Lancôme shakes it up.

The Lancome Juicy Shakers are actually something that I’ve been patiently waiting to arrive in Malaysia, ever since I saw some makeup artists posting about them on Instagram. It ended up taking some time but the second I saw the posters of Lily Collins come up, I had to snap some up.

First things first, the packaging is really gimmicky. Let’s just get that out of the way. But you know what? I don’t see the problem with caving in to gimmicks once in a while and as far as I’m concerned, this is at least a cute, creative gimmick. The cocktail shaker design reminds me of products from the 1950s when they used to have lipsticks and powder compacts designed to look like pianos and seashells. Maybe I wouldn’t want all my lipsticks to be shaped like something or other but cosmetics– just like mobile phones– have been getting way too homogenous lately. I’m glad Lancome decided to shake it up a bit!

But of course, functionality is still something that must be addressed. I expected the applicator of these lip glosses (because that’s what they are) to be longer and doe foot, like all other applicators. But it’s not. It’s very unique… but then I’m not quite sure if it’s unique in a good or a bad way.

See, the applicator is literally just a little ball stuck to the cap of the product which you then apply on to your lips. An attempt to jump into the cushion trend, as far as I can see, but maybe not the most successful one. It gets annoying because if you ever feel like you need a second layer, you can’t just dip the applicator in like you would a lip gloss– you can’t because it’s too short! Instead, you’ll have to screw it back shut then shake it then unscrew it and reapply. Pretty annoying, and definitely a minus in my books.

But now let’s talk about what’s inside the bottles. I got these in three shades: Apri-cute, Piece of Cake and Mangoes Wild. Let me just quickly clarify: these products are sheer. Like I said, I consider them to be lip glosses (although Lancome calls them ‘lip oil’ which… is not really a term I wish to acknowledge) so if you’re not into sheer lip colours then you can just back out now. The variations between the shades are not that noticeable– but of course this doesn’t mean that they don’t exist at all. Just maybe don’t buy two shades of red from this range since they probably wouldn’t come off all that different on the lips.

However, I have always liked sheer colours– in fact I used to wear them exclusively– so I welcome these with open arms. I mean, I can’t be the only one who’s been having strong lip fatigue lately. Established brands are rolling out matte liquid lipsticks like clockwork, while newly formed brands offer nothing but liquid lipsticks. Suddenly everyone hates lip gloss, and I just don’t get it. I love lip gloss! I wore it regularly up to 2011 until the Revlon lip butters came out (sheer lipsticks which I LOVED and have been discontinued apparently… why?) and then, just like flared jeans, lip gloss got relegated to the back of the counter and no one talked about them ever again.

Top to bottom: Apri-cute, Mangoes Wild & Piece of Cake.

Anyway, one major criticism of lip gloss is that it’s sticky and hair would get stuck to it. If you agree, then give a big whoop because these juicy shakers do not have that problem. When freshly applied, they have a sort of ‘wet’ shine (not the vinyl-like shine of 2000s era lip gloss) but it becomes more subdued after a while. On your lips they feel very light and quite comfortable. Definitely recommend if you’ve got dry, chapped lips since you wouldn’t need a lip balm at all. I’ve even worn this to sleep as a lip balm and woke up with my lips feeling great, and slightly tinted too!

Yes, this product will give your lips a bit of a tint for hours after it’s worn of. I don’t KNOW if this was intended but that’s what happens to me. Not as strong a tint as an actual lip tint would provide but enough to give you a nice, fresh pinch of colour. So far I’ve absolutely loved using this with a no-makeup look. I’ve forgotten how much freshness a shiny, sheer tint on your lips can provide for the rest of your face. There really is something to be said about more effortless beauty.

Top to bottom: Piece of Cake, Apri-cute, Mangoes Wild

But ONE thing which haunts me about these juicy shakers: they are FLAVOURED. And it’s not even a uniform flavour, they’re flavoured according to what shade you have. Can you imagine what the Apri-cute tastes like? Like orange Vitamin C. A shame because that’s my favourite shade. But I’ll survive.

Do I think that this product is going to be a huge hit across the board? (if the board consists entirely of makeup lovers, of course) I don’t know. It’s been dragged all across the internet, but if you’re curious about it then I really would recommend you to try it out. It might remind you why we spent an entire decade just wearing lip gloss.

Lancome Juicy Shakers are available at all Lancome counters for RM93.