New JOE Fresh Products - First Impression Review
So the other day Superstore tricked me into giving it and trying out some of the new JOE Fresh cosmetics by telling me that they'd give me 5,000 PC Points if I spent $25 on beauty. Like I'm going to say no to any excuse to buy things. And I actually had been looking at these for the last couple of weeks since I noticed them being stocked on the shelves.
Top to Bottom: JOE FRESH Mousse Blush in ROSE $6
JOE FRESH Long Wear Liquid Lipstick in PLUM $8
JOE FRESH Long Wear Liquid Lipstick in KISS $8
I haven't actually tried out that many JOE Fresh products, but the ones that I have tried have generally been fairly unspectacular - though not horrible. They were just forgettable products that basically did the job. This is why I didn't jump up and down about new products to the line, even though these two in particular definitely interested me when I read about them online ahead of their release.
Keeping reading to see my first impressions...
LEFT TO RIGHT: JOE FRESH Long Wear Liquid Lipstick in PLUM $8
JOE FRESH Mousse Blush in ROSE $6
JOE FRESH Long Wear Liquid Lipstick in KISS $8
PACKAGING: In general, I'm not a huge fan of MOST of the JOE Fresh packaging. I just don't feel like there's anything pretty or interesting about it, and it doesn't do minimal in a way that is sleek or striking. It's just boring. And cheap in both look and feel. However, I will say that the fact that the lid for the Mousse Blush is literally a bang on match for the product inside is a really nice change and one that will make it easy to find which one I'm looking for if I decide to pick up anymore of them. I wish more product packaging more closely matched the products inside. All in all, I guess the packaging gets it done, but as far as I'm concerned it feels cheap, a little bit lazy, and not something I'll be excited to pull out of my purse for a touchup.
Now onto the specific products...
DISCLAIMER: Because I tend to rub my lips together pretty much constantly, I'm definitely not someone to give a very accurate timeline on a long wear product. Or any lip product for that matter. I will try to give some kind of idea though.
JOE FRESH Long Wear Lipstick in PLUM
This is a very deep wine shade that takes a very careful hand with application. It's heavily pigmented, so a light hand is also required. I think this is definitely one of those products where you definitely have to be careful about how much you put on because it could end up setting a little bit funky and chunky - I think we've all be there with long wearing liquid lip products and it's not cute. Like a lot of long wear products, this starts off with a creamy texture and sets down to a very matte finish. It can feel a little bit dry on the lips, but I don't find it to be particularly uncomfortable for me. These products claim a 6 hour wear time and I actually do feel like someone could get that with this shade, as it lasts a long time by my own standards.
As to this colour specifically, I think it's really beautiful and that it would be a great go to in the fall or winter. It's definitely not an obvious summer colour, but I think it'll get some wear around bonfires for me this summer because I just feel like its soulmate is a plaid shirt and a pair of wooly socks. And yes, that's probably the 90s child in me screaming for more grunge. Also, speaking of that, I think this is probably really on trend for the young ladies who want to do a Lorde type look, as it definitely has that dark vampiness while still being wearable.
JOE FRESH Long Wear Lipstick in KISS
This one is very similar in formula and texture to the other shade, so I won't talk too much about that, but I will say that by the nature of this pale peachy nude colour it almost requires two distinct coats to improve the wear time. I found that with one coat, the colour tends to dull out quite quickly. Actually, it's kind of weird because, while it's absolutely still there on the lips, it almost starts to blur to look like a naturally pale lip. And I'm not even sure that makes sense, but there it is. Also, I feel like this shade doesn't set to as matte a finish as the PLUM shade. It stays a little bit more creamy, which would probably explain the wear in colour.
I really like this colour. I struggle a lot to find a good nude that doesn't dead me out, and when it comes to the more peachy colours I tend to feel really self conscious like I'm wearing flowers if they lean too much to that pale-but-bright tone. This one is actually really lovely and I feel like it goes well with my complexion and would also be pretty universally flattering on a lot of different skin tones.
VERDICT: All in all, I'm calling the JOE FRESH Long Wear Lipsticks a win. I like them a lot and I feel like they're both going to have their places. I'm also, admittedly, considering trying a couple of the other shades - all of which are incredibly bright summery shades that I think it takes a little bit of balls to wear. The violet-pink shade is calling to me a little bit though.
JOE FRESH Mousse Blush in ROSE
This blush comes in 4 shades and I chose the darkest, because my preference when I'm using mousse or cream cheek products is to get a really intense flush to the cheeks as though I've gotten chilled. I know, not the most summery look but it's the one I prefer and I felt like this would be the real test to whether or not I liked this product.
COLOUR: This colour is so pretty when it's blended out. At first when you tap the swatch onto your skin, the colour is intimidatingly dark and a little bit scary, especially when you have pasty pale skin like me, but it blends out fairly easily to a soft, pretty rose colour that gives that exact look that I was talking about of being bitten a little bit by cold. Right from jump, the colour is a win for me.
TEXTURE: Look how gross it looks in the tapped swatch. Again, at first I was a little put off by that and felt like there was no way it was going to blend nicely, and was surprised that it smoothed out so easily. That being said, this is a very dry formula with a mousse-to-powder type finish, and I feel like it could easily cling to dry patches and look a little... weird. I'm still a little bit on the fence on how I feel about the texture, to be honest, and I'm not sure I can say yay or nay at this point.
OVERALL: Just OK.
As far as my first impression is concerned, I'm torn on this product. And, quite honestly, I'm not really sure how much use I'll ultimately get out of it. A part of me is hoping that it doesn't dry out over the summer, because I have a feeling that come next fall and winter this will be right up my alley - as long as my skin isn't too dry and winter gross, that is.
All in all, I'm not sure that my opinion on JOE Fresh has changed much at all. Even though all of these products will definitely get use and I wouldn't give an outright thumbs down to any of them, I'm not jumping up and down with excitement at the idea of trying more things from the line.
XO.
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