Kailijumei Jelly Flower Lipstick Review

When this flower jelly lipstick first came out, so so many people on the internet talked and raved about it; and got crazily obsessed over this, last year (?)..... but is it any good with its pretty looks?

And yep, here I am, joining in the craze half year later, putting it to the test to see if it lives up to its appearance!

Front note, I did a mini review post on my instagram a while ago, link is here if you want to read!

I could remember the times when the range was out of stock in plenty of websites and asian cosmetics stores here in Perth, but now that the internet obsession of this has calmed down a little, I thought to do give you all a detailed review so you can decide if you would want to try these out!

First impression & packaging:
Besides the cute appearance it has, which reminds me of the enchanted rose from Beauty and Beast (with a flower and gold specks encased within a clear jelly like bullet!), let's talk in-depth about the product itself!

When I first saw this, I was really curious about the brand, Kailijumei. On the package, it said it's made in China. I've never heard of this China-based brand before ever. So I went off to do a lil research, and along side, I found what made up this popular lipstick - how it came to be.

The main ingredients are as follow:

• natural ingredients like - candelila resin, cocoa butter, beeswax, plant extract, olive oil, citryic acid, grape seed oil and lavender oil
• the rest - stearyl alcohol

As far as I could see, I can't see anything that looks wrong about the ingredients. That kind of settle my mind just a little. Most of them can be found in products that are designed to moisturise. Though I must point out these following ingredients (and my lil concerns):

• stearyl alcohol - yep having that knowledge of a combination of organic chemistry in highschool and pharmaceutical chemistry in uni helped when I look at the ingredient list. To those who don't know, this is classified as a fatty alcohol that has low toxicity. Studies have actually shown that this may cause irritation to skin (and if in high dosage, it can be toxic and may cause cancer - but let's not go that far!) HOWEVER. This ingredient isn't a stranger at all to the cosmetics world. Because if you haven't noticed, it is very often used as an emollient in beauty products and also in hair products e.g. shampoo and conditioners, ones that we use in our everyday life.
• plant extract - sounds very vague, don't you think?

Other than that, I was a bit disappointed of how they didn't give a hint as to what ingredients give its colour, what are the gold flakes made of, like the mini details, but I suppose if they had given the actual ingredients, it won't be "special" anymore right haha?

Moving on to the packaging - I got #03 Flame Red. The packaging for the lipstick is rather standard with the colour name printed on top. I found out that the colour names actually determine the colour of the flower, not the lipstick – they are in fact, all the same shade.
So the one I've got, is the original red tube, which had their name printed on the side. It also has a
small mirror - which really helps when you don't have a compact mirror with you - this easily does the job! It does makes the tube look a bit bulkier, but it's still easy to carry around and fits into my daily go-to makeup bag and handbag.
I don’t mind the red though, admittedly, it does look a little cheap. I think Kailijumei should improve on their packaging because this red tube does not do the product justice.

How to use it?
If you've been following me, I did a full review of SASH Cosmetics lipsticks - both here on my blog and on my YouTube channel, you would have remember how they were built to be open by pushing down on the button, the bottom of the tube pops out? Yep, this is exactly how they design this to be opened too! And again, this is a really useful function as it makes the already sturdy tube even better locked in.

Here's the most interesting part about the lipstick - it has a colour-changing formula. While the lipstick goes on clear on the lips at first (just like what you’d expect), it slowly transits into a pinkish toned berry shade, and then a darker almost-to-red shade. Watching it transform was actually pretty exciting and adds to the “magical” dimension of the lipstick.

The colour eventually becomes a rather bold shade of berry, it wasn't really fully red until you have to
go over your lips with it for a few times. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of me wearing it - I will update on this space soon with it!

Final thoughts:

It does have a fruity scent to it when you first open the lipstick. However I noticed that after a while the scent after the lip application, it became a rubbery like smell. Oh and one thing about the moisturising level as I've mentioned earlier how most ingredients are design to moisturise, unfortunately I can't say the ingredients' purpose reflect this lipstick! When I first applied it, it feels very lubricating. But this feeling didn’t last. My lips quickly felt dry, then I thought by applying more, it gets better. No, it didn't get any better at all. So what I do, is I applied a sufficient amount of lipstick on my lips and then I use a moisturising lip balm to go over it.

Verdict:
This may indeed be one of the most gorgeous lipstick bullets you’ll ever find in the market, but unfortunately, it isn’t a practical one to invest in. I got this for $18 in Cosme Hut (at Northbridge).
For that price tag, I’d expect it to be an all-rounder. However, besides pretty looks and an interesting colour-changing formula, it fell short in every other aspect that makes it a lipstick that I would want to keep wearing.

Would I recommend this to you?
This can go two ways to be honest haha.

If you’re a beauty collector/junkie/hoarder and want to get your hands on something that has broke the internet and is instagram-worthy, go ahead and splurge on this!

But if you’re hoping to buy something that's worth what it claims for and that you can also wear on a daily basis, I’ll suggest that you look elsewhere. There are many cheaper options, like drugstore brands that don’t just look great but feel great on the lips too. (feel free to ask me for recommendations anytime!)

And that is it!

See you all next time... very soon! *I'm having that motivation again to blog more nowadays - yay! next goal = more consistent that is!* If you haven't read previous review about Dr Dennis Gross Hyaluronic Moisture Cushion, make sure you pop over HERE to read :)

Have a lovely weekend!

Love,
Melon xoxo