Maybelline Barely Bloomed Rebel Bloom Lipstick Review

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You know what would make drugstore shopping even more awesome? Testers! I know some products are starting to use testers (thank goodness!) but I’d love to see them become the norm in drugstore aisles. It would make my life so much easier!

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If the new Maybelline Rebel Bloom lipstick display had testers I probably would have returned Barely Bloomed to the shelf. This thing is light, man! Barely Bloomed is a sheer pale peachy beige that’s definitely better suited for lighter complexions. Sure, I can make it work on my brown skin but it’s certainly not a shade I could pull off without help.

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The formula seems to help a great deal though. Barely Bloomed has a lightweight, creamy texture that applies smoothly with semi-sheer coverage. I had to swipe it on quite a bit to get some opacity on my pigmented lips but that actually worked to my advantage. The formula allows a bit of my natural lip color to peek through which keeps Barely Bloomed from looking chalky or ashy despite the fact that it’s very pale.

Upon application, Barely Bloomed is incredibly unforgiving. The color moves around, emphasizes flakes and settles into lip lines a bit. However, the Rebel Bloom formula has a tendency to sort of melt into the lips so it looks better as it wears on. After a few minutes, Barely Bloomed looks soft and smooth on the lips. I really like that part! I also like that Barely Bloomed is lightly moisturizing and lasts pretty long to be so sheer. It wears for around 3-4 hours before fading away into a light stain. Usually, I’m not a fan of such pale nudes but Barely Bloomed is quite pleasant to wear. Plus, I always wear a lip liner with my nudes so it’s no big deal for me. If you have a deep brown lip liner (like NYX Expresso) handy then I recommend trying Barely Bloomed. It’s not as scary as it looks!

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Barely Bloomed (upon application)

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Barely Bloomed (after 5 minutes) paired with NYX Expresso Lip Liner