ZA Plumper Lips, Pure Shine Lips and Plumping Lip Gloss Swatches & Review

Purchased by me

Hey lovelies,

Recently I spotted ZA's Plumper Lips range on clearance at my local pharmacy, which reminded me that I hadn't yet posted my review of the shades I have! I checked in with ZA's PR who let me know that the entire Plumper Lips range has been discontinued from NZ pharmacies (although you may still find the shades Ruby Dazzle, Rose Vintage, Pink Pearl and Candy Pink at Japan Mart in Auckland or Makeup Direct).

In the Pure Shine Lips range, the shades BE1, OR1, OR3 are being discontinued in pharmacies and it looks like the Plumping Lip Gloss range is going too, judging by what I found in the bowl of clearance stock at Queensgate Life Pharmacy.

With that in mind, I decided to reswatch everything that I had and finally get my review up for those of you looking for a sweet bargain! The Plumper Lips used to be $16 full price and are on sale for $8 at Queensgate Life Pharmacy, so they're definitely worth checking out in my opinion. Fair warning - this is going to be a bit of a lengthy post :D

Left to right: 

Plumper Lips - 02 Rosy Flush, 05 Innocent Rose, 09 Sunset Glow

Pure Shine Lips - RD2 Honey Rouge

Plumping Lip Gloss - Sea Sunshine

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The Plumper Lips range was a line of sheer, glossy lipsticks (the Vibrant Moist lipsticks replace these - see my first review for that line here). Think of MAC's Cremesheens but with the slip of a more hydrating formula and you're there. ZA says they will:

Give your lips perfect clarity and depth. "Fill-up collagen" replenishes your lips with rich moisture while "Plump-up pearl", with its light-diffusing effect, makes your lips look incredibly plump and smooth.

Anything glossy is going to diffuse the appearance of lip lines and make your lips appear plumper, so I think the Plumper Lips can safely tick that box. They're also quite moisturising with their slippery, balmy texture. If you've tried YSL's Rouge Voluptes, the texture reminds me a lot of them. Unlike the Rouge Voluptes, there's no incredible mango scent; instead they have a sweet, mellow somewhat synthetic (but inoffensive) scent.

A key thing to note with these is that, like many sheer lighter colours, their lasting power is nothing to write home about. I tested each of them for wear and they averaged around two and a half hours on the lips. They're not going to last through a meal but the upside is that the glossy, translucent 'my lips but better' shade range lets you get away with applying them without a mirror. If you can apply lip balm, you can slick these on with just as little effort.

02 Rosy Flush

Rosy Flush is a neutral beige pink which reminds me a lot of MAC Patisserie - will have to do a comparison when I get my replacement tube! It's a bit lighter and more neutral than Pure Shine Lips RD2 Honey Rouge (swatched further down in this post) but they are very similar. Rosy Flush contains more shimmer than the other Plumper Lips lipsticks I own and the sparkle can be felt but it's not gritty or irritating.

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05 Innocent Rose

Innocent Rose is a light warm pink which mutes my natural lip colour ever so slightly. I like that it doesn't settle into liplines the way some lighter shades can, instead glossing over them.

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09 Sunset Glow

Sunset Glow looks very orange in the tube but applies as a light coral. It's really, really close to the coveted limited edition shade Ever Hip by MAC, just glossier:

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Pure Shine Lips - RD2 Honey Rouge

I've actually reviewed Honey Rouge before, but the pictures are quite frankly rubbish so I called do-over! :D This isn't actually discontinued - the Pure Shine Lips packaging has had a makeover on the international ZA website and Honey Rouge is now listed as 03 instead of RD2, but I haven't seen these changes to the stock on our shores yet. ZA says the Pure Shine Lips range will provide:

Sheer coloring and moisture make the lips highly transparent and provides pure colors with Prismatic Red Pigment.
Contains Moisturizing Agents (Collagen Complex, Hyaluronic acid, and Evening primrose oil), provides long-lasting rich moisture and prevents dryness.

Not too dissimilar in its claims to the Plumper Lips, right? Moisturising, glossy colour is what Honey Rouge delivers, for a little under three hours. The wear time and texture of Honey Rouge is very similar to the Plumper Lips, including the sparkle found in Rosy Flush. Really, Honey Rouge and Rosy Flush are sisters from another mister - I suppose that is why Rosy Flush appears to have been discontinued altogether on ZA's website.

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Plumping Lip Gloss 04 Sea Sunshine

Full disclosure - I have a touch of foundation along the edges of my lips here because my lips were getting a little red from all the swatching! So that's the slight milkiness you can see in my liplines. Sea Sunshine is a completely clear lip gloss with a smattering of iridescent glitter. And really, a smattering is generous!

I was sucked in by the glittery goodness in the tube and picked this up as an impulse buy quite some time ago, but there's really not enough glitter in here to be noticed either alone or as a layering shade. That is, unless you're prepared to peer at your lips and tilt your head this way and that for the glitter to catch the light. This is presumably why Sea Sunshine has disappeared from the ZA website, Surprisingly for a clear gloss, Sea Sunshine lasted for a little under three hours and was hydrating. It's also not very sticky and has no scent. 

I'm assuming the Plumping Glosses are being phased out here in favour of the Rich-Glam Liquid Rouges, ZA's lip gloss/lipstick hybrid. I have reviews for them here, here and here.

See the rest of the makeup used in these looks here

What I liked:

• All of the lipsticks applied smoothly and even colour pay off
• The slight texture from the sparkle in Honey Rouge and Rosy Flush was not gritty or irritating
• All of the products were hydrating
• Sea Sunshine lasted for three hours
• The lipsticks lasted two and a half to three hours - about average for sheer pale lip colours in general

What I didn't like:

• The glitter in Sea Sunshine is so sparse it's almost non existent

Where to buy:

• Selected pharmacies (NZ) 
• Japan Mart (Auckland)
• Makeup Direct (Free shipping in NZ on orders over $25)

Have you tried any of these lip products from ZA? Will you miss the discontinued products?

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Lani