I Thought I Knew What It Meant to Have Soft Lips, but This Under-the-Radar Tint Proved Me Wrong
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And it’s on sale.
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Last year I tested an eye cream so good at blasting away my dark circles that it made me question how good every other eye cream I’d ever tried actually is, even the ones I liked. That was a singular instance in which I completely reevaluated what I thought a product could do but now it’s happened again. Illamasqua’s Hydra Lip Tint has conditioned and softened my lips (in addition to imparting subtle color) so efficiently and effectively that I have to wonder what exactly all my other lip care products are doing.
My go-to shade in the balm-like Hydra Tint is Mocktail, a red/pink sandwiched between a neutral peach pigment. The dual-tone, three-stripe tube tints my lips with a sheer, slightly glossy, subtle cherry pink color. The cosmetic component is what I initially came for, but it was the products nourishing properties that astounded me hours later.
Dermstore
$26
$20
The color Hydra Tint imparts is subtle and easy to wear and it’s low effort — the type of thing you can apply without a mirror. That is great and all but it's second fiddle to the way six hours later my lips were the softest they’ve ever felt. Thanks to its weightlessness I forgot I even had Illamasqua’s Hydra Tint on. I only remembered when I rubbed my lips together and had to pause — when had they gotten that buttery, velvet soft?
To answer a half-rhetorical question, literally that day — one swipe in a few hours than entire tubs of lip masks have done in months. At the crux of its ultra-nourishing effect is a combination of simple ingredients: apricot and peach kernel oil.
When used in skincare, apricot oil is a very gentle exfoliant that sloughs off dead skin cells. It also improves radiance and has anti-aging properties like plumping skin to reduce the appearance of fine lines. That is the first part of the puzzle — despite all my lip care upkeep, it appears that there were still some dead skin cells that were removed without me even noticing. Peach kernel oil is antioxidant- and fatty acid-rich, it delivers deep deep hydration and suppleness that lasted me an entire day.
I wasn’t expecting much when I almost mindlessly swiped on Illamasqua’s Hydra Tint but I’m so glad I did it because it has very quickly changed my lips. It comes in five shades and the two most universally flattering (Mocktail and Swimsuit) are available and on sale at Dermstore. Shop them while they’re on sale with the code CHEERS.
Dermstore
$26
$20
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