I have never dabbled in to the world of Body Shop make-up before, although I have always been interested in trying some, so when I saw that this full sized product was free on the cover of Marie Claire, I thought I would pick it up.
I really like the idea of lip and cheek stains, a product that lasts a long time and looks natural is always good if it lives up to it's claims. The one I picked up is shade 01- Rose Pink.
The product comes in a see through plastic 8ml tube with a silver lid. There is nothing too special about it really, I don't think it looks or feels tacky but it doesn't look expensive either. I think 8ml is a generous amount of product as a little goes a long way, and the tube is perfect for throwing in your bag.
Inside the lid is a doe foot applicator which is good for quick and precise application. In the tube, the product looks like it has a gel consistency, similar to a lip gloss, but once it is applied it is actually a lot thinner and more watery. It comes out as a bright hot pink colour which may look a little scary, but you will see in the swatch below that it blends out in to a subtle rosey pink.
The product dries very quickly, so if you use it on your cheeks you have to blend it out quickly and do one cheek at a time, otherwise you could end up with patchy cheeks. However, if you do work quickly, the product spreads nice and evenly.
L-R: Straight from applicator, blended out
As you can see from the above swatch, the product, once blended out, leaves a very subtle rosey glow but it can be built up if you wish for a bit more colour. As it is so buildable, I think this product would look lovely on all skin tones.
I really like this as a cheek stain as it looks natural and is a lightweight product, which will be perfect in the Summer when I don't want to cake my face in powder products. I find that the stain only lasts around four hours before it begins to fade; I don't mind too much though, as it is quick to reapply. It probably lasts around the same amount of time on the lips too, however I really wouldn't recommend this for the lips. I found that when applying it with the applicator, it just wouldn't apply evenly, settled in to cracks and dry patches, and I ended up with blotchy lips, which you can see slightly in the picture below. Being a stain, it also has the tendency to bleed. It is a shame, as it turns your lips a pretty cherry pink colour.
Overall, I rate this product highly as a cheek stain but not so much as a lip stain. You would probably like it if you just like a natural flush of colour on your cheeks. The Body Shop Lip & Cheek Stain retails in The Body Shop at £10.00 for this 8ml tube, which I think is a little steep for me, but isn't too bad when you consider that it will last a while and it is a lot cheaper than Benefit's Benetint. At the moment it is free on this month's (June 2012) issue of Marie Claire, which retails at £3.70, so if you fancy trying it go and see if you can pick up the magazine, there is also a bronze shade (02 Bronze Glimmer) up for grabs.
Are you a fan of lip and cheek stains? Have you tried this one?
