these. Please. If you are in the market for a good chubby matte lip pencil, I'd actually skip everyone else and just buy these. They're not super cheap at $8.99 but most drugstores have frequent BOGO sales, so combined that with a few manufacturer coupons and you can probably score these for like $3.50 each. (Which is what I did, just sayin'. Totally made them even more worth it.)

Everyone better watch out, cause while I hear Maybelline is launching lip pencils for Spring '14 as well, with these it's clear Revlon won't let anyone take their drugstore innovation crown unless it's pried from their cold, dead, perfectly manicured hands.

Where to buy: Various drugstores, prices vary. Not yet online. ):