Are you bitten by the ombre lip bug? I wasn’t. For some reason, it’s one of the makeup trends that passed me by. I did notice however, that there are two sorts of ombre lips – the Western ombre lip trend, and the Korean ombre lip trend.
The Western ombre lip trend has a deeper colour on the outer lip, and a lighter shade on the inner lip. This, I find, makes lips look larger and more pouty. The Korean ombre lip trend is reversed, with a deeper colour on the inner lip and a very light shade on the outer lip. I think it’s supposed to give off an innocent vibe, like that of someone who’s just sucked on a cherry lollipop. Neither is really my style LOL!
But I know the Korean lip style is quite popular. There are any number of makeup tutorials out there teaching you how to create this look. But if you’re anything like me (read: not great at following instructions 😛 ) then Laneige has made the job a million times easier!
Enter the Laneige Two Tone Tint Lip Bar, an improved version of the existing Two Tone Lip Bar. You can tell that it’s the new version by the V-shaped lip colour. Wanna see how it looks when I wear it? 😛
I received 3 shades in the mail, and if I’m to be perfectly honest, I wasn’t too sure how I felt about them. I mean, I wasn’t into the whole ombre lip look. I prefer a solid lip colour, and as I’ll show you below, I think I look better in it. Still, it’s just makeup right? Let’s experiment! 🙂
As the name implies, the Laneige Two Tone Tint Lip Bar is supposed to offer more of a tint of colour. However, I found that the colour (in the V-shaped portion) is pretty intense. The outer layer, despite the pretty pastel colours, is a transparent balm.
Laneige Two Tone Tint Lip Bar L-R: 07, 08, 04
The different shades therefore are formed by the actual colour in the V-shaped portion of the lipstick. I was warned that the original version was rather drying on lips, so I was a little apprehensive. However, I’m going to tell you that these are really nice and moisturising on lips.
I attribute it to the balm portion, which is quite soft and emollient, and leaves my lips feeling comfortable and moisturised. What this feels like therefore, is like a balmy, moisturising lipstick. Very comfortable, so thumbs up in that area!
The other thing I wasn’t sure about was the shades. I haven’t personally had many good experiences with Korean makeup because their lip colours can be a little off for me. These however, were a pretty decent colour – nothing too strange or too warm.
The Two Tone Tint Lip Bar swatches are below, swatched straight from the tube.
You can see how on left, is the balm, which swatches clear. On right is the colour as contained in the V-shaped part of the lip colour. The middle, where the V cuts into the balm, is where the colours intersect and blend out and makes the ombre.
The 3 shades I have are:-
- 04 Fruits Candy Bar Blue/Pink – It’s a fuchsia pink housed within a pale blue balm, and it actually swatches quite strongly, but surprisingly more red than pink.
- 07 Lollipop Red Lilac/Red – This one’s a red within a lilac tinted balm and similarly, swatches quite a strong red. The balm portion tempers the colour somewhat, so someone who is afraid of wearing red lipstick might find this more wearable. Personally though, I prefer wearing it all over.
- 08 Cherry Milk Pink/Plum – This is actually my favourite of the 3 shades. In tube, it’s a very very deep plum which looks quite scary and gothic. But when swatched, I loved the deep cherry red!
Here’s how the 3 shades look when I wear it.
I wore 04 and 07 as an ombre lip. For the bottom lip, I angled the V-shaped portion to apply to the inner lip, while the balm applies onto the outer portion of your lip. For the top lip, you have to turn it the other way around, so the V-shape applies on the inner lip. It’s a little awkward when applying on the top lip, due to the angle of the lipstick.
Personally speaking, I wasn’t too thrilled about how the ombre lip looks on me. I feel it makes my lips look smaller than normal, and a little disproportionate to my face. As the colour is quite strong, it isn’t necessarily a “tint” of colour at all, but a full on opaque lip colour.
I much prefer how it looks when I wear it as a normal lip colour, i.e. blended all over my lip as I did with 08 Cherry Milk. I love the colour, how it looks and how it feels, and I think it’s a great lipstick – I’m just not sold on the whole ombre thing 😛
IN A NUTSHELL
The Laneige Two Tone Tint Lip Bar is a liptick with a lip colour on one side and a clear balm on the other. The way it is made allows you to swipe it on to immediately create a Korean ombre lip style. Personally, I like to just wear the colour all over my lip. The colours are attractive, opaque, and the texture is comfortable and moisturising. There is a sweet candy scent that may or may not appeal to you. It doesn’t usually sit well with me, but I quite enjoyed this one. The plastic packaging does make it feel like a toy, but I forgive it because the colour and texture is impressive and in this day and age, it’s pretty affordable.
PROS: Moisturising, Allows you to create the Korean ombre lip look with very little effort, Does double-duty as a normal lipstick, Comfortable to wear on lips, Slim and handy one hand application, Affordable
CONS: Sweet candy scent, Plasticky packaging cheapens the product
WHO WILL LIKE THIS: Anyone who wants a balmy, moisturising lipstick, Anyone who wants to create a Korean style ombre lip
PRICE: RM80 – 8 shades available
WHERE TO BUY: Laneige counters and stores and selected online stores
Do you like the ombre lip trend? Have you tried this two tone style lipstick from Laneige?
Having tried it, I’m not sold on the ombre lip look on me. I much prefer a full on lip, and better yet, in a bold colour. I think it suits me better, but hey how about you? Have you tried the ombre lip trend?
Paris B
The idea of you doing “an innocent vibe, like that of someone who’s just sucked on a cherry lollipop” had me in fits and giggles.
I am not sold on the whole ombre thing either – personally, I think it looks really odd.
I’m so not a coquette 😛 And I think the ombre lip thing can work up to a certain age. After that, it’s called trying too hard LOL!
I have a serious case of RBF(resting b face) and I actually do prefer myself wearing those darker opaque colours on my lips since it gives me a “don’t mess with me vibe”. But on occasion where I do get compliments its always the kind of soft korean ombre lips with pastel colours that scream “i am cute and innocent!”. Too bad my personality doesn’t match with it LOL
Hahaha you sound just like me 😉 I like the odd light rose lip shade, or sheer lip colour, but I much prefer a lip colour that goes all around. Just looks more finished, to me. But as with makeup trends, these things come and go, and you’re right. It takes a certain personality to be able to carry off the cute innocent look (one I can’t carry off either! LOL )
I honestly thought the ombre lip color looked like a mismatched lip liner plus lip color. 08 looks good on you though.
In some looks, it can certainly look that way! To me however, it looks like unfinished lipstick, like you didn’t apply it properly. Just not a look I favour I guess hehe… Thanks, I’m leaning to 08 too!
I prefer full red lips anytime! ??Makes me feels like “I’m serious & I don’t have time for any of you nonsense”. ???? My favorite is Clinique Mightiest Maraschino Chubby Stick. ?
A girl after my own heart! LOL! I’m with you on the no-nonsense red lip – hey, if I’m going to wear a red lipstick, it better make an impact! 😉 Ooh you reminded me of Clinique! I haven’t worn mine in ages. I’ll pull it out today 😀
I don’t get the ombre lip too. I think it suits those with much fuller lips because as you said, it will make lips look thinner than they really are. I prefer a regular lipstick anytime 🙂
Yep, I didn’t like how thin my lips look – I want full, plump smackers! LOL 😀
Gosh – on me it will look like I mess up my lippy and I tried it at the counter – all that turning and trying to figure out the correct angle got me super confuse –
And I totally agree after a certain age – this won’t work – BUT I am lemming for the Benefit version – juz let me pay off my car insurance and road tax first – not to mention the horrible petrol price this month ?
hahahhaa No it won’t Angeline. It really is quite easy to handle, once you get the idea that since the colour is on the inner lip, a little lipstick gymnastics is required for the top lip 😀 I think it’s a great way for young girls to wear strong lip colour without looking too mature, but when you hit a certain age (ahem, like me 😛 ) then you do want to embrace that maturity, because otherwise, it looks like you’re trying too hard! haha 😀 I haven’t seen the Benefit version (I’m not a fan of the brand and its marketing) but I so feel you on the recent petrol hike! Sigh… owning a car is so expensive isn’t it? And yet, we can’t go without it
The ombre trend really isn’t for me. I tried another two tone lip product from another brand (because I really didn’t want to spend $35 CAD on Laneige) and it just did not look good.
Like you, I prefer the solid one shade vs ombre. A friend of my who did tried this absolutely loves it and is trying to convince me to buy these.
But honestly, I’m ok. I’ll stick to my other lipsticks. I wish the Laneige serum lipsticks were released in Canada. I hear those ones are quite good.
I remember a long time back, it was a bit of a trend to wear a solid colour all over, and then, a dot of gloss or highlight or light shade in the middle. That was actually very flattering. I’m just surprised it’s no longer being done, because it made lips look so plump and full and pretty. I still do it sometimes, when I’m in the mood 🙂 But I do think ombre lips (the Korean style) are a good way for those who fear solid bright lipstick to wear those shades, because there’s so little of it showing. Perhaps it’s a way for them to graduate to full solid lipstick? 😀 I hadn’t heard of the serum lipsticks – are they good? I’ll take a look here – we get a good selection 😉
Thought of getting this from Laneige but backed off cos I heard the original ones are rather drying and I already have dry lips. Similarly I love full reds; it’s the easiest way to perk up a tired face!
I was told the original ones were drying too, Tracy, but these absolutely aren’t. I’ve been using them as full on lip colour for the past week and it’s actually quite comfortable 😀
I think the red and the plum color looks gorgeous on you~! I love gradient lips hehehe~ probably because it just looks simple and easy and “no makeup” make up (>-<) and it makes the lips look thinner (maybe only some people will want that, hehe~)
But the Laneige tint bars does look so pretty! =) I have one of them, they are pretty price IMO, but still love them and wish I can have the whole set (oh greedy me but my wallet will scream). Love your posts and can't wait to see more!
PS: I have been missing reading posts from Tine =( It's been a long time since she blogged and I love both her and your recommendations for skincare products! ^-^
Thank you Rosalind 🙂 I’m not saying gradient or ombre lips are a bad thing, I do think they look pretty on most people and yes, as you’ve said, makes lips look thinner which will suit some people 🙂 Glad to know you like these. While I’m not sold on the concept, I do think the colours are pretty when worn as a normal lipstick, and I like how comfortable it feels. Not drying at all! 🙂 psst! If you look online, there are some legitimate sites that sell them more affordably than the counters/store! 😉 I’m glad you’re enjoying my posts and I’ll pass the message on to Tine – I miss her posts too but she’s taking a bit of a hiatus right now to regroup, and I’m hoping she’ll be back eventually 🙂
Oooh, these looks amazing! I’ve been applying my lipstick to manually achieve the gradient lip, and this looks a lot easier than the smudging I do. xD Definitely going to have to pop in stores to check out 04 and 07.
Hahaha yes Esther, this is made for people like you! 😀 There are a few more shades available, so you can see which ones you prefer. I think it’s a pretty and sweet look when done right, but it just clashes terribly with my personality which isn’t sweet! hahhahaa 😀
Oh I really want to try one of these! I think the ombre look is quite fun, maybe because I haven’t seen people here go nuts over the trend. I have one of the original Two Tone Lip Bars and while I do find them slightly awkward to apply, these ‘tint’ versions just look like lollies to me, thanks to the pastel ‘outter’ shade, so I really, really want at least one… They seem to be difficult to get a hold of if you want to buy them online (all the websites I order my Korean products from are out of them it seems :/ ). Any suggestions perhaps Paris? 🙂
Haha lollies! They smell like them too 😀 I’m actually not certain where you can get them, because we have a few sites locally that sell them but I checked and they don’t ship outside of the region. I saw some on ebay, amazon and gmarket and also at this website shopatkorea but I haven’t used their service so I don’t know how reliable or authentic they are, sorry! But they do have it!
I actually think you look quite hawt in 07!! Plus your fair skin, you definitely look like a Korean superstar!
I’ve been applying my red liquid lipstick to manually achieve the ombre lip effect because 1) full-on red scares me still, 2) the lipstick I own wears off easily, so I won’t look like I have melting lipstick if I were to do the ombre look (as opposed to full lipstick).
How’s the wear like? Does it stay on for a good length of time? I eat and drink quite a bit in office, and my lipsticks usually wear off after 2 hours. 🙁
Aww thank you Daphne – I unfortunately don’t have that dewy, poreless complexion of the Korean superstars! 🙂 This is actually a very easy way to ease into wearing brighter lip colours. I find the wear time acceptable and surprisingly long to be honest. I drink a lot of water, but it takes me through to lunch time, which is a good 4 hours at least? 🙂