Aren't these just the cutest lippies ever?! What makes them even cuter is that they are even smaller than my thumb! Thumbelipna... hur hur hur.
If I'm not wrong these Shiseido Lip Amulets are only sold in Taiwan and Japan, but a quick google tells me they are available on ebay. I think I got these at around SGD$5-6 in Taiwan. Considering the insane prices ($4+ - $8) of normal ugly lip balms at the drugstore, these are really worth it. The colours they are available in are Pure Red, Wine Grape, Sugar Orange and Pearl Pink. They are all human figures except for Pearl Pink which is a dog - the entire set is like a happy family!
The 2 colours in the picture are Pure Red (left) and Wine Grape (right) and they are very balmy and sheer in texture. I have/had the Pearl Pink (it's somewhere but I can't find it) which is equally balmy, but has slightly stronger pigmentation and a frosty sheen to it.
What I really like about these bullets is that they're solid, really solid. They don't compress or bend like the leaning tower of Pisa and dirty the container when I apply them, instead they just kind of melt from the heat of my lips and coat my lips with a nice glossy layer.
L-R: Pure Red, Wine Grape
As you can see, though they look super bright and rather neon in the bullet, the pigmentation is rather sheer and it did take me multiple swipes to even build to this pigmentation. Pure Red ends up rather coral, and Wine grape has a more raspberry tone to it.
They are incredibly moisturizing and go on smoothly with a glossy finish. The downside to being so moisturizing is that I picked up a habit of smacking my lips together whenever I have this on and within half an hour it disappears. God the habits I have... The lip amulets have an extremely slight fragrance to it, but it is barely noticeable. I practically had to stick my nose in the bullet just to get a whiff of it.
In the photograph above, I have Pure Red on the top lip and Wine Grape on the lower lip and honestly, there isn't that great a difference in terms of the colour when applied on the lips, which is rather disappointing but great if you only want to get one lip amulet! I find these really nice because it's quite the cheater lip balm in the sense that it tints lips just enough in a true my-lips-but-better way.
Though I thought the colour went on smoothly, in the photograph it became evident that the colour tends to cling to the dry parts of my lip. It's not obvious in person because of the glossy finish but upon looking at the picture it's really starting to bug me!
Overall, the lip amulets are good for ever day use but I would use it more like a lip balm and reapply whenever my lips get dry rather than to use it like a lip butter or lipstick. Whipping them out sure would be a good conversation starter too because who can resist such a cute lippie??! Definitely not me!
