Loving the Orange Lip: Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in Audacious

I know, I know, by now Revlon Matte Balms are old news - but it takes me a while to decide whether to jump or not on a particular product bandwagon. I mentioned a couple months back, while extolling the orangy red virtues of OPI Red Lights Ahead... Where? nail polish, that was interested in trying a similar shade on my lips, even though warm reds rarely look good on my skintone. So yeah, I really went there - instead of trying an orange red, I actually decided to try a pure bright orange in a matte formula: Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in the shade Audacious ($8.99 for 0.09 oz/ 2.5g). Because I'm not a lipstick wuss. Also, I figured that if it was a complete shade fail, at least it'd been at a drugstore price point.

But a fail it's definitely not - in fact, it's pretty fantastic, and I'm just slightly obsessed with Audacious. Gimme all the ORANGE! I think the reason this looks so audaciously bright (har har) on my fair cool skin is the shade's white base, which gives it a more neon appearance. Muted, brown-based oranges on me? A complete flop. Vibrant, white-based or clear almost fluorescent orange shades? Sign me up.

Compared to my other orangey lip products, Revlon's Audacious is the most decidedly orange - Giorgio Armani Rouge d'Armani Sheers in 301 gives just a hint of peachy orange on the lips, recently reviewed Beaute Liqui-gel Stain in Flouron is a lot more pink (and neon!), while Chanel Rouge Allure in Conquise has a more muted, rosey quality. Beaute's Flouron is the only other matte in this line-up, but because of its creamy gel stain formula, it sinks into the lips and wears a lot more closely than Revlon's heavier, more traditional matte lipstick formula; as you can see in the arm swatch, the textures are quite a bit different.

L-R: Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in Audacious, Giorgio Armani Rouge d'Armani Sheers in 301, Beaute Liqui-Gel Stain in Flouron, Chanel Rouge Allure in Conquise

Speaking of textures, I usually detest mattes and try to avoid them in my lip products, but the Colorburst Mattes are surprisingly quite good. They're even more matte in finish than Givenchy Le Rouge, another matte-ish lipstick I tolerate; I'd say Revlon walks the line between very matte and chalky, but manages to stay on the good, wearable side. The matte finish aside, the Revlon's Balm has a creamy feel with a lot of slip (no dragging!) for easy application, and after a couple minutes seems to set a bit on the lips, which means no accidental color migration and good longevity. There's quite a bit of a refreshing mint scent to the product, which makes it tingle very slightly for a couple minutes after application - a welcome bonus in the summer heat.

Similarly to their Kissable Balm Stains (which are another favorite of mine), the Matte Balm wears very comfortably on the lips, and while it's not moisturizing enough on its own on my dry lips, it doesn't suck out all the moisture either. I would however recommend prepping your lips before applying the Matte Balm (exfoliating, a thin layer of lip balm), as it seems to go a little patchy around dry flakes or other areas that are still healing. But I think Audacious is worth the extra effort - I just really love this shade, and taking the size of my lip product collection into account, it's quite a surprising discovery.

Are you loving the orange lip trend as well? What are your orange lip favorites?