I did a little hauling right after Christmas and picked up some Lioele products - I'm on a nail polish and lipstick kick right now since I'm pretty satisfied with my skin routine.
These are some of the newer products on Pretty & Cute and there haven't been any English reviews about them as far as I can see, so I was pretty eager to try these out. One thing I like about reviewing nail polishes and l/s is that I don't have to use them for several weeks to know whether they work well or not - a nice change from reviewing skincare stuff ^_^ All products in this review were purchased at Pretty & Cute during their New Years 15% off sale.
Lioele Lip Color Sticks
Starting with the worst of the batch....the Orange Lip Color Stick. It looked so pretty on the promotional picture I got swayed into buying it even though it was orange. I like orange-coral tinted l/s anyway so this was actually my most anticipated item...phail >_> And just let me say that am PISSED at how utterly misleading all the promo pics are....they look nothing like the promo pics in real life.
Lioele Lip Color Stick in Orange #2
Color: A very not-subtle, crayon orange. It would be nice to draw with. On paper. Maybe it's just my lips but I don't see this working on me. Ever.
Finish: In the promo pics, obviously the intention was creamy. Well, it's more like a bold...crayon. It's a very flat orange with almost no shine.
Lasting power? Poor. You can essentially wipe it away with a napkin. It won't last a meal.
Moisturizing? ....maybe. It didn't last long enough on my lips for me to be able to tell.
Fine lines? Sinks into every fine line it can find.
Packaging: Cute, cap stays on well. Nothing to write home about though.
Cost/worth: $9.99 but I got it for less during P&C's 15% off sale. Not worth it. I feel ripped off.
Overall: Do not buy. No redeeming factors.
I think I switched the labels between Flash and No Flash on the lip samples.
I KNEW I should only get 1 product at a time when it comes to trying things out but...I dunno, I just was so sucked in by the beautiful promo pics.
Lioele Lip Color Stick in Strawberry #3
Color: A milky pink color. It's not bad actually. Has a slight silvery shimmer.
Finish: ...Creamy, I'd say.
Lasting power? Not so good. Wears away fast.
Moisturizing? Yes, actually, due to the creaminess.
Fine lines? Does sink into fine lines, though not as badly as the orange.
Packaging: Nothing great.
Cost/worth: Color is nice, but that's it. Maybe I'd buy it for $1-2. It's not a bad color per se but it's so dupable and the formula is not very good :\ I wouldn't buy this again.
Overall: It's not as bad as the orange but that's not saying much. This lip color photographs well (seriously, it looks so much better in the picture), but it's really nothing special. I don't recommend this.
Overall, I don't recommend ANY the Lioele Lip Color Sticks to anybody. If 2 of the 4 colors were this bad, I have no wish to get near the other two. A huge disappointment and a waste. I can't fathom a single instance I would be able to use these, especially the atrocious orange one. The pink one....maybe as a base. The only good thing I have to say is that it's kind of fun coloring in your lips ^_^ The pencil shape actually allows you to control the color very well. I wish they made these with a better formula and more colors - now that'd be something worth trying.
Lioele Real Glam Moisture Lip in #2 Raspberry Pink
Another new lipstick P&C just brought in. One thing that really stands out to me is the fantastic packaging, but I'll get into that more later.
Link: Lioele Real Glam Moisture Lipstick
Lioele Real Glam Moisture Lip in #2 Raspberry Pink
(not Red, it's a typo on P&C) - upper right corner
Link: Lioele Real Glam Moisture Lipstick
Color: A kind of dusty pink with purple undertones. No gray undertones thank goodness. I look hideous in purple/gray undertoned lipsticks but this had an odd sort of vibrant purple undertone that didn't make me look dead. Promo pic is pretty accurate, though it's more vibrant and glossier than it is in real life.
Finish: Right between creamy and matte. It looks bad with flash but it's actually not bad at all. The lip color in the promo pic is actually quite accurate, though in real life, the finish isn't as glossy. I'm sure the model has a touch of lip gloss on ^^ The perfectly balanced finish between creamy an matte is one of the best characteristics of this l/s.
Lasting power? Not great, but not terrible. Fades while eating, but leaves a stain on lips.
Moisturizing? Yes it is! Prolly due to the creamy texture.
Fine lines? Sinks into fine lines like a madwoman. This is my least favorite aspect of this lipstick. Over time it gets better though, since this is a moisturizing lipstick. But if you put this over dry lips, it will look...awful.
Packaging: AWESOME. I was shocked by the expensive heft of this product. If you hold it in your hand you'll know what I mean. It just feels expensive. The tube is brushed metal and the pink inner tube is a mirrored pink with a Lioele logo stamped on it. Hands down some of the best packaging I've seen on a non-luxury product. The "Real Glam Moisture Lipstick" stamped on the side isn't that bad either.
Cost/worth: Tis $11 right now though I got it for a bit less. It's not a bad product and with the excellent packaging I guess it's a fair price, but only if you need that particular color. Honestly, I could live without this l/s since I have many pink lipsticks and I think this is kind of a dupe-able shade. The best thing about this is the packaging and how the finish is the perfect balance between creamy and matte. I don't regret buying this, but I wouldn't buy another.
Overall: Try this if you really want a particular color but I wouldn't say that this is a must have. There is a tiny color selection (4) and I don't find the colors to be very unique, but the lovely packaging and decent quality doesn't make it a waste of money. The shades do seem to be very wearable though... Personally, I wouldn't purchase these again, but I encourage people to give this a try if you see a color you like. Since the promo pics are pretty accurate (thank god), you should at least end up with a decent color.
If you don't want to risk it, you might want to try your luck with the next two lemmings I have on my Lioele-Stuff-To-Buy List: the Lioele Dollish Lipstick or Lioele Real Vivid Matte Lipstick. I haven't tried them myself, but I've recently come across promising reviews (on Korean websites) and the color selection is much wider.
Lioele Ice Cream Nail Color in #5 Pretty Pink
P&C has this polish labeled as "Princess Nail Color" but the actual promo pics say "2010 Design, Ice Cream Nail Color" so I will go with that. Both are pretty apt descriptions of the rich pastel colors anyway. I exercised a bit of wise caution (unlike when I picked up Lip Color Sticks) and only purchased 1 bottle in the most "safe" shade. I'm happy to report that the promo pics are accurate to real life.
Link: Lioele Princess Nail Color
Color: A pure, unadulterated, creamy baby pink with a cool blue undertone. My personal nail shot is a bit too yellow and dark. The actual color is pretty close to the promo pic :) Yah for accurate promo pics!
Application: Very prone to streaking. As you can see, I keep my nails pretty short (the better to type with eheh) and this is what one coat looks like. And it beats me why my fingers are so...dry... xD
I admit I was a bit terrified when I saw how streaky it looked at first, but with each coat it went away. It was bit of an adventure applying this because the brush is uniquely flat (see above). This is good in that it coats a lot of nail at once. But it's bad because the bristles on the end of mine fanned out a bit much and made control/precision work difficult. Formula is a little runnier (and much worse) than Zoya. But seriously, it's applying nail polish, not rocket science....it's not terrible, you just need a steadier hand.
Finished Look: Cute! Kawaii! This very much reminds me of the Dolly Wink brand and all things hime. A true pastel pink!
Formula: Like I said, much runnier than Zoya. It's prone to streaking and drying time is a little longer than Zoya. You MUST be patient applying this polish because if you try to apply another coat over a wet polish, the polish balls up irreparably and you need to start all over. It's a very unforgiving nail polish - if you mess up, it'll show through all the layers. I guess that's where "professional lacquers" and non-pro polishes are different, the pro quality lacquers tend to dry flat and smooth even when you mess up.
# of Coats: 3 to achieve a completely opaque look. Minimum 2 coats required.
Staying Power: Decent. I removed it after though to try out another color but by then, it'd only chipped a bit at the edges. Not bad really.
Packaging/Brush: Packaging is cute, love the curved cap. The brush is the most interesting, flat and fluffy. It takes some getting used to and it's not a very precise brush, but the flat wideness does cover a lot at once.
Overall: I am quite pleased. I think the color is just exquisitely and perfectly pastel pink. So feminine and girly (so unlike me haaha). I confess I would love to eventually pick up the whole range but seriously, what would I do with six pastel polishes -_-;;;? Next time I would love to get the green, blue and yellow. Can you tell I dig unusual colors ^_^?
I would recommend these to polish collectors since I found this color to be so pleasantly pink and fun. Those I do NOT recommend this to are those who want a easy-to-apply polish since this does take a bit of work to use. Also the formula leaves something to be desired (dries slowly and is streaky) so I don't think this would be a good "first polish" for first-time nail polish users. But for me, yes, I would buy a couple more if time and money allow it. These would be great for Easter and spring fashion (pastels will be all the rage in Spring 2011 ^_^)!
LT: Un-rubbed. RT: Residue.
Lioele Aroma Soft Peeling Gel
...the title of this product is a classic example of the Korean love of descriptors >_> Also, I only got to use this 2x so take this review with a grain of salt.
Link: Lioele Aroma Soft Peeling Gel
Scent: Very pleasant, delicate floral-fruit scent.
This product is very much like the Skinfood Pineapple Peeling Gel or TonyMoly Appletox Massage Cream. All are gentle lotion-y exfoliators. The Lioele looks like the Skinfood Pineapple (duh, both are gels) but more liquid-y. This is an VERY gentle exfoliator so this would be good for those with sensitive skin. To me it was...too gentle. I could see only minimal improvement (skin brightened temporaily) and tbh it's expensive - $17.99 and my favorite TM Appletox in $12 on Sasa :\ I'd personally never buy the full size, but that said it left no irritations or adverse effects. It was quite simply not as effective as I would like. Since I only used it twice, I can't recommend whether one should buy this, but I personally won't be.
Lioele AC Control Trouble Patch VS The Face Shop Spot Intensive Patch review is here.