The past couple of days I've been sharing my thoughts on several Josie Maran products I purchased several months ago from Sephora. Be sure to check out my earlier posts if you missed any.
I’ll continue the haul with lip products and I’ll start with the least positive and move on to the real winners. Argan Lip Treatment, $18, is a fairly decent basic lip balm. The container is the cutest ever, but I still don't love balms you apply with your finger. Even though it contains Argan Oil, I noticed no real conditioning effect at all. Have you ever applied a lip balm that just seems to sit on top of your lips, without really making your lips feel any more hydrated? Think Vaseline and you’ll know what I mean. So, it’ll keep your lips from drying out any further, but it’s not going to condition them in any way.
Next is Argan Mini Color Stick, $14, in Petal Pink. While I love, love, love the beautiful bronzy pink hue, I’m not crazy about the ingredients and their unintended effect on my lips. Kudos to Josie Maran for including some fabulous conditioning ingredients like mango seed butter, avocado butter, and cocoa seed butter, but the inclusion of rosemary extract, lemon tea tree oil, and menthol was a misstep. All three of those ingredients can cause skin irritation and inflammation. You know that tingly feeling you get when you apply some lip balms? Well, rosemary, lemon tea tree and menthol are three of the chief culprits. And while some really like that tingly feeling, it is not a good thing for your skin. Companies use these ingredients partly because of the inflammation response they induce. Swelling of the lips induces a temporary plumping effect. A much safer way to induce natural, healthy plumping is to include peptides which build collagen and rehydrate for a full, healthy look that’s good for your skin.
A good rule of thumb: any lip product that makes your lips burn or tingle (all the time and not just when chapped) is not good for your lips.
A very positive note in my Josie Maran Haul: the lip glosses and stain! I purchased Magic Marker Lip and Cheek Stain in Quickstep, $19. Marker style lip stains appeal to me for their ease of use, but finding a good one can be a challenge. This one is a keeper, for sure! There’s not too much to say other than it works. It has a great pigment that’s not garish and it really lasts - just like it should. Also very important in a stain, it doesn’t dry out your lips. The marker itself stays moist and doesn’t dry out either. Perfect!
I also purchased Natural Volume Lip Gloss, $20, in Optimism and Voluptuous. These lip glosses actually have great ingredients like argan and jojoba oils and coconut cream all of which are natural moisturizing factors and will hydrate and condition lips. The Natural Volume part of the name initially worried me since it could mean it’s full of natural irritants (see Mini Color Stick review). I was pleasantly surprised to see that the plumping is due to a tripeptide complex that, with continued use, will build collagen and enhance lip fullness!
So, the lip glosses feel great on the lips - moisturizing and not at all sticky. They really meld with your lips so that they look great and are very comfortable to wear. Optimism is a gorgeous pink gold iridescent that layers beautifully as a highlighter over other lipsticks or looks fabulous and festive all by itself. Voluptuous is a lovely sheer berry shade that layers into full color coverage, if that’s what you want.
Usually I’m a stickler for unscented lip products, but for this one I’ll make an exception! These lip glosses have a decidedly noticeable scent, but it’s so delicious I have to let ‘em off the hook for it. To me they smell just like my mom’s fabulous burnt sugar cake when I was a little kid! Like caramelized sugar.... oh so yummy. I love it, but it may not be your cup of tea - trust me I understand scent hang ups! Be sure and give the testers a sniff, just in case my idea of nirvanna is not yours.
Some hits and some misses is the way I see it with the Josie Maran products. One bright, shining high note I want to emphasize is the company’s environmentally and socially progressive identity. Raising money to save polar bears is definitely cool, but helping to support economic growth in third world countries takes it up a notch. Most impressive, Josie Maran!
If you've tried any of the Josie Maran line I'd love to hear how you liked them. Remember, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that's just as true with beauty products! What I like, you might not, and vice versa. Let me know what you think!
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