definitely not just glitter

     A little less than a month ago I contacted Hard Candy about reviewing their products. I was treated very kindly and a sample was sent my way. This is the first time so far that a cosmetics company has sent something to me for consideration, and I thought that it was very nice of them. Their public relations staff are wonderful. Just sayin'.

This is Hard Candy's Plumping Serum- Volumizing Lip Gloss in Pink Lady.

     The problem arose when I recieved my product. I slid it out of its envelope and it appeared to be a vial of pink glitter. Now, don't get me wrong, pink is not bad. I wear pink lips pretty darn often. Glitter is not bad. But together? I was wary. The flowing script on the front of the tube read Plumping Serum- Volumizing Lip Gloss. I took a sniff, and the aroma was fairly unoffensive. It reminded me of a light, sugary cake icing. I felt rather sad. The nice people at Hard Candy had sent me something, but unfortunately, I was going to hate it. Fate would have it that way, I guess.

     Not wanting to give up hope just yet, I swatched a bit onto my hand, and my mind was instantly changed. The color of mine is Pink Lady, which, of course, makes me think of Grease. This product lives up to that name. The glitter in this  is very, very fine and suspended in an almost transparent pink gloss. While the glitter is a cooler- toned pink, I can still see it being flattering on many skin tones. Especially for Spring. This is going to make one heck of a Spring product. It is not a "heavy" product at all, and its light reflecting properties make it seem even lighter. Because there are so many small light reflecting bits my lips do indeed look a bit fuller. Which is really neat, because I'm seeing lots of definition instead of the disco-ball-effect.

Yeah, these are all swatches of Pink Lady. I'm not trying to overkill, I'm just trying to give an accurate dipiction of how the glitter looks in the gloss.

     For around five minutes after applying this gloss I did feel a tingle, somewhat similar to applying minty gloss, just not as intense. The gloss is not sticky or goopy, yet it is not thin, either. It sits just in the middle of the road, I guess you could say. The packaging is your standard lip gloss- type tube packaging with a doe- foot  applicator. Is pink not your color? Well, there are plenty of other fish in the sea, as this comes in quite a few colors.
     While this is a good gloss to reach for when you want something fresh and easy, it only hangs around for a couple, maybe three hours. When the gloss wears off the glitter is left behind, and I'm not a fan of that, but it's not a major problem because it is easily fixed. Even though this isn't a sticky gloss in the least, it comes off on everything that touches your lips, even after an hour or so. My only other complaint is that this pruduct is supposed to be a plumping serum, but I don't think  that any plumping actually takes place. My pout looks bigger, but I'm 90% sure that it's just because of all of the pretty light- catching sparklies. So, what is the verdict for Hard Candy's Plumping Serum, you ask? I give it 4/5 stars. It's not my favorite thing in the world, but I really do like it. Like I said earlier, I think it's a great product for Spring and even into Summer, when we're not going to want heavy lip products. I'm not really sure yet if I would purchase this for myself. I've seen a pretty light-pink-peachy-coral shade that I wouldn't mind giving a spin, and even a ruby-red, too.