I've read about these all over and was excited to see them at my local Walmart this past weekend. I picked up Sugar Coated and Sugar Kiss. I grabbed the last Sugar Coated, I guess that one is really popular. These were $2 each CDN on rollback, so super cheap, NYC is a really cheap drugstore brand. The NYC website describes these as such "Delivers a sheer pop of color with an intense gloss finish. Hydrating and conditioning formula with rich botanical oils & vitamins leaves lips extra soft. Sweet flavor makes this a yummy treat!"
First impressions about these were that the packaging reminded me of ELF lip tins, the lid slides side to side to reveal the product, you have to be careful to not accidentally dig your fingers into it when you slide. Also the little plastic window is really cheap too, if you push down on it, it feels like it's going to come apart, not very durable at all, but the tin seems pretty intact and solid. The product contains 9g. You can use your fingers or a lip brush to apply it. I am not a huge fan of these types of products as I find it unhygienic to be dipping your fingers into this, although if you are the only one using it, it's not a big deal really. There were about 6 colours at my store.
Sugar Coated is a milky baby pink, smells like cotton candy or mango, very sugary, all the names of these have sugar in the name, so I guess that's what they were going for. The ingredients list grapeseed oil, mango, shea butter, avocado oil, jojoba, along with other things. Loads of people have compared this shade to MAC's Boy Bait cremesheen, which I don't have. Of course, the Boy Bait is $21.50 CDN and these are $2ish, so everyone runs out and buys it thinking, if it disappoints me, who cares? I've only spent $2. I think the majority of girls that bought this did hoping it would be a dupe. The claims are that Sugar Coated is more pigmented, stays on longer and hydrates better than Boy Bait. Hmm, I don't know, but if the statements are true, Boy Bait sounds pretty shitty to me.
Sugar Kiss is a tad brighter, more hot pink colour. This one looks promising in the tin, but not so much applied. This was the only pink-like one that my store had, the rest were pretty brown and red looking.
This is a very simple product, nothing fancy, you get what you expect,. These do seem quite moisturizing. They are on the thick, goopy side, so they will last a decent amount of time on your lips because of that. They aren't sticky however. They leave a faint sweet taste, yes I eat my lip products!
The colour payoff is sheer and next to nothing however, as you can tell in the swatch above, however these are marketed as tinted lip balms, so you can't expect much (and especially for the price). I think these would melt and get destroyed if you kept them in your purse in the summer, there was already moisture all over the inside when I brought them home in the hot car. Compared to the L'oreal HIP Jelly Lip Balms, these kinda suck, I would recommend getting those instead cause the colour payoff is much better and the scent is nicer too. I've also read that these are discontinued? They've been around since last year and we still have them in Canada here at Walmart, so maybe not?
My verdict is take it or leave it. I won't be buying more of these, I think they are just okay. I am not the type to spend outrageous amount on lip gloss in the first place, but I like pigmentation and staying power. I don't see myself reaching for these very often, but for the price, they are a good buy.
Did you buy these? Did you like them?
