My first taste of Josie Maran products was her Whipped Argan Face Butter that I absolutely LOVE year-round. The texture and moisturizing capabilities just WORK for me and will continue to be a part of my routine in the future. It then prompted me to give their Intensive Daily Repair Body Butter a try which I also fell in love with. So I can safely say that I think this brand is going to work for me and persuade me to try more.
Fast forward a couple of months and I found myself looking up the brand on QVC because of a recent product launch they had. The new sun milk sounded interesting to me, but I ended up looking at her cosmetics which I had previously be swooning over on their own site. I ended up not getting the Sun Milk only because I have a lifetime supply of sunscreens already I should finish, and ended up buying her Argan Natural Beauty Color Sticks and Lip Gloss Set.
It didn’t take much to convince me this was a set that would work for me. The set includes two argan color sticks and two glosses in rosy-toned colors I frequently reach for. And with it being under $40 for everything,(actually closer to $30 when I found a discount code) I had to grab it because this set wasn’t available anywhere else! I realized that all the makeup I wanted to try from the Josie Maran brand isn’t sold at Sephora and only on their site or QVC.
I’ve been using everything from this set for the past three weeks and have been so happy with how they perform and look on the skin. The Argan Color Sticks look like chubby tinted lip balms but can be used for lips and cheeks. I find that they glide onto the skin pretty well, and I expected that with a formula that includes nourishing apricot and mango seed butter. If the stick feels a little stiff because of the extra cold mornings it only takes rubbing my finger over the top of the stick to warm it up a bit to apply easily.
The two colors in the set are Pink Sand (the darker rose shade) and Lovin’ Life, a softer nudish-rose shade. Both show up well on my skin even though Livin’ Life looks a little too light in person in the packaging. However, once applied it really compliments my skin tone.
Argan Color Sticks
The argan color sticks feel very comfortable on the lips. Lighter than a lipstick to me, but not waxy like a balm. And I love the sheen I get on my cheeks when I apply and buff it out. Almost as if I am wearing RMS Beauty living luminizer with it, but I’m not. I’ve even experimented by mixing the two colors together and blending them to the perfect shade. This is a product I do “feel’ on the skin if I touch my face, but it’s a good reminder to keep hands OFF my face. It hasn’t been an issue, and I haven’t noticed any accidentally smearing…just something I noticed.
The only thing I do not enjoy is the scent of lemon which is in this product. I”m not sure what compelled them to put lemon tea tree oil on it, but on the lips, I can smell it and taste it, and not something I would choose for a lip product. That said, I mainly use these on my cheeks and lightly dab the color on my lips occasionally, but mostly stick to the gloss for the lips.
I appreciate the packaging they chose for the argan sticks. They are twisty tubes like lip balms, but have an additional cap to make sure they don’t dry out. The rose-gold metallic tubes are quite pretty on my counter too.
Argan Lip Glosses
The Argan Lip Glosses come in the same shades as the sticks. The glosses seem smaller than what I would usually purchase at a store but only by a teensy bit. The value of the kit still makes these well worth it and both colors look great on me (imo). Pink Sands adds rosy mauve color to my lips will imparting shine, and Lovin’ Life ends up as a nude YLBB shade. These are not opaque shades but do have some sheerness to them which works for me.
Also, the glosses (also called Argan Natural Volume Lip Glosses on their site) do have a slightly sweetened taste and scent to them. I can’t pinpoint the “flavor” but can taste the sweetness from the stevia that’s used. I do find these very moisturizing on the lips, but they don’t seem to last as long as some other favorites I have. The formula feels thinner or I should say doesn’t have the bouncy cushion feel I get from others I use. I still love these for their look and feel, but I might as well compare them against the other ones I have in rotation.
I would really like to purchase the “Birthday Suit” shade of Argan sticks off their site when I can. It’s a pretty carnation pink that I feel would brighten a complexion so I’ll grab it when I can. While the entire set is a great value, I’d probably just stick to purchasing more sticks over buying any of the glosses. My Beautycounter Beyond Glosses give twice as much product as JM’s lip glosses and look just as great, but I feel have longer staying power for a gloss. My Bare Mineral Mineralist Lip Gloss Balm has a similar feel to Josie Maran’s glosses, but also has twice as much product and longer staying power. Josie Maran has some beautiful lip gloss shades but I’m confident I can find something similar elsewhere.
Where To Buy
You can only get this set (and these shades) through the QVC deal and I’m glad it’s in my possession. I think the next thing I want to try is the new Sun Milk sunscreen that they recently released. I can’t stop thinking about it, so I’m going to try and work through some of my current sunscreens to justify the purchase!
Are you a fan of Josie Maran products? Is there something I’m missing out on?
Josie Maran Argan Natural Beauty Color Sticks and Lip Gloss Set
