K Beauty Exclusive: Etude House Dear Darling Water Gel Tint ; hit or a miss???

So yes I’m back after a long time of dead silence. Anyways today I’m going to review a new addition to my lipstick cabinet which is not technically a lipstick though, but rather a lip stain.

This is how it looks on me...slight orangish tone

Okay I was introduced to lip stain in early 2015, & however my first experience with them was no good. I purchased it because I thought it’d look more natural than a full coverage lipstick. I love natural looks, yes even for a glam night. However, it was from MUA makeup range & it wasn’t really amazing. It hardly looked natural, or maybe because it was my fault, I’d chosen rather a cool colour while as a warm toned light skinned Indian girl, warm colours tend to look more natural on me. That cool toned lip stain made me look like an alien with intergalactic connections; a complete washed out look.

Whatever the reason was, it kept haunting me as a nightmare for then-years to come & finally on June, 2019, as I was casually browsing through Korean products (the whole world is obsessing about K beauty right now & I can’t remain indifferent or soon I’ll become a souvenir of the medieval); I eventually found this product advertised heavily on Nykaa. So I eventually bought one. This time I voluntarily chose a shade that indicated some ‘orange’ in it (most oranges support warm skin tones); & on the same websites, there were many shades, however I’ve always had a fondness for bold red lips (besides loving nude tones as well), I was intrigued by the idea of how It’d look on me; so yes I bought this shade called OR204 from the popular Korean brand Etude House & this range of lip stain (they’re calling it lip tint) is named ‘Dear Darling Water Gel Tint’.

The shade looks completely maroon in its packaging & packaging-wise its extremely cute like most Korean products. I never had a great deal of expectations from a lip tint or stain, so its just experimental. It comes in a small plastic bottle containing 4.5 gm of gel like product which is very cost effective, about Rs. 450/-. I can’t finish any damn product before it expires & I have to throw them all because of that; this is why I prefer smaller containers with less product but it looks like even 4.5 gm is more than enough for me (I mean come on, you’re not going to use the same lip product everyday). Coming to the product, one thing I found as a disadvantage is that it mentions the manufacturing date but not the expiry date clearly. What I found out later that it mentions ‘use before’ but it types it the reverse way: like 20220114; so I guess it’d be 14 January 2022.

But I’m going to tell you a little secret there, you can check almost anything on www.checkfresh.com by entering the batch number that’s printed on the packaging of every makeup/beauty product to check its expiry date if you’ve nothing mentioned or you’ve simply lost it. Try this and let me know.

Anyways, let’s list out the pros & cons of the product:

Pros first:

·         Cost Effective, infact its extremely cheap. In India, the MRP is Rs. 450/- while occasional discounts are offered.

·         Looks natural, as it’s a lip tint, it can be a con for someone if a fuller coverage is desired because the colour is not really buildable.

·         Has a fruity smell, which is good.

·         Comes with a nice applicator that’s easy to handle.

·         Looks quite glossy which is good for me as I’m not really a matte person. (***Glossy things help people with thinner lips to fake a pouty fuller impression. However it’s not an option for me as I have naturally fuller lips)

Cons:

·         I had a hard time getting it to adhere to my lips. Even if you try hard, its very hard to spread it in a uniform manner.

·         You have to make sure your lips are well-exfoliated before you try this or it’d be even harder to spread it evenly.

·         It may make your lips a little dry, so apply a good lip balm after removing it. Applying a lip balm as a base is NOT an option because with an oily base, it won’t even show up & you’ll have to struggle to get some colour on your lips. I felt like a complete idiot when I did this because I’m used to applying a lipbalm before the lipstick or any lip product all the time.

·         The colour doesn’t spread well, & looks like its water-based (hydrophilic) so, oily lips may even worsen your chances.

·         The best bet is to use a matte lipstick of the same colour family (glossy ones won’t work) as a base & then apply this; to conceal the uneven spread of colour. At its best, this tint can be used to enhance or add a little shine to your matte lipsticks & its not of any other use than that (I’m aware that if you want some shine, you may simply use a glossy lipstick & not a matte one, but I’m saying this just for the sake of using the lip tint, nothing else). I used a pink matte lipstick from Loreal’ Paris as a base to get it on my lips.

·         Removing this off is another story (read horror story), even a complete disaster. First of all it doesn’t spread evenly/you can’t apply lip balm underneath & then this uneven spread of colour sticks to your lips like it’d be there for eternity. My good old micellar water failed, coconut oil failed too. It took me to literally rub my lips hard with cotton balls soaked in micellar water for 15 minutes & there still were traces of colour. A complete disappointment. I believe in total removal of makeup. This rubbing damaged my lips so much that I had to apply some tamanu+lavender oil concoction on my lips overnight to repair it & I did this for 2-3 days afterwards.

Am I going to buy this again???

è NO WAY. I already feel like I’ve had Rs. 450/- going down the drain. With this long list of cons, I won’t even get another one even if I’m offered it for free. Getting the colour on your lips is difficult, even more difficult is removing it & in the process rest assured, you’ll damage your lips. So yes the next time I’m going to buy this, consider me officially brain-dead & kindly call the doc.

Verdict:

Its all the hype & its not worth it. Just because its been originated in Korea, it doesn’t make it a good product. I’ve used far better products produced locally in India & other European & American products from the popular brands like Loreal’, Kiko Milano, Colorbar, MAC, Dior, Estee Lauder etc. I’ve had enough of this & I won’t buy this hype anymore; I’m better sticking to the conservative ways, to my good old brands with reputation.

Anyways, this is NOT A PAID REVIEW & THE OPINION I JUST EXPRESSED IS COMPLETELY PERSONAL & I do not guarantee that its applicable on everyone. Not everything suits everyone, so what didn’t suit me, may suit you & vice versa.

Let me know how you found this article in the comments section below & don’t forget to follow me here on my blog & on social media (buttons on the collapsible sidebar ß).

Love,

Koyel M.