Happy ‘Blue Monday’ everyone! Apparently today is officially the most depressing Monday of the year, but thankfully my day hasn’t been too bad. Although, it is my last official Monday off before starting my new job next week so that is making me very nervous! On the positive side however, today I got to try out a new lipstick for my Simply Lippy challenge, and not only was it a new shade for me, but also a completely new brand.

theBalm, is a makeup brand I’ve followed with interest for a while now, and their liquid lipsticks have been on my wish-list for ages, so when I saw them on sale after Christmas, I of course had to buy them and try them out.

I bought a set of six mini lipsticks from their Meet Matt(e) Hughes collection and the lippy I chose for today is a gorgeous red-berry shade called Charming. As the title suggests, this lipstick has a lovely matte finish and is very easy to apply and blend on the lips. At first, the formula is quite wet, but liquid lipsticks tend to be like that, and it dried very quickly so no problems there.

The only downside to this formula is that there really isn’t any hydration in it, and my lips did start to become a bit dry throughout the day. However, my lips are particularly dry at the moment so I’m not going to make any decisions on how I feel about it just yet. Plus, the pigment is fab and the lasting power is insanely good too, so overall I think it’s a thumbs up from me.

I also love that this lipstick came in a mini size; sometimes it’s hard to know if a shade will suit you, or whether you’ll like the formula or not, so this is a great way to try out a new product without it costing too much.

I know a lot of beauty lovers are big fans of theBalm, and their Mary Lou Manizer highlighter is a new obsession of mine (and most other bloggers I know!). Have you tried any of their lip products? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

If you’re enjoying my challenge so far, I’d really love for you to please come follow me over on social media too. I post pretty pictures on Instagram, chat all things beauty releases and favourites on Twitter, and share weekly lipstick videos on Facebook. And I’ve got my very own challenge hashtags as well – #simplylippy and #365days365shades, and you can follow my journey by searching for those too.

Sorcha 💋