REVIEW: JOE FRESH Lip Créme in Rose

by - February 10, 2016


Have you seen the new JOE FRESH display in your local Shoppers Drug Mart yet? I heard in late 2015 that they were going to be carrying the line, but I was surprised at the number of new, interesting looking products in the display the first time I saw it. I've tried out a handful of products from JOE before, but not since they've been making their packaging a little more high end and seem to have been reformulating their products. So, of course, when I saw the JOE FRESH Lip Créme in Rose, a lip cream product in a midtoned mauvey rose shade, I had to grab it. Right?

Anyway, I've been trying this out and I'm ready to give you my thoughts - so keep reading to see how I feel about this product and take a look at the swatches.



First off... How nice has JOE FRESH packaging gotten recently? I love the clear acrylic and white design that allows you to see the shade of whatever it is that you're using. They seem to be using this packaging across a lot of their new products now, and I feel like it definitely gives the brand a more luxe feel over all. My favorite thing about this particular product's packaging is definitely the applicator. It's a sponge tip in a flat, almost paddle-like shape and I find that it's makes the application of this product insanely easy.


First off, I want to be clear. This is not a matte liquid lipstick! I think a lot of us, myself included, have started assuming that "liquid lipstick" means matte most of the time, but that can definitely lead to some surprises. This formula is a creamy finish that maintains a lot of shine on the lips. If you blot it, you can take it down to more of a satin finish, but unless you set it with loose powder you're not going to get a matte finish from this product. I felt like that was important to let you guys know.


Now, for the formula. I have to say, I'm very, very impressed and surprised by a few elements of it. First, it's quite a thick formula and very, very pigmented, but I don't find that it feels overly heavy on the lips and it never applies gloopy or uneven. This has a nice glide to it and applies the product really evenly over the lips with full opacity in one swipe. I would say that this is like a really, really pigmented gloss, but I actually feel like that is kind of reductive. This is really a liquid formula lipstick. It's also a little bit amazing in that it manages to cling really well to the lips and be surprisingly long wearing without being at all sticky. 

One thing that I'm not the keenest on is the smell. It's definitely trying to be sweet with an almost cake batter type smell, but it's a little bit cloying and there's something sharp that I find somewhat off putting. Fortunately, I can't smell this product once it's on the lips so it's not a huge problem for me.


Now, about the shade. In the tube, this appears to be a little bit more of a neutral mauve, but on the lips there's a lot more pink than I was expecting and it's quite a bit more vibrant, though I wouldn't call it bright. I would say that this is more of an orchid shade than I was expecting it to be. That said, this is really beautiful and feminine on the lips and I feel like this will be a perfect spring lip shade for a lot of different skin tones.


Overall, I'm really surprised by how impressive this product is. I was, admittedly, expecting it to be more matte than it is, but I'm not upset that it isn't. On my lips, the level of gloss of this finish just gives a really plump, health look to my lips. I also love the shade a lot more than I thought I would at first application and will definitely get a lot of springtime wear out of this. I don't think I'm personally going to run out and get more shades, but I am definitely happy that I picked up this one.

Thanks for reading!

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