Review: Clinique Superbalm Moisturizing Gloss

I love free beauty products as much as the next girl - seriously, who doesn't? - especially when we're talking about high-end beauty products. It really gives me the chance to try something I wouldn't normally purchase myself.

So imagine my excitement when I win a contest over at Temptalia (that woman was holding giveaways all summer long!), and part of my prize pack involves a very popular lip product from Clinique. I couldn't wait to try it out!

Did the Clinique Superbalm Moisturizing Gloss live up to my expectations?

Product Description: Lip balm with a colourful twist. Gorgeous colours treat your most undermoisturized skin to helpings of soothing shine. Instantly relieve dryness, protect with antioxidants and more. Dip in.

Price: $13.50

Results: In short, no, this product did not come near my expectations - don't worry, I'll explain fully.

There isn't really anything wrong with this product, per se, but is there anything fantastic about it? Negative. I received the color Apricot, which is a pretty, sheer, coral shade, and very shiny, but that's about where the list of pros ends.

The first thing I noticed was the unpleasant texture and feel of the gloss. It felt very thick on my lips, much more like a gloss than a balm, and was not slick enough for my liking - it was almost a struggle to slide my lips across each other. In fact, it felt goopy, heavy, and uncomfortable after application, and with continued wear.

Additionally, it wasn't very moisturizing at all! I thought that perhaps I wasn't leaving it on long enough to experience the full effects of the product, so I did an experiment and left it on overnight, only to discover my dry, chapped lips had hardly improved by morning. Definitely not up to my standards for a moisturizing lip treatment, gloss, or balm. This is not a fix-all for severely undermoisturized lips such as mine.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect, however, is the severe lack of fun factor. It is completely devoid of shimmer, glitter, scent, flavor, or SPF... and when you take all these things away, the product as a whole is pretty bland. It isn't even very pigmented, so I imagine all the colors would look about the same on me.

So what do we have left? A thick, filmy balm-gloss that isn't very moisturizing at all, nor is it very super. In fact, it's completely uninspiring and overpriced not to mention ineffective. I think I'll pass.