L'Oreal Colour Riche Lipstick in Sparkling Coral

I promised you guys a closer look of Sparkling Coral when I posted this face of the day featuring it, and here it is! I found Sparkling Coral on a recent trip to Bed Bath & Beyond's amazing drugstore makeup department. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I feel like this is the best place to shop for drugstore makeup brands. If you have a Bed Bath & Beyond with a beauty department, take advantage of it! It's worth checking to see if one of your nearby stores has one. They don't run sales on their cosmetics, but they're less expensive than my local Target and Walmart, and you can use Bed Bath & Beyond 20% off and $5 off $30 coupons on the cosmetic and beauty merchandise as well. Plus, they have a great selection; lotions, shampoos, and conditioners that are difficult to find are often easily found on their shelves. And did I mention they are consistently the first store in the area to put out Special Edition displays, which are always magically well-stocked? Simply put, it's an amazing resource.

Anyway, they had all of the Spring and Summer LE displays out, and I snatched up L'Oreal's Sparkling Coral, despite having had a less than stellar track record with the Colour Riche formula in the past. I think my past few Colour Riche formulas had been just fine, but without anything specific to recommend them, and the waxy-floral cosmetic smell they gave off was a little off-putting. That being said, Sparkling Coral is a different beast. The formula is sheer and can be built up to medium-opacity. In this case, the slightly waxy formula is a great thing; it makes my lips look very full and air-brushed, with the layers of shimmer in the lipstick building to a kind of "jelly sandwich" texture. The color itself is really wearable, too; it's a sheer tangerine with coppery gold shimmer, but not so much shimmer that it is frosty. It's super flattering, and because it can be worn sheer, I think it would be flattering on lots of skin tones. Yes, it does have the signature Colour Riche scent, but it fades very quickly. You know what's funny is that it actually reminds me of my mom; she used a lot of Colour Riche lipsticks, and I remember sitting in the car with her while she touched up her makeup and having this specific scent flood the vehicle as soon as she pulled off the cap.

Sorry, I am waxing sentimental! Let's get back on track. The retail price on these, according to the L'Oreal website, is $8.95, although they can be had for far less, and are often run on sale in drugstores. L'Oreal often puts $1 off coupons in coupon circulars as well, so keep your eyes peeled for those if you buy L'Oreal products! I spent $5.99 on mine, which is Bed Bath & Beyond's regular price with no extra discount; I believe Target and Walmart have similar pricing on this item. Sparkling Coral has a slightly different formula than the opaque cream finish lipsticks in this line; I find Sparkling Coral to give me a little bit of hydration. Not enough that I'd use it instead of lip balm, but my lips don't get thirsty under this, and I don't feel the need to layer it with a balm. It feels comfortable and cushiony on the lip, much more like a thick balm than a lipstick. While there is a faint waxy-floral scent, there is no taste.

On to the photos; for reference, I am wearing the shade built up on my lips. It is about as opaque as I can get it in the following pictures:

L'Oreal Sparkling Coral Lipstick

It is housed in the standard golden plastic Colour Riche case

Sparkling Coral! 

Sparkling Coral in the tube; look at all that shimmer! 

 Here it is swatched; on the right, I have 4 passes, on the left, just one:

Swatches of L'Oreal Sparkling Coral

And another shot of it on the lips, because it's just such a gorgeous color: 

L'Oreal Colour Riche Sparkling Coral Lipstick

Summary: Can you tell I really love this lipstick? It is a new favorite. The color is amazing, and the sheer-to-medium-coverage formula is really easy to pull off. Plus, it just brightens the complexion; it's a great summery tangerine. I have no complaints with the formula aside from the scent, and even though I seem to be more sensitive to the way products smell than most people (I can't wear Rimmel lipsticks, for instance!), this does not keep me from reaching for this lipstick; the odor is very faint and fades within a minute or two of going on the lip. I'd recommend this lipstick without hesitation; for the price, I'm not sure you can get a better wearable sheer tangerine-orange lipstick. If you've been itching to try out the orange trend this summer, I think this lipstick is a good way to test the waters!