I bought it because I was tired of seeing it everywhere. Every time I opened Instagram, someone was putting it on their lips. Every beauty video seemed to have it somewhere in the background. Even my friend, Amelia started carrying it around in her handbag. You need to try this,” she told me. I rolled my eyes. “I don't need another lip product.” She pulled it out of her bag. “Just look at it.” I looked. It was pretty. That was how it started.
I ordered one. When it arrived, I understood why people liked the packaging immediately. It looked expensive without being unnecessarily complicated.
I opened it, put some on my lips and waited. Nothing dramatic happened.
There was no magical transformation. My lips looked like my lips. Just slightly better. I laughed because I had spent days watching videos where people acted as though putting this product on had changed their entire lives.
But I liked it. The color was easy to wear. It wasn't too bright, and I didn't have to think very hard about what I was wearing with it. I could put it on with jeans and a T-shirt or use it when I was dressing up. That was probably the first thing I genuinely liked about it. It was easy.
I wore it to work the next day. By lunchtime, I had eaten, had coffee and talked through half the morning. When I checked my reflection, most of the product was still there. Not perfectly. But enough. I reapplied it after lunch. That became my routine. I started carrying it everywhere. Then I found the first problem. It wasn't as comfortable after several hours as it had been when I first applied it. My lips started feeling a little dry. Not painfully dry. Just dry enough that I noticed. So I started using lip balm underneath it. That helped. I also realized that the color looked different depending on how much I applied. A light layer gave me the kind of color I could wear every day. A heavier layer looked much more noticeable. That was useful because I didn't need two different shades for two different occasions. I could change the intensity myself.
After about two weeks, I understood why the product had become popular. But I also understood why viral beauty products can be misleading. Something being popular doesn't automatically mean it will be perfect for you. My friend loved the exact shade I bought. On her, it looked completely different. Our skin tones were different. Our natural lip colors were different. Even the way we applied it was different. She put on one quick layer. I kept building mine because I preferred a stronger color. Neither of us was using it incorrectly. We simply had different preferences. There was another thing I noticed. The videos had made the product look like a miracle. In reality, it was just a good lip product. And honestly, that was enough. I don't need every beauty product I buy to transform my life.
Sometimes I just want something that works.
Would I buy it again? Yes. But I wouldn't tell everyone they need it. If you like easy everyday lip colors and don't mind reapplying during the day, I can understand why people enjoy it. If your main priority is something extremely moisturizing, though, this probably wouldn't be the first product I'd choose. And if you're buying it because social media has convinced you that your makeup routine is incomplete without it, I'd say wait. Look at the shade. Think about what you actually like wearing. Think about whether the price makes sense for you. Then decide.
Because after finally trying the product that had been appearing on my screen for weeks, I learned something I probably should have known already. Sometimes a viral beauty product really is good. Sometimes it's just very good at being viral. And the only way to know which one you're dealing with is to stop watching everyone else use it and figure out whether you actually like it.