Luscious Lips - Benefit California Kissin' Moisturising Lip Balms*

Hi Guys x I hope you're all having a nice weekend, although this post is going live a little later than I intended it to, today sees the return of my Luscious Lips series, which is basically a little mini series, when I talk about either some of my favourite lip products, and I try out a lip product that is new to me. Today's post is probably a bit of both, something both new to me, and something that I really like

Let's take little trip back to 2020, No? Okay I don't really blame you if you want to forget that 2020 ever existed, 2020 to put it mildly was a bit rubbish, but when we were eventually set free, and shops and online retailers started opening up again, I ended up picking up a few beauty bits including this Christmas 2020 set from Benefit Cosmetics.

Showcasing one of their most recent introductions, California Kissin' Club contained 5 Mini California Kissin' Moisturising Lip Balms, in 5 of their most popular shades, which were perfect for the festive season. I'm huge fan of kits like this, that give you a chance to try a few mini products for around the same price, or sometimes even less that it would cost for the full size, plus who doesn't love a mini!

Packaged in slightly different packaging to the full sizes, these lip balms come packaged in super cute, mini silver black and clear bullets, with a typical Benefit style girl illustration.

To call these babies just lip balms though is a bit of a disservice - containing hyaluronic and wild mango butter, these balms not only promise softer, more hydrated and smoother lips, but they also claim to give up to 8 hours of vibrant, cushiony soft colour - so no they aren't just lip balms, they are tinted lip balms, and boy do I mean tinted!

From Left To Right - Berry 333, Spiced Red 11, Wine 222, Ruby 22 and Cherry 00

As you can see these certainly aren't one of those wishy, washy tinted balms that you can buy, the pigmentation levels, and colour pay off is insane. Just one swipe produces a swatch of smooth, creamy vibrant colour, that probably more resembles a moisturising lipstick rather than a tinted balm.

With a gorgeous fruity, mango / peach type taste and scent, these balms feel nice and smooth and moisturising on the lips without feeling overtly sticky or slimy. Since these have a slightly curved, flat tip, it is a little difficult to keep these highly pigmented balms within the lip line, so if you want a really precise finish then I would probably apply them with care or with a lip brush.

As you would expect from such moisturising bold colour there was a little bit of movement and transfer. I'm not sure about their 8 hour wear time claim, but for what in essence is a lip balm, the wear time wasn't bad. Whilst the initial sheen wore off in an hour or so, there was still a hint of colour left on the lips and they still felt moisturised and protected.

Berry 333

Spiced Red 11

Wine 222

Ruby 22

Cherry 00

Are these the longest wearing lip colours in the world? no probably not, are these the most moisturising lip balms that you'll ever use? also no. Despite that though I really, really like these, they taste and smell yummy, the quality is superb, the colour payoff is amazing for a tinted balm, and they feel really, really nice on the lips.

The colours in this set are some of the most vibrant and bold within the California Kissin' range, with Berry and Spiced perhaps being the most wearable ones, but if these shades aren't for you there are another 11 shades to try.

This particular kit is no longer available, but there are a couple of other mini kits that you might be able to get your hands on, including Kisses & Wishes, which contains 4 shades including Ruby and Spiced Red, as well as two new shades, Nude Rose, and Rosewood. This kit is probably the hardest to find now as it was a Christmas gift set from last year, but I did manage to get my hands on it in the Boxing Day sales, so I'll be sharing a review of both Nude Rose and Rosewood in a future post.

One mini set that does seem to still be pretty easy to find thought it the Pucker Up, & Peace Out Lip Balm Trio, which contains mini sizes of Spiced Red, Ruby, and Berry, With an RRP of £19.50 it's available from a few retailers including Boots, Feel Unique, Look Fantastic, Debenhams, All Beauty, NEXT, Escentual and Cult Beauty. If you're interested in this particular kit though I would shop around a bit if I were you, and this particular kit does appear to be on sale on a few sites.

If minis aren't your style though or if you've already tried these lips balms and you already love them, then you can get a full 3g full size in one of 16 different shades, packaged in fabulous sculptural packaging for a recommended retail price of £19 from all of the retailers that I've previously mentioned as well as direct from Benefit Cosmetics, John Lewis, and House Of Fraser. Again though being the bargain hunter that I am, I'd shop around as quite a few retailers have some pretty decent discounts either on the whole range or on selected shades.

Are you a fan of tinted lip balms? Let me know your favourites in the comments, and don't forget to contact me either via the comments section, or via social media if you have any questions x

*This Post Contains Automatic Affiliate, Added Affiliate And Non Affiliate Links.