Bite Beauty - Rouge Berry - Swatches and Review

Bite Beauty's Rouge Berry lipstick in Amuse Bouche formula is exclusive to Sephora VIB Rouges, which is the status of anyone who buys more than $1,000.00 USD worth of products from Sephora in a calender year. In other words, this is the status for those of us who officially spend far too much money on cosmetics ;o)

Sephora often releases products that are VIB or VIB Rouge exclusives as a nice perk for frequent buyers, and this lipstick was one of the most recent releases among those products. Based on the reviews on Sephora's website, quite a few customers were a bit disgruntled about the discrepency between the color of the lipstick shown on the website and the actual color, because it looks like a wine-berry color in the picture, but in reality, it is quite a bit deeper purple than one would expect from the picture. (Update: Evidently, the picture has been changed to reflect more accurately the dark purple that Rouge Berry is, so it seems that people have stopped complaining about the difference between the picture and the actual color.) I, personally, really like the color, but I can see why some people might be a bit shocked to see just how dark it actually applies. Of course, this can easily be remedied by blotting or by dabbing on the lipstick lightly, so in reality, you can get a more wine-berry color out of this one with a small amount of effort.

The VIB/Rouge exclusives seem to generally be available for quite a while, but it is never clear how long any given product will be in stock and available for purchase.


Arm Swatch




My Bare Lips

(for comparison)


Rouge Berry

Rouge Berry is a deep wine berry color that vampy and great for the fall. It applies creamier than some of the other deeper colors from the Amuse Bouche line, which makes application much quicker and easier. Nevertheless, I would still recommend a balm or primer and a lip liner for more precise application. I can see why some people thought that this color might be too dark, but for me, personally, it is a very wearable color for anyone who likes a good, darker lip. Of course, it can be blotted or patted on to achieve a lighter color. One additional thing that might be of interest is that this lipstick stains bright pink, which is something that I have experienced with some of Bite's other berry colors (e.g., Sugared Maple).


Summary
Overall, Rouge Berry is a beautiful deep berry color that is not for the faint of heart. It is quite vampy when applied to full opacity, but it is not unwearable by any means. In my opinion, it is an excellent addition to any lipstick lover's collection.


Disclaimer
I purchased this lipstick myself and received neither financial nor material incentives for this review. All opinions expressed herein are my own.


Related Website
Sephora: http://www.sephora.com/amuse-bouche-lipstick-rouge-berry-P410166?skuId=1833441&icid2=products%20grid:p410166

Bite Beauty VIB Limited Editions - Swatches and Review

Since each of these lipsticks are sold in categories by themselves, I figured it would make sense to group them all together for this review. The first two are limited edition lipsticks available only to VIB and VIB Rouge customers at Sephora. The third began as something only available to VIBs and VIB Rouges but has since become available to everyone.

Each of the swatches below was done without a liner, which is one reason why they are a bit sloppy. (The other reason is that, despite my love of lipstick, I am not the best at applying it.) The purpose of swatching them without any liner is to show their true colors as they appear on my lips against my skintone.

Arm Swatches
 
Left: VIB Rouge; Right: Lilac

For reference, here are my lips with nothing on.



VIB Rouge Créme*

This is your classic pinup red. I love it, and this is actually the color that started it all for me with BITE Beauty. Until I spent way too much money one year and reached VIB Rouge status at Sephora, I had never heard of BITE Beauty, but I received a mini of this lipstick as a welcoming gift for VIB Rouge members, and it was love at first swipe.

This is a richly pigmented, gorgeous red that smells good and lasts quite a while. On me, weartime is a bit shorter than on other people because since I wear a lot of lip balms, I have a habit of pressing my lips together at random throughout the day. That being said, this one still lasts about two to three hours before I need to add a bit of lip balm to freshen up the color, since it starts to settle into lines about then and get a bit dry. It is, however, never drying on the lips like many other lipsticks.


VIB Limited Edition* - Lilac

I am not a giant fan of pink lipsticks, but since I love Bite Beauty's lipsticks so much and since this was a limited edition for VIB Rouge shoppers at Sephora, I decided to get it anyway. Although I admittedly don't wear it that much outside of the house, it is a good lipstick. The color is beautiful for what it is, but I just generally loathe most things pink. This one is a nice, cool-toned pink, which is much more wearable for me than most bright. It reminds me of Barbie, which I was also never really a fan of as a child. Nonetheless, for people who like pinks, it is great, and it lasts quite a long time. It reaches full opacity with one swipe and is not drying in the least. If anything, this lipstick, like most others from BITE, is more hydrating than other lipsticks.


Overall, each of these lipsticks is great, but the formula seems to vary a bit from color to color. For example, the Lilac seems to stay on the longest without settling into lines, while the VIB Rouge, like many of the reds from Bite, tends to settle into lines after a couple of hours.

* Upon closer inspection of the Sephora website, it seems that the limit has run up on both of these, as it cannot be found anymore for purchase. However, there may very well be similar colors in the new Amuse Bouche line of Bite lipsticks. Gazpacho may be a good replacement for the VIB Rouge color, and Lilac is a bit more tricky to dupe because of the cool undertones, but a good alternative may be Kimchi.

Disclaimer: I did not receive any material or financial compensation for this review. All opinions expressed herein are my own.

Related Website:
Sephora BITE Amuse Bouche (for possible dupes):  http://www.sephora.com/amuse-bouche-lipstick-P405057?skuId=1796689&icid2=products%20grid:p405057
Sephora new BITE VIB Rouge Lipstick in Rouge Berry: http://www.sephora.com/amuse-bouche-lipstick-rouge-berry-P410166?skuId=1833441&icid2=products%20grid:p410166