When The Package Is This Pretty... (Naughty But Nice Lip Gloss)

Member Name: zoe_page_1

Product:	Naughty But Nice Lip Gloss
Date:	02/10/09 (97 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Looks really cute, small and cheap

Disadvantages: Fiddly to open, not the highest quality lip gloss (and not much of it)

I love cupcakes. Eating them, of course, but also anything decorated with them. I have cupcake magnets on my fridge, a cupcake soap in my bathroom. I have coveted the cupcake tea towels in Primarni and the cupcake work surface savers in Lakeland . And, right now, on my desk at work, I have a cupcake lip gloss, a birthday present from my sister who understands and endorses this obsession.

The lip gloss is only small and looks like a bite-sized baby next to my other lip balm, a normal-sized tub. It is debatable whether it even is a cupcake, since by Nigella's definition its domed top marks it out as a fairy cake, really, but that's just being pedantic. There are various designs available in the set, but I have the chocolate sprinkle one whose plastic shell is moulded into a brown cupcake case with the hinged lid designed to look like a mound of dark chocolate frosting with colourful sprinkles. It looks good enough to eat though were it made to be eaten it would provide barely one bite of gooey, chocolate goodness, it's so tiny.

The design is very much about fashion over function - it is quite fiddly to get the lid to lift since it clicks down so tightly, and it does require your nails to unfasten it unless you want to graze your thumb trying to push it open. Once open, the surface area of the gloss is also small - as an adult using this you are really limited to applying it with your little finger, or with a brush (not provided) if you happen to have one lying around. The shape does have one non-aesthetic advantage though: because the lid clamps down so tightly it is a safe one to throw in a handbag without the worry that the lid will fall open and it will start to collect bottom-of-the-bag fluff. Plus, because it is such a unique shape, it's quite easy to locate in a dark bag without having to pull out every other beauty item or pen looking for a standard stick of lip balm.

Inside, there is a very small amount of lip gloss - the sort of quantity you would get in a child's toy 'beauty' set. The lip gloss has a non-descript sweet smell that is slightly synthetic and is hard to pin down except to say the one thing it doesn't smell of is chocolate. Looking at the lip gloss, I see lots of silver sparkle in between the brown paste. Luckily, this is slightly deceptive, because though it may look like that in the pot, it doesn't translate to your lips in the same way. While it has a very, very slight colour to it if you test it by rubbing it on a sheet of white paper, on your lips it disappears into a clear, colourless gloss that has just the slightest hint of glittery sparkle to it. The gloss is also quite sticky, and even after rubbing it thoroughly on your lips you have to be careful to wipe your fingers (or risk lip-glossing your keyboard). That said, it stays well on your lips because of this stickiness, and I can generally feel it for 30 minutes or so, unlike other brands which slide straight off the second you take a sip of water or even lick your lips.

This is a gag gift rather than a serious beauty product, and so I don't expect it to offer miracles. It doesn't sooth dry lips, or plump them up, or anything like that, but at the same time it doesn't make them any worse. In other words, since it makes no promises of this nature, it literally does what it says on the very pretty tin. I think it will last me a long time because it's not so good I want to use it all day every day - that's what Vaseline is for. But, it really is quite cute to look at and brightens my day when it catches my eye. As Joey in Friends once said, when the package is this pretty, nobody cares what's inside.

These lip glosses can be bought online, but I've also seen them in various small gift shops, usually near the till point. At about £1.50 they're inexpensive and just the right size for a stocking filler or something to put in a cracker if you make your own. I wouldn't pay any more for one, especially since I use mine more as a desk ornament than anything else, but to give as a small gift to someone, or to treat yourself, they are really cute.

Summary: Buy it as a cute decoration more than a low quality lip gloss