31 Days of Reviews, Day 3: Anastasia Beverly Hills Lipgloss

Hey again everyone! It’s the third day of my review challenge! When deciding what I should review for the third day of this challenge, it was a no brainer: My favourite lipgloss of all time 🙌🙌🙌. This happens to be the lipgloss line by Anastasia Beverly Hills. I own 10 of these lipglosses, so I think that that is a good testament as to how much I like them. I was surprised to find out that there are actually 53 shades in this line on the ABH website! I had only shopped for them through Sephora, where only 27 shades are offered. Personally, I only buy ABH products through Sephora. The shipping to Canada for ABH is outrageous, just under $20. Yeah no thanks, I’m VIB Rouge and get free shipping through Sephora. AND there are no duty costs. Although, the fact that there are almost double the amount of colours available on the ABH website is intriguing and incredibly tempting.

Packaging and First Impressions

I love the packaging for these lipglosses. It is very simple but sleek, and I like that the main feature is the lipgloss colour itself. The only thing I don’t like is that they have been changing their logo over time, so not all of them look the same as you can see above.

When I opened my first ABH lipgloss, I was instantly in love with the scent. It is a very mild vanilla. Perfect for those who are sensitive to scent. I also really love the applicator. It is a flat paddle, which I find makes it very easy to apply the gloss accurately. It also means both sides of the paddle get loaded up with product, so you can use one side for your bottom lip and the other for your top lip.

Price and Quantity

These lipglosses go for $21 CAD ($16 USD) for 4.73 mL (0.16 oz). This is a vey comparable price to other medium-high end companies offered in Sephora. Other lipgloss lines that are popular and good for comparison are the BareMinerals Gen Nude Buttercream Lipgloss and both the Full-on Lip Cream and Full-on Lip Polish from Buxom. The BareMinerals Gen Nude Buttercream Lipglosses are priced at $23 ($18 USD) for 3.84 mL (0.13 oz) and the price for both the Buxom Full-on Lip Cream and Lip Polishes is $24 CAD ($20 USD) for 4.44 mL (0.15 oz). If you want to compare a high-end brand, Marc Jacobs of course has a very popular lipgloss line, the Enamored Hi-Shine Lip Lacquer Lipgloss, that each go for $35 CAD ($28 USD) for 5 mL (0.16 oz). Actually, of all these comparisons, the ABH lipgloss is actually the best deal for the amount of product you get. That is definitely a bonus, and a stark difference from my Day 1 review of their blush…

Company’s Product Mentioned Above	Cost ($ CAD)	Quantity (oz)	Cost-Quantity Ratio for 1 oz of product
ABH	$21	0.16	$131/oz
Buxom	$24	0.15	$160/oz
BareMinerals	$23	0.13	$177/oz
Marc Jacobs	$35	0.16	$219/oz

Claims

Here are the claims listed on the ABH website:

“An opaque, high-shine lip color. Use Anastasia Beverly Hills Lip Gloss’ flat sponge-tip applicator to deliver intense pigment with precision for an expert finish in a single swipe.”

These lipglosses are cruelty free 🐰 and vegan, and are also formulated without sulfates or phthalates.

Pigmentation and Performance

There are multiple reasons why these lipglosses are my favourite:

1. The pigmentation: For most of the colours I own, they have out of this world pigmentation. This is especially true for the non-shimmery colours or the “high-shine finish”, as categorized on the Sephora website. All of the colours that I own in this finish are opaque with one layer. This is incredible for a lipgloss. The colours that are said to have a “shimmer finish” on the Sephora website are the ones that are less opaque, but still have a reasonable amount of base colour and can be built up.
2. The texture: The texture of these glosses is very creamy, smooth, non-sticky and for the most part, thin. The shades that I bought from their recent release (Toffee, St. Tropez and Parfait) seem to have a slightly different formula resulting in them being a bit thicker. I will admit that I like the texture of these ones less. Because they are a bit thicker, they can be a bit goopy feeling. However, I still wear them because I love the colours, and the texture isn’t terrible.
   ***One warning for the texture of some of the sparkly colours. Some of the shades have larger glitter in them, and you can feel grittiness on your lips if you press them together. I do not like this at all, however not all of the shimmery finish glosses have this issue. I own Date Night and it is totally fine, it does not have larger glitter particles. However, I did try buying Sunset Strip and it DID have the larger glitter particles and felt disgusting on the lips. I returned that shade immediately. I also read on Temptalia that the shade Girly, which was one of the new releases also had the gritty texture, so I will be avoiding that one. So that’s just something to be aware of.
3. The lasting power:  I find that the opaque glosses with the “high-shine finish” actually have a great lasting power for a lipgloss. While of course they are not transfer proof, quite a bit of pigment remains on your lips while drinking/eating. In addition, as these wear through the day, they wear down evenly and so comfortably. I never feel like I need to be checking the mirror to see if it looks ok. This is a different story for the more shimmery/sparkly shades. Those you do need to pay a bit more attention to, just because they have less of a base colour, so they will fade faster, leaving shimmer/sparkles behind.
4. The hydration: These glosses are almost all I have been wearing this summer. I have really been feeling like I need extra lip hydration this summer, and these are just the ticket. On National Lipstick Day I posted saying that I have 54 lipsticks.. I have probably used those 5% of the time during this summer. It’s all about the lip gloss and tinted lip balms for me right now. Previously, I have said that I am a die hard Jack Black Moisture Therapy Lip Balm girl, because I have such issues with keeping my lips hydrated. Guess what? These are just as good at keeping my lips hydrated, and they look awesome!

Finally, here are the swatches and lip swatches of all the colours that I own.

Final Thoughts

I think you already have a pretty good idea of how I feel about these lipglosses. They are my holy grail! I am so glad that I picked up Vintage earlier this year. It was my first high-end lipgloss purchase, and man, was I pleasantly surprised after having only used drugstore lipglosses my whole life.

Do you own any of these lipglosses? Which shades do you have and which should I add to my collection?