O-, O-, O-, It's Magic! Smashbox O-Plump Lip Gloss

To end this week's unofficial Salute to Smashbox, I thought I'd give you a review of the product I actually purchased. I know! It's CUH-RAAAZY!! Well, I'm just in that kind of mood today, I guess.

Let's travel back in time, shall we? Back to when this whole mess started. You see, Spring is nearly upon us. Heck, down here in Alabama, the temperatures are already well into the 70s. I've had to bust out the tank tops and capris. I'd be wearing flip-flops 24/7, if only I'd had the time to paint my toenails, but I digress. I cleared all the Fall/Winter makeup off my counter, and dug through my ginormous makeup case to find Spring and Summer color replacements. I found blush. I found eyeshadow. I even found some nice nude glosses...but no pink. How in the heck can I, the girl with the hot pink iPod and crystal earbuds, not have a pink lipgloss?

Well, that's not exactly true. I had hot pink lipgloss (that goes with, oh, nothing), and pale pink lipgloss that you can't really see. What I was, in all honesty, missing was a bright, true pink. A Spring pink, if you will. Unfortunately, that shade and a flattering red are about the most difficult colors for this Auburn-haired lass to find.

Enter the Smashbox website. There is a gloss--well, two glosses, actually--that claims to customize itself to the wearer's perfect shade of pink. Well, slap me silly and call me Ed! Right, and I've got some swampland down in Florida. If this stuff actually worked, I'd be a devotee for life. Thing is, $24 is a bit steep for an experiment. Especially, an experiment with lip gloss. I mean, let's get real.

Then came the rationalization. See, normally, I'd just go to Buxom and get a lip gloss. That's $18, and it may or may not be flattering. Pink is tricky for me. However, if I buy the Smashbox one, it comes with a free eyeshadow/liner in a cool color that I would definitely wear. I could really say that I'm buying the liner, and getting the lip gloss for free. Plus, it comes with another mini eyeliner (didn't know about the bonus lip gloss, yet), and I'll get points and free shipping! It'd be a mistake not to get it!

Who doesn't love a good rationalization every now and then?

The two glosses are called O-Gloss ($22) and O-Plump ($24). They're basically two versions of the same thing, but I went with the O-Plump because if I'm going with something other than my beloved Buxom, it darn well better have some plumping action. If you're not a fan of (or can't tolerate) plumpers, go with the O-Gloss. Same customization, but without that bee-sting tingle.

According to Smashbox:

"Get a perfectly plump pink pout all your own! O-PLUMP is the first intuitive lip plumper that goes on clear and then reacts with your personal chemistry to turn lips your own custom shade of pink, while instantly plumping to perfection. It’s packed with our exclusive microcirculating Goji Berry-C Complex™, Gingermint, ginkgo biloba, pomegranate seed antioxidants, revitalizing marine botanicals and moisturizing avocado oil for non-stop color and shine."

According to Me:

Well, I'll be. It works. It actually works. How about that?

The gloss comes in a tube with a molded tip applicator. It comes out mostly clear--there is the slightest pink tinge, but it's almost unnoticeable--and smooths on easily. The gloss is not sticky, but lasts, literally, for hours (I still had some on after eating lunch, unlike the "long-lasting" gloss from earlier this week), and leaves your lips feeling moisturized and downright luscious. There is some minor plumping action, but it's very subtle. I could tell that they were fuller, but couldn't detect it happening. I sat in front of a mirror and watched, hoping to see my lips swell up like a balloon. Thankfully, the plumping is very gradual. I don't know how well I'd have handled the Looney Tunes scenario, to be honest.

The custom color is less the gloss changing color like a mood ring, and more your lips turning pink in reaction to the gloss. This is cool, actually, because your lips stay pink after the gloss wears off. You can also build the color by applying the gloss in layers. I'm not a scientist, so I suppose it's possible the gloss might change color, too, but so far, the only time the gloss has appeared pink in the tube (besides the vague tint) has been when a little dead skin flaked off onto the lip of the applicator, and only the debris changed color. I also tested a swatch on my hand, and there was no change in color to either hand or gloss. Make your own assumptions.

For the record, the color I ended up with is precisely the color I wanted. My lips have a very flattering, slightly brighter than natural flush.

Final Verdict: 8 out of 10. Great gloss. The color is perfect. It's a cool concept, and it does what it says to a certain degree, but the price is still a little high for the amount you get.