Review: Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez – Soft Pinch Tinted Lip Oil – Wonder

Admittedly I’ve been on a bit of a Rare Beauty kick lately (and I talked about my love for the branding in the opening to this Kind Words Matte Lipstick review). At some point along the journey I came across this clip from Alexis and Christina at The Lipstick Lesbians:

Sold!

Really, it’s winter where I live and the dry weather has really been giving my love of matte lipsticks a run for its money, so here was a great opportunity. I was in the mood for something a bit more “casual”, easy to apply and wear, comfortable. I love the Maybelline Lifter Glosses, but they do feel thick and a bit sticky to me, plus sometimes the taste bothers me. I have one lip oil from Colourpop, but my lips tend to dry and peel after a day of wear so I tend not to reach for it.

I think I found an option that really fits the bill – read on!

Cost

CA$30 or $10/ml

You’ll pay the same for a lipstick bullet (3g) from Rare Beauty. Not bad in my opinion!

Finish and colour payoff

She’s a lip oil and for this shade, the colour payoff is great on application! I’m not a huge gloss person, and yet I love the glossy wash of colour this lip oil gives.

“Never sticky and loves to be layered! Give it one swipe for a slick wash of color, or layer up for a bold, juicy pop.”

Formula description

When you hear “lip oil” you have some expectations, so I was actually surprised how this one felt on application! Rare Beauty expands upon the idea of a lip oil, describing theirs as “an innovative lip jelly that transforms into a lightweight oil, starting off glossy, then leaving lips tinted while staying comfortable—never sticky—all day.”

They also claim that it “gently plumps lips for a fuller, healthier-looking pout in seconds.”

Ah, okay! On reading that, what they’ve done with this formula totally makes sense. It does feel lightweight, it’s not sticky, it does leave a tint, and it has that menthol that Alexis mentioned in her video which is probably part of the gentle plumping attribute, which I’d say is very subtle.

I love the feel of this lip oil, being that it’s gorgeous and glossy and yet it hardly feels like anything at all when you apply it. I agree that it’s a truly comfortable formula – it’s a bit of moisture and a barely-there feel without stickiness. I would wear it with my hair down in a wind storm.

The menthol is not intense to me, it just gives a slight cooling sensation on application, but I don’t detect a minty flavour – just an ever so slight sweetness.

Shade description

Wonder is described as a “rose mauve” – a safe bet for me, as I’ve been living in rosy mauves most of my lipstick life.

Silly me though, as I was perusing I didn’t realize that Alexis was actually wearing the same shade in the clip above!

I find it reads brighter than I expected at first, but I like it! The stain left after the oil has worn away is indeed a rose mauve but leaning more heavily into the rose.

Fragrance

I hardly detect one, and I love that! A faint sweetness on the lip that doesn’t last or otherwise interfere with daily life.

Wear

The glossy effect lasted nicely through a moderately careful cup of coffee. The pigments transferred a bit, but still left my lips looking gorgeous. As the gloss wears off, the tint remains leaving a beautiful soft stain.

I put the stain to the test and wore it through an ungracefully-eaten lunch, and here is the resulting fade:

So it did leave a bit of a ring, and I felt as though the stain seeped into some areas of my lips (I have far from a perfect canvas as my lips are usually quite dry, so stains often end up looking pretty patchy after a few hours).

As I reapply throughout the day, the pigment builds and stain gets bolder, not that I’m complaining! After multiple applications, the edge of the lips are a bit bolder than the middle, but it works!

I should also note that my lips were happy by the end of the day – I mentioned above the lip oil from Colourpop would cause dryness and peeling, but this one pretty much leaves my lips the way they were in the morning, and for me that’s a win.

Packaging

I love the packaging, which is the same as the blushes except the bottle is an opaque colour rather than transparent, so you’re not able to see the gloss inside.

I’m grateful for the lovely caps – aside from being cute as heck, they allow you to twist the lid off and on again with great ease! Wonderful for anyone living with hand mobility issues, weakness, or even little matters like my chronic dry hands and tend to either lack fingertip grip (RIP fingerprints) or I have some sort of hand cream on that makes smooth caps difficult to twist on and off thanks to the slip. No issue here!

Similar from my collection

I like to include this section in my reviews because it makes me think about how each product fits into my collection (and stops me from, say, buying more nude beiges…).

In this case? Not a thing, honestly. The only other true lip stain I’ve tried is Benetint, many years ago, and I didn’t love how it wore. I’ve always had dry lips, so it would have a very patchy fade that I couldn’t resolve by reapplying because any dark areas would just get darker. The oil aspect of this product helps circumvent that a bit so we aren’t accentuating dry patches or lines.

One other product came to mind, but it’s a completely different formula, and that’s the Revlon Balm Stains! I’m not sure they make them anymore, but I lived in Honey for many years and this lip oil reminded me of it because of the slight menthol feeling and the stain it left behind.

Final thoughts

I love this lip oil. The shade is great, I love the formula, and the stain is a fabulous bonus even if it fades after a meal. I do love a vanilla fragrance, but honestly it does sometimes interfere with whatever I’ve just finished eating or drinking, so it’s not always desirable. This seems truly fragrance-free to me. A jack of all trades!

If I weren’t so fickle about wearing different lip products every day, this would be an absolute staple (along with Urban Decay Vice lipsticks), and I’d get a few more shades. I don’t honestly think I’d bother with a true lip tint now that I’ve found this product.

Have you tried these? Do you prefer these, or traditional lip oils? I’d love to know!