Australis Lip and Cheek Tint - Portrait Pink

I bought this for three dollars at Priceline the other day. I had never seen them before but figured for three dollars I may as well give it a shot.

It comes in a pen type mechanism with a brush on the end. You click the 'pen' and then the product seeps into the brush ready for application. I clicked it hesitantly once, expecting a whole heap of product to shoot out, but nothing happened.  I clicked again and once again it was bare, and in the end I had to to about 50 clicks before I saw the product - then it exploded. Honestly, it went from no product at all to an explosion of the stuff all over the brush - it was crazy!

It was a completely different colour to what I was expecting, so much darker and plum coloured. The packaging had suggested that it would be a light, bubblgum kind of pink but it most certainly isn't!

I applied it to my lips and it did, surprisingly, look quite nice. I was relatively pleased with the initial outcome, and then just waited to see if it would last the test of time. As I was going about my daily business I must have licked my lips and holy moly - it tastes foul! Honestly, it has such a sour, chemical taste that is really quite awful. It's terribly strong and tastes bitter and disgusting. I find it strange because it is advertised as a lip and cheek stain, so why is it that it tastes so awful?

Despite the fact that I was a little put off by the horrific taste, I still wanted to get my money's worth (even if that was only three dollars!) so I tested it out as a cheek stain. I am pleased to say that it works remarkably well and it is actually quite attractive. It is super easy to blend and has the perfect amount of pigmentation. It is pretty long lasting and looks good with or without foundation. It looks so natural, it is most definitely a lovely cheek stain.

I really do like it as a lipstain but I can't handle the foul taste. It is much better when you apply a lipgloss over the top (the Australis one in Jazz looks gorgeous!) but you have to keep reapplying to ensure that the taste is masked by the gloss.
It has a faint smell of roses (which is most definitely not what it tastes like!) so it's alright to have on the cheeks. When I get the product all over the packaging, it appears to be full of shimmer, but on my skin the shimmer completely disappears.

All up I am pretty glad I purchased this for three dollars as I will use it often as a cheek stain, but if you are looking for a good lipstain then I wouldn't suggest this. I give this a 6 out of 10.

Also, does anyone know if this is discontinued? The priceline I went to had a whole bin full of these, hundreds of them, but I have never seen them before...

Swatched, blended