I’ll admit I didn’t always love this lipgloss. But over time the things that I had initially disliked about the gloss (stickier texture, strong scent/flavor), are the things I have come to like quite a bit about this product, and this is now one of my favorite glosses for everyday. I first tried it a few years ago, when my lipgloss of choice was Revlon’s Skinlights Glosslights for lips. The Loreal Colour Juice Sheer Juicy Lipgloss had just come out in stores, and, in the tube, they appeared to be almost exactly the same as the Glosslights, except they came in more colors. So I picked up two on a buy-one-get-one free sale at CVS. I chose Berry Burst and Sugar Coated.

This product comes in a 3-inch long clear plastic tube. It has a screw-on cap that the color corresponds to the color of the gloss in the tube. It contains .5 oz of product, which is pretty much the same as or maybe a little bit more product than other squeeze-tube lipglosses available. When you unscrew the cap, there is a round-tip applicator with a small hole which dispenses the product when you squeeze the tube.

Before I go any further, here is the product description and shades taken from www.lorealparis.com: L’Oreal Colour Juice “Succulent lips…with juicy shine! Colour Juice delivers a pop of sheer glossy colour that adds a shiny finish while moisturizing your lips. Just squeeze and apply! Or use as a top coat over your favorite lipstick.”

Pina Colada
Bubble Gum
Pink Grapefruit
Berry Burst* (clear pink with pink sparkles)
Passion Fruit Squeeze
Cherry on Top
Raspberry Smash* (reddish-pink without sparkles)
Melon Punch
Peaches-n-Crème
Watermelon Crush* (pearly hot pink)
Strawberry Smoothie
Grape Soda
Tutti Frutti
Candy Apple
Iced Latte
Caramel Crème* (pearly nude with orange sparkles)
Butterscotch Drop
Sugar Coated* (clear with silver sparkles)
Golden Splash
Peek-a-Boo Clear

* I own these shades, as well as a limited edition shade “Her Majesty’s Rose”, a pinkish-nude with gold sparkles.

When I unscrew the cap, the first thing I notice is the rather strong scent of the gloss. I would describe it as a berry (raspberry) scent. Now, one of my misconceptions about this product was that the name/shade corresponded to the actual scent/flavor of the gloss. This is actually what kept me from buying more of the glosses for the longest time, because I don’t like things that taste like watermelon or caramel, and they were two of the other shades I liked. The two shades I had purchased, Berry Burst and Sugar Coated, smell strangely similar, but I figured the scent/flavor was both sugary and berry-like so I figured I had just lucked out with getting scents/flavors I had liked. It wasn’t until I picked up my third Colour Juice (a limited edition shade called Her Majesty’s Rose) on clearance at CVS, that I realized, hey, I think these all smell/taste the same! And sure enough, they do. The scent/flavor is rather strong, especially compared to the Glosslights I had been using, so initially I didn’t care for it that much. But it isn’t repulsive like some other fruity glosses, and the more I have been using it, the more the scent/flavor has grown on me. Now I actually really like it!

When I squeeze a bit of the gloss onto my lips, the texture is rather sticky (compared to the Glosslights which is very slippery and not at all sticky in my opinion). Now, initially I didn’t care for the stickier texture either, but I have found that if you want any kind of staying power at all, you have to put up with a little bit of stickiness. My hair does definitely get stuck in this gloss, but it doesn’t have an overly gluey or goopy feel to it. Yes, it’s sticky, but a good kind of sticky.

The rounded-tip applicator doesn’t do much for applying this gloss evenly. I usually just apply a little bit to my bottom lip and then just smush my lips together to spread it out. This works fine for the sheer shades, but with shades with a little more pigment, I had better make sure I check in the mirror to make sure its not smeared all over my mouth. While some shades definitely have more pigment than others, all the shades I have do go on more sheer than they appear in the tube, especially ones with sparkles. It has a nice, shiny look to it, but it is not too shiny to wear everyday. The level of pigmentation and sparkles varies greatly from shade to shade, but you can get a pretty good idea of the pigmentation and sparkles from looking at the tube, as long as you remember they will go on a little more sheer than they appear. A final note about the sparkles- they are visible flecks of glitter (although I cannot feel the glitter on my lips). I wouldn’t say the glitter is as obvious-looking as that in Maybelline’s Wet Shine with Diamonds lip glosses, but it is definitely glitter. And if you look closely, the glitter in some shades is colored. This can be a good or bad thing, but I don’t like my Caramel Crème quite as much since I noticed it has orange sparkles in it.

The staying power of this gloss is pretty good. It lasts about 1-2 hours on my lips. Any gloss that lasts at least an hour on my lips is pretty good in my book. Plus, this tastes so good I don’t mind having to reapply it. If I am eating or drinking it comes off a bit faster, but I can still see a trace of the shimmer and feel a bit of the gloss on my lips. It does reapply evenly- it doesn’t ever feel or appear caked on.

One of my only complaints about this product the squeeze tube itself, and this is a complaint about squeeze tubes in general, not just this product in particular. Now, squeeze tube lipglosses are really a great value, because you get the most product for your money, sometimes two or three times the amount you get with a wand gloss, and you can squeeze it to get that last little drop out. But because the tube is flexible and squeezable, it can also be easily crushed if I carry it in my pants pocket and sometimes the sharp corners at the end of the tube can dig into my leg, if I am bending down, for example. And I don’t know how this happens, but sometimes over the course of the day, the cap has managed to work its way loose in my pants pocket and some of the gloss oozes out. So now, I just don’t carry these in my pants pocket. In my purse or my coat pocket they’re fine.

So, after using this product off and on for the past couple of years, I find I like it more and more the longer I use it. All-in-all this is a great lipgloss for everyday. It has decent staying power so you’re not reapplying it every 15 minutes. It has a great selection of shades, especially since L’Oreal added several shades to its regular lineup. L’Oreal also puts out limited edition shades several times a year as well. (Currently in stores there is the Pop Vibe collection for spring, which has bright pinks and a purple shade.) You get a lot of product, so a tube will last a long time as long as you don’t mind the somewhat messy application.

This product is available at drugstores/discount stores that carry L’Oreal products as well as online. L’Oreal lip products are often on sale buy-one-get-one free at CVS and Eckerd, so combined with the $1-$2 off coupons that are often in newspaper inserts, you can get these for a really great price! Just a final thought- I can’t really compare these to the Lancome Juicy Tubes since I have never personally tried them, but I have read in many other reviews that the products are nearly identical, except for the applicator. And since L’Oreal also owns Lancome, this just seems like a less-expensive version of the Juicy Tubes. I am perfectly content to stick to the Colour Juices when I am tempted to try a new lipgloss shade…or two…or three…at this price, why not!


Recommended: Yes