Josie Maran Argan Natural Volume Lip Gloss

Any fellow Sephora Beauty Insiders out there? I recently picked up my 500 point gift (after hoarding my points FOREVER), and I chose this Josie Maran set.*

*My local mall had plenty of these 500-point gifts in stock, and no purchase necessary to cash in those points!

Included in the set is Josie Maran Argan Natural Volume Lip Gloss (normally $20 for 0.12oz.) in Precious. Precious is described as a "petal pink" on the Josie Maran website, but I would describe it as a slightly purple-y pink with no shimmer. The gloss is pretty sticky, but applying it over a layer of lip balm helps alleviate the tacky texture. It has a strong caramel scent, or according to my sister, "It smells like burnt marshmallows!". I love eating burnt marshmallows, but wearing that scent is a bit much for me. If you like wearing warm, sugary scents you might like the scent of this gloss, but otherwise, I advise you to sniff before purchasing!

As far as ingredients go, the gloss does contain organic moisturizers like argan oil, jojoba oil, and  olive oil, but it also contains questionable stuff like (copying from the ingredient list here) Pentaerythrityl Tetraisostearate and Methyl Nicotinate. I mean, what is that? If I have to google it, I'm not sure I want it on my body.

The gloss also contains Atelocollagen, a protein which allegedly increases collagen production, and Ginger Root oil, which I suspect is meant to boost circulation. I definitely noticed a faint tingling sensation in my lips after applying this gloss, but after 5-10 minutes my lips didn't look much plumper than before. The gloss has a brush applicator, which I generally like, but this applicator was stiff and applied the gloss in streaks. Bummer :(

 Brush applicator

 On my lips! Please excuse my goofy grin and freckled skin, this is my first go at an "on the lips" picture.

Swatch

Overall, I love the color of this gloss and the ideas behind it but I'm not a big fan of the texture, scent, or ingredients. I find this gloss to be very comparable to MAC lipglasses, and would definitely recommend it to MAC lovers, but unfortunately it's just not for me. Oh well, you win some you lose some!

Green Beauty Blog Rating: 2/5 (I think I'm switching from grade ratings to number ratings...hopefully I'll get a cute "stars" graphic in here soon for rating purposes :) )