Hourglass Confession Ultra Slim High Intensity Refillable Lipstick I Want, True Love Means Review

Hey Gorgeous Gals,

Some more lipstick reviews coming up for you today. By now, you must have figured that I LOVE lipsticks!! But let us find out what True Love Means.

Product Description:
What it is:
An ultra-slim, refillable luxury lipstick that delivers saturated, long-wearing color with a satin finish.

What it does:
Confession Ultra Slim High Intensity Refillable Lipstick delivers creamy, saturated, long-wearing color with a satin finish without smudging or feathering. Each lipstick is encapsulated in a sleek gold applicator to provide the ultimate control to precisely accentuate, contour, and define the lips. Featuring the ultimate luxury lip accessory, the gold applicator can be used interchangeably with the full collection of Confession Ultra Slim Lipstick Refills (sold separately).

What it is formulated WITHOUT:
– Parabens
– Sulfates
– Phthalates
• Gluten
• Silicone D5
• Talc
• Triclosan
• Mineral Oil
• Not tested on animal

What else you need to know:
Confession Ultra Slim Lipstick blurs the line between beauty and accessory. It’s the ultimate luxury lipstick that discreetly fits in your pocket or clutch. The sleek gold applicator can be used interchangeably with the full collection of Confession Ultra Slim Lipstick Refills.

Hourglass products are 100 percent cruelty-free.

Suggested Usage:
-Twist the ultra slim lipstick to reveal product and apply. Retract product down before recapping.
-Hold pointed end of the gold applicator, remove gold cap and pull out lipstick barrel.
-Remove black cap of refill shade, firmly pull lipstick barrel out from the cylindrical black base.
-Reconnect refill black cap and base with remaining lipstick.
-Hold pointed end of the gold applicator and insert new refill shade into opening until it clicks into place.
-Secure gold applicator cap after each use.

Price:
Refillable Lipstick US $34 for 0.9gm
Refill $22 for 0.9gm

Yes, you read that right – 0.9gm of product. That’s actually less than some lip pencils or even deluxe size sample of lipsticks! 😉

My Experience with Hourglass Confession Ultra Slim High Intensity Refillable Lipstick I Want, True Love Means:

Packaging: Refer to the pictures and I will try to explain the packaging here. I am sharing pictures of both the Refillable lipsticks and the individual refills.

The Refillable Lipstick: The refillable lipstick is this elegant and extremely questionable (coming to that in a minute) golden applicator. The applicator has a lot of heft and screams luxury. You separate the cap from the pointed end of the applicator to review a twist-up lipstick. The lipstick is a thinner version of a regular lipstick with a slant tip. Normally, I have issues with application – especially on the cupid’s bow – with a rounder slant tip lipstick.

However, in this case, it isn’t an issue because the lipstick itself has a smaller diameter and it hugs the cupid’s bow nicely. The shade name is written on the side of the lipstick barrel. So, if you have more than one of these, you will need to open it each time and check the shade. The shade name is thoughtfully put on the side of the lipstick barrel and not the golden applicator, since the same applicator can be used to fit in another shade of the refill lipstick. The mechanism to change is extremely easy – the refill detaches easily and can be replaced quickly.

Coming to the questionable part – the golden applicator is reminiscent of the cigarette holders used by Western world – mostly women -from 1910s to 1970s. They were made iconic by Audrey Hepburn (in Breakfast at Tiffany’s) and Lucille Ball (in I Love Lucy). Having said that, I personally wonder how ethical it is for a brand to glamourize smoking! Anyway.

Refills: The refill consists of a black plastic lipstick case with a proper fitting cap. You pull out the cap to reveal the lipstick barrel. The lipstick shade is written on the side of the barrel as well as at the bottom. This bottom plug will actually need to be pulled out of the barrel to fix the lipstick into the golden applicator. While the Golden applicator adds to the luxe feeling and the whole charm of the collection, you do not NEED the golden applicator. The refill can easily work on its own. The case is no way cheap plastic and is quite secure to use on its own.

A quick brief about the collection: This is like the naughty collection from Hourglass. All shade names reflect a “confession statement.” Like “I Desire” “If Only”, “I’m Addicted”, etc.

I Want: Described by the company as “Medium Rose”. I Want is a light to medium soft dusty, slightly peachy, rose shade. This line really does have a variety of rosy shades – some very flattering and some kind of ok. I find this one to be kind of okay – only because there are more flattering ones easily available in this range. But, I guess this is a personal choice. This, to me, falls under the n*de to neutral category. The kind of shade I would reach for only if I wanted to balance a heavier eye look. This could be a good choice for office goers – soft, neutral and yet polished!

True Love Means: Described by the brand as “Pink Nude”. True Love Means is a light to medium soft, almost pastel, milky pink shade – not the most flattering on my light to medium warm toned skin. I find it difficult to pull this one off. The colour does settle a bit over the first half hour and looks much less milky as it does when you first apply it. However, the milkiness doesn’t go away completely. It is probably more suited to fair to light skin tone.

Texture: The shade I Want had formula consistent with the line – satin finish, creamy, lightweight texture which glides smoothly over the lips without being too slippery. Once applied, it does not slide around and adhere well to the lips. However, the shade True Love Means seems to have a different formula. The shade had much more slip, within the first half hour of wear itself, the pigment started to sink into my lip lines. If that wasn’t enough, it also collected into the corners of my lips. All in all True Love Means is not likely to get much love from me! Both shades are comfortable to wear and mildly hydrating. Being a satin finish, it transfers easily to any surface it touches – cups, spoons, etc. It does not smudge outside the lip lines or feather or bleed.

Pigmentation: The lipsticks are fully opaque in a single swipe – hugging the lips. The Brand promised “saturated” lip colour and that is exactly what they deliver. The arm swatch consists of 2 swipes drawn parallel to create a broader swatch than the lipstick bullet. However, there was no need for me to build up the colour. That should tell you how good the pigmentation is.

Lasting Power: Both shades gave me about 5 hours of wear. However, the shade True Love Means wasn’t flattering through those 5 hours and had much more transference. As the lipsticks start to wear off, they do so evenly, without getting or looking patchy.

Fragrance: There is a slight fragrance – which seems like an added perfume but it isn’t unpleasant to the nose. Having said that, do note that I could smell it only when I actually sniffed the product. I did not register it during application.

To sum this up for you:

Pros of Hourglass Confession Ultra Slim High Intensity Refillable Lipstick I Want, True Love Means:

I Want is a nice, easy to wear shade. (True Love Means was not a shade to my liking but may well work for someone else).
Lightweight texture.
Excellent pigmentation
Very comfortable to wear -no feeling of dryness or clinginess.
Easy to apply and get clean lines.
It applies smoothly and evenly with no tug or pull.
For the shade I Want – The pigment does not sink into the fine lines of the lips.
Does not flake or bleed.
Luxurious packaging (though I have shared my contrary opinion on this too).
Decent wear time.
Cruelty-free.
Free from Parabens, Sulfates, Phthalates, Gluten, Silicone D5, Talc, Triclosan, Mineral Oil.

Cons of Hourglass Confession Ultra Slim High Intensity Refillable Lipstick I Want, True Love Means:

The amount of lipstick is distinctly lower than what any other slim lipstick offers. But then, Hourglass isn’t really a drugstore or even mid-priced brand. They have positioned themselves consciously as a luxury brand and make no apologies for it.
The shade True Love Means did not perform as well as the other shades in this line. The texture had more slip, the pigment sank into the lines and the product collected into the corners.

IMBB Rating:
I Want– 4.25/5
True Love Means- 3/5

Do I Recommend Hourglass Confession Ultra Slim High Intensity Refillable Lipstick I Want, True Love Means?
True Love Means is the first shade in the range to have performed this dismal. I would not recommend it at all. However, I Want is an easy to wear nude to neutral shade, which could work for a lot of skin tones and has consistent high quality to the other shades in the line.