[REVIEW] Aritaum Honey Melting Tint: #4 Raspberry Cake, #5 Apple Tart, #S14 Pink Lemonade, # S16 Lady Dessert

For something that is so highly hyped up in the Korean beauty community, I'm really surprised that there aren't many reviews here in the English Korean beauty community. I'm a big fan of the Aritaum lip collections - loved their Wannabe Cushion Tints, World Glam Coating Tints, and Pudding Tints but the Honey Melting Tint never really appealed to me. I've swatched them a quite a few times in stores and they always seem kind of thick and sticky. Not to mention, a majority of the ten colors were orangey. Most koreans have warm skin tones so corals and oranges look absolutely beautiful on them. However, I'm more of a cool tone girl and bright pinks look best on me. Orangey corals and orange tend to make my skin look dull. I do like pink based corals though. Those are okay.  I remember this one time back in my early college days when I put on this orangey red lipstick from Revlon and taking tons of selfies with it. At the time I thought I looked amazing but looking back now, I cringe every time I see those photos and hesitate everytime I see an orangey red lipstick.  I made an exception for the 3CE Kitsch Biker lipstick (review here).

There are originally ten colors for the Honey Melting Tint line. Recently, Aritaum released six new summer colors and I couldn't resist anymore so I picked up two of them during the 1 + 1 sale to see where this hype comes from. I went in stores and in my beauty maniac mode - swatched like eight colors on my arms. Out of the eight colors I chose, I picked up S14 Pink Lemonade, S16 Lady Dessert, and #5 Apple Tart. I LOVE the summer names. They're so fun!

I've been meaning to upload this post last week, but I've been so busy with work. Plus, some of the pictures didn't turn out right and the on and off rainstorms made it hard to find good lighting.

S11 Mango Smoothie, S12 Orange Sherbet, S13 Ruby Grapefruit, S14 Pink Lemonade, S15 Fruits Bubble, S16 Lady Dessert

*source: aritaum.com - Official Korean Aritaum website 

Performance

I always get this strong impatient and excited feeling whenever I buy a new product. It's absolutely torture for me to wait 'til I get home, take some pictures of the packaging, and then try it. Sometimes, this feeling is so strong that I would buy something and rush into the nearest bathroom to put it on. Which is what happened in this case. Totally a bad idea since the washrooms in Korea almost NEVER have proper lighting. What's with all this dim lighting?! This product fooled me with its balm looking package. I was completely NOT prepare for this level of pigmentation. Many people said this has the pigmentation of a lipstick, but I didn't believe it til now. If you think you can just slap this on without proper lighting - think again. Not only is it highly pigmented, it actually has quite a resistant texture. It dragged against my lips when I tried to put it on like a lip balm and the outcome was one hot mess. It picked up on the dry bits on my lips because I didn't exfoliate and it felt quite thick and a little bit sticky. It also started to feel a little bit tight like it was clinging onto my lips.

However, this product is not all bad. After I played around with it a little bit at home, I think I know how to make it work. The trick to this lip tint is to dab it on not drag/swipe it on. When you dab it on, the product applies lightly thus creating a thin but pigmented layer. Also, you can do a beautiful gradiation with some lip concealer. It does start to feel a little bit dry after application. You need to exfoliate and apply a lip balm before hand as well so the product won't catch onto any dry bits. It also slides on like a breeze when you've got oily base of a lip balm on first. Although it will still feel just a bit sticky, by dabbing it on, the stickiness will be hardly noticeable.

The wear time on this is pretty good. I'd say it ususally stays on my lips until I eat. After eating, I usually find a stain left behind. Sometimes, that stain is especially noticeable around the dry cracks and lines of my lips. Also, if you apply a heavy layer, a bit of the product tend to build up in the inner rim of  your lips so make sure you be careful of that.

One thing to be extremely careful of is to not leave this in a warm area for too long. I've seen these melt pretty badly in stores.

No. 4 Raspberry Cake: this is a beautiful red with slight pink undertones. 

No. 5 Apple Tart - regular line. This is a beautiful classic red. It's perfect for gradation purposes but on its own, it's quite a stand out color. It's very similar to Raspberry Cake but with an orange undertone.

No. S14 Pink Lemonade. I love this color. It's bold and it's bright. It's similar to No. 3 Strawberry Chips but this has a cooler undertone. 

* I didn't notice the dry bits until after I uploaded the pictures.  

No. S16 Lady Dessert. This was the color I was most excited about and it does not disappoint. Truely lovely coral with a hint of pink.

Gradation with  #5 Apple Tart

The Good

- beautiful colors

- highly pigmented

- relatively long lasting

- leaves a beautiful tint (for the brighter colors)

- affordable

- doesn't feather

- has a beautiful gloss

The Bad

- you can easily apply too much product

- it can catch onto dry bits

- transfers a bit onto cups

- you can definitely feel like you're wearing something

- can melt in warm areas.

- build up in the inner rim of the lips

Overall: While I say this product is over hyped (they're really nice but I wouldn't say they are a must-have), they are to be admired for their beautiful colors and great pigmentation.  In my beauty hoarder mode, I've gone back and picked up a few more (of the same colors - the act of a true hoarder).

Edit: I've recently purchased #3 in Strawberry Chip. If you'd like to see my swatches, please click here: Strawberry Chip.

18 comments Aritaum, honey, Korean, lipbalm, lipstick, melting, tint