Hard Candy Glossaholic Lip Gloss - Review and Swatches

I saw these two glosses on the Hard Candy website a little while ago, and knew I had to have them. Not only did the glitter in them look fantastic, but they each claimed to have a different mood-altering property - and I'll admit it right now, I'm a huge sucker for gimmicks.

So the next time I was doing an Easy-Mac-and-ramen run at Walmart, I snagged these two suckers. Chill Out is the vanilla-scented one that claims to be relaxing, with purple, orange, and green flecks of glitter. Rise & Shine is coffee scented and claims to be energizing, and contains flecks of yellow, orange, and green glitter.

Obviously the biggest selling point for these is their mood-altering properties, and I pretty much got what I expected - nothing. Just because I love a good gimmick doesn't mean I believe any of them are true! That being, said, I still absolutely love this gloss. The vanilla scent/taste is delicious and smells just like cupcakes, but the coffee one is actually pretty disappointing - it smelled faintly sweet, but then there was a bitterness to the scent which I assume was the coffee part of it ... and trust me, coming from an absolute coffee addict, it smelled nothing like the coffee that I drink. I was definitely let down by that scent, but I do have to admit that being a coffee lover, I was probably expecting a bit too much from it.

In terms of formula, the gloss is pretty thick and has an average wear time. The real reason why I love these babies is because of the stunning glitter - the flakes look so unique on my lips, and even after the gloss wears off some of the glitter stays behind. The applicator is large and the tube is massive, making it harder to apply this gloss precisely, but I appreciate the fact that I can load up my lips with a single swipe. Other than that, I adore the packaging, from the fonts used to the cute coordinating purple and pink caps.

(Also, you should note in the swatches of the gloss on my lips, the glitter is much more apparent in real life, I promise!)

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Since this gloss doesn't actually live up to its mood-altering claims, I can't give it a higher score - but I can promise that these are the perfect combination of wacky and subdued. If you like glitter but don't want to feel like you're swimming in it, definitely check out these glosses.

XOXO, Ally