I’m just going to come out and say it. I have dry lips. Like, really dry lips. They look dehydrated and can often become a little flaky. Most lipsticks will emphasise the dryness to a certain extent, even long wearing lipsticks don't tend to last too long and it means that I am very susceptible to the dreaded lipstick ring once it starts wearing off.
I do try to use lip balms but the reality is that they rarely seem to have any great impact on the dryness beyond some temporary relief. What I really want is something to help the dryness go away.
In comes the Agave Lip Mask by Bite Beauty.
I think at the time I purchased it I had seen only one
review of the Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask on You Tube but it was a really
positive review that had got me all excited that this might be the product to
help me with my dry lip problem. I was also just generally curious about the
brand because one of my favourite You Tubers, Emily Eddington from Beauty
Broadcast, is always raving about Bite Beauty lip products.
So, when Sephora finally opened in Sydney (yay) the Bite
Beauty Agave Lip Mask was one of the first things that I looked for (once they
finally let me into the shop). I was hoping to buy the original but by the time
that I got there the only one left in stock was the Agave Lip Mask in
Champagne.
Has it fixed my dry lip problem? Is it all that I hoped for?
Yes and no. I think it would be fair to say that I have a
love/hate relationship with this product.
Read on for the review.
Read on for the review.
THE CLAIMS
Taken from the Bite Beauty website:
"Our coveted leave-on reparative mask has been given a
rose-gold makeover. This hydrating treatment is everything you loved about the
original infused with rose gold shimmer for a hydrated, pearlescent pout.
Made with organic agave, pharmaceutical grade healing lanolin, and
Madagascar vanilla, the mask will heal and soften lips, banishing dry flaky
lips once and for all."
THE SHADE
Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask in Champagne (for more information about my skin type, colour matches and daily routine click here and it will open in a new window).
THE REVIEW
I do need to use the Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask regularly to
see and feel a noticeable effect but there is no doubt about it. When used
regularly, the Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask softens and moisturises my lips.
Based on my experience with the product, the claim that the
Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask with heal and soften lips, banishing dry flaky lips
once and foer all, is true.
And it’s the result that counts, right, right?
I think it’s important when using this product to remember
that it is a lip mask, not a lip balm. This isn’t something that you could put
on your lips and put some lipstick over the top. It’s a thick product that
stands alone as a lip treatment and can’t really be used on conjunction with
other lip products.
I apply it before I go to bed. When I use it every night
before I go to bed my lips are much softer and smoother when I wake up in the
morning. The effect is even greater when I use it morning and night.
Importantly, the Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask only needs to be
applied very sparingly to have a big effect. A little goes a very long way (and
you would want it to at this price).
If I want to apply it in the mornings, I need to apply the
tiniest little amount just as I wake up or else I won’t be apply my lipstick as
I am leaving the house. The product is just too thick and tacky to be able to
layer it.
What I struggle with is the texture, the taste and the packaging.
The Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask is thick. I mean really
thick. And really tacky on the lips. I know I know, it’s a lip mask, not a lip
balm, so I need to expect a different texture.
To be fair, the benefit of the thickness is that this
product lasts and lasts. I apply it before I go to bed and I can still feel
some left over on my lips in the morning. I know that I haven’t been doing all
that much other than sleeping but I still find that longevity impressive.
There’s just no avoiding it though, I don’t like the feel of
it on my lips. I am always so aware that I am wearing it. It feels a little
like my lips could be stuck together at any point in time. I’ve never had the
product transfer onto my pillow or sheets, but it’s the sort of product where I
feel like you might need to worry about that sort of thing happening.
Then there’s the taste. It tastes sickly sweet and
because the product is so thick and so long last lasting that taste lingers.
Thankfully I no longer notice it once I am asleep but when I wake up sometimes
that taste is still lingering.
Sigh. Possibly my least favourite aspect of the Bite Beauty
Agave Lip Mask is the packaging. It looks classy, don’t get me wrong.
But I have to squeeze and squeeze that sucker until my hands
hurt and the tube is practically crushed in half just to get the tiniest little
amount to come out of the top*. I don’t know what it is, but that lip mask is
comfy in there in its little tube and it’s not coming out unless you can show
that tube that you mean business.
I don’t enjoy that. The last thing that I want to do before
I go to bed at night is have a fight with a beauty product. I just want to
squeeze it out and put it on my lips and get into bed for a snooze. Is that too
much to ask?
* Since I originally wrote this review I did some research about the Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask. I read a review by another blogger (sorry, I should have taken note who) who said that they had the same problem but they resolved it by warming up the product first... in their armpit.
Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to suggest that you should start squeezing some into your armpit and then putting it on your mouth.
If you place the entire tube in your armpit for about 2 minutes, the product then warms up and comes out of the tube super easily - as it turns out, it just needs to be warmed up.
I am very grateful for having discovered this tip. Before bed I don't find it hard at all to put it in their and warm it up because I always read a book before I go to sleep anyway.
Nonetheless, even though the problem may now have a resolution -it would be better if I didn't need to put the entire tube in my arm pit just to get some product out.
* Since I originally wrote this review I did some research about the Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask. I read a review by another blogger (sorry, I should have taken note who) who said that they had the same problem but they resolved it by warming up the product first... in their armpit.
Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to suggest that you should start squeezing some into your armpit and then putting it on your mouth.
If you place the entire tube in your armpit for about 2 minutes, the product then warms up and comes out of the tube super easily - as it turns out, it just needs to be warmed up.
I am very grateful for having discovered this tip. Before bed I don't find it hard at all to put it in their and warm it up because I always read a book before I go to sleep anyway.
Nonetheless, even though the problem may now have a resolution -it would be better if I didn't need to put the entire tube in my arm pit just to get some product out.
THE MONEY
This costs $33.00AUD at Sephora Australia and it contains 0.52oz/15grams
of product. I know I have said that it works well and that no other lip product
I have ever tried has matched it for the softening and smoothing effect it has
on my lips. Still, I find this price incredibly steep for what is essentially
really effective lip balm.
THE WRAP UP
As you can see – I am torn. It works super well and my lips
never feel as soft and smooth as they do when I use the Bite Beauty Agave Lip
Mask regularly.
Yet it feels awful on the lips, tastes terrible and requires
an unprecedented effort to get it out of the tube.
And I need to pay way too much for the privilege.
I just can’t decide if I can recommend it or not. When I ask
myself if I would repurchase it, I think the honest answer is no and that
mostly comes down to my view that even for a good product it’s just a way over
priced product.
What do you think? Have you tried it?
