Loving You Lately: April Skin Magic Oil Tint in Scarlet 101

May 25

May 25 Loving You Lately: April Skin Magic Oil Tint in Scarlet 101

I don't know how lip oils differ from lip glosses. When I hear lip oil, I'm so meh. I called it out as a burgeoning trend in Korea in one of my SNS (or even this blog, I can't remember) only to be able to have some kind of dibs on what I thought was a new trend. Personally, I had no real intention of participating on it. Upon doing further research I found the idea of lip oils going as far back as 2013, though it didn't really seem to take off then. The majority of my Google searches are dated 2016.

I supposed it was just a slightly newer formulation that took more skincare benefits into account. It didn't sound like much to me because glosses weren't particularly drying. And the first lip oil I tried, swatched from the Holika Holika x Gudetama collection, felt too heavy to be worth my while.

April Skin Magic Oil Tint in Scarlet 101

I don't think "oil" is a very good way to advertise it. Call me jaded, but I'm still traumatized from lechon lips of the 90s.

However, when I purchased the April Skin Rose Glam Moisture Cover Foundation, the lip oil was offered as a free gift. It came in the shade Scarlet or Orange, but I chose Scarlet because I always fail with orange tints.

aaaand how many times must I say I love beauty shopping in Korea???

Packaging:

Normally I find it stupid to talk about packaging, but I do love how sleek and modern this tube looks. Matte black with a heft feels really classy, and the peculiar paddle shape of the doe foot applicator is too cute for words. I wish I could convey, by words on a computer screen, how fun it is to pat oil on my lips using this shape of an applicator.

Added bonus: the rounded tip is good for taming streaks of oil that escape the outside edge of the applicator.

Experience:

Before applying April Skin Magic Oil Tint in Scarlet 101. Note how my lips have dark outer circles (Pati ba sa lips dark circles nanaman?! Jusko dark circles, leave me alone, please!!! The power of Christ compels you!) — Before applying April Skin Magic Oil Tint in Scarlet 101. Note how my lips have dark outer circles (*Pati ba sa lips* *dark circles nanaman?! Jusko dark circles, leave me alone, please!!! The power of Christ compels you!)*

Immediately after applying April Skin Magic Oil Tint in Scarlet 101. It doesn't completely hide, but sufficiently masks purplish outer lips.

Upon first use, I felt so meh about this. I don't know if I'm still putting too much of it on, but it does feel kind of thick. Not necessarily heavy, but something obviously there. The tint is nice and even, and Scarlet is workable for people like me with purplish outer lips.

April Skin Magic Oil Tint in Scarlet 101 dried / after drinks or eating. Sorry for my wonky eye.

One thing I will concede is that it does dry spectacularly. The heavy feeling kind of stays with me the whole day, until I eat or drink. By then it feels much thinner, and the tint is just barely a whisper of rose. My lips feel amazing though, moreso than when I've freshly applied the oil.

The shape of my lips also gets fixed?? Normally I have these hexagonal chunks of hardened skin on my lips... So they end up looking kind of like nerd dice, or golf balls. With the oil though, it all just suddenly becomes perfect... It's hard to believe its my own lips, I sometimes feel they've been transplanted. I could be a lip model!!! No shame, I really volunteer!

Beauty By Tellie score: 4 / 5 - The April Skin Magic Oil Tint is a great product to nourish your lips, but is 1 point shy of perfection for taking time to do so. In the time you wait, it seems like a very normal gloss.