The Balm Girls Lipsticks - Ima Goodkisser and Mai Billsbepaid (and quick mention of Stainiac)

The Balm Girls Lipsticks and sample of Stainiac

This will be the final post regarding product from the Balm for a while, I promise. 

(Though I reserve the right to go back on my word if there's another sale on Haute Look anytime soon. I can't resist much from this brand.)

So the final items that I purchased during the last Balm sale on Haute Look were two of the Balm Girls Lipsticks.  I've never tried Balm lip products before, so I was really curious to give these a go.

And they totally reeled me in with the cute shade names, which are a fun little play on the Bond girl names.  Gotta love that creativity. 

I chose Ima Goodkisser and Mai Billsbepaid.

Ima Goodkisser (l.)  and Mai Billsbepaid (r.)

The lipsticks have a slightly mint taste/scent, which I find very pleasant.  The formula isn't particularly moisturizing, but it isn't drying either.  The good news is that because it isn't a moisturizing formula, the staying power is pretty good.  I wore both of these for about four hours without having to reapply. (And if I hadn't drank a couple of Diet Cokes while I had them on, I probably could have gotten even longer wear out of them.)

The Balm describes Ima Goodkisser as a soft shimmering coral, but I see it more as a bright mid-tone pink.  The shimmer in it is really subtle, so if you're not a fan of glittery or shimmery lipsticks, I think that this shade could still work. It's a very brightening shade and I particularly like it now for summer.


Mai Billsbepaid is described as a velvety nude, and I think that's a pretty accurate description. It's a matte shade, and it's a deeper nude shade so you don't have to worry about it washing you out if you've got fair skin. In fact, it's got rosy-brown undertones so it's a pretty flattering nude shade for most skin tones, I think. It's definitely a good everyday lipstick.

Ima Goodkisser (l.) & Mai Billsbepaid (r.)

I like these lipsticks quite a bit, and would definitely purchase more - if there were any colors that I was interested in. I think that there are only 4 other shades and none of them really grab me.  Hopefully, the Balm will add some more colors to the range at some point.

Now, on a side note, I received a sample of the Balm's Stainiac, a lip and cheek stain.

I'd bought Benefit's Benetint several years back, and didn't really like the product. I found it difficult to apply with winding up with a streaky patch on my cheek and even when I got it to apply evenly, the color payoff just didn't seem worth the effort I had to go to when applying it.

I guess I have to accept that these stain products just aren't for me because I don't like Stainiac much better.

It has more slip than the Benetint so I thought that it would blend more easily, but I ran into the same problems with this as I did with the Benefit stain. And the fact that I don't have a swatch photo is a testament to the fact that the color payoff isn't particularly good - when I applied it to my arm, you couldn't really tell where it was since the color was so faint.

I'd suggest passing on this one.

So far that's the only dud product I've tried from the Balm - out of 5 shadow palettes, 2 lipsticks, 3 blushes, a highlighter, bronzer and concealer.  That's a pretty good track record in my book.

I seriously think that the Balm has become my favorite brand. 

What's your favorite brand these days?  And what lipstick shade are you wearing like crazy this summer?