REVIEW: L'Oreal Rouge Caresse/Colour Riche Caresse Lipstick

I first heard about these from essiebutton.  Being the lipstick snob that I was, I spurned drugstore lipstick, thinking that they were of lesser quality.

Oh, how wrong I was.

This post by GlitterGeek pushed me over the edge.  Who knew violet could be so wearable on the lips?  And so the hunt began.

I was confused at first because they go by a different name and packaging in Canada (North America?):
In Europe:
- Name: Rouge Caresse
- Colours: See the L'Oreal Paris (France) website
- Packaging: Transparent and silver, round, shade is indicated on the top of the cap, the tip of the lipstick bullet itself is flat

Canada:
- Name: Colour Riche Caresse
- Colours: See the L'Oreal Paris (Canada) website
- Packaging: Opaque and gold, rectangular, shade is indicated on the bottom  of the cap, the tip of the lipstick bullet itself is slanted

The average regular price of these are about 12 bucks in Canada.  That's pretty frickin expensive.  Good thing I got them on sale, at about 7 or 8 dollars, I don't quite remember.

I went in knowing that I needed Violet Chiffon.  When I found the display at my local drugstore, I saw the promotional image:

Okay, now I needed whatever was on her lips.  Fortunately, they indicated on the photo the shade she was wearing: Blushing Sequin.  By the way, I bought this knowing full well it would not show up the same on my lips because my natural colour is quite a dark red.  Did that matter to me?  Nope, I still needed it.

These are the shades I purchased:

Swatch time!

Left: Heavy swatch, Right: One pass

I really frickin love Violet Chiffon.  It brightens up my face instantaneously.  It's also not so cool-toned that it makes my teeth look yellow.  As I said, I have relatively dark red lips, so on me, it pulls more fuschia/pink than violet.  It's the perfect Spring/Summer shade to go with a fresh-faced bright-eyed look. 

Like:
- Applies beautifully: buttery, but not too soft
- Perfect mix of sheerness and opacity (notice how it almost looks jelly-like on the model above)
- Wears about 3 hours on me, after which a nice stain is left on the lips
- Reflective packaging can be used as a mirror
- Rectangular shape makes for easy storage
- Light - doesn't add weight to your makeupbag/purse

Dislike:
- Packaging is inconsistent (the lipstick bullet on my Violet Chiffon is askew)
- Reflective exterior is fingerprint-prone
- Light - kind of feels cheap (but this is really just nit-picking)

Can you tell that Violet Chiffon is misaligned? Blushing Sequin is also misaligned, but not as much.

And again.  You can see that top of the bullet is not flush against the edge of the tube.  Ah well.

Check these out!  Now!!!

-R

P.S. I haven't tried Revlon's Lip Butter so I cannot compare the two.