Etude House Dear Darling Tint Review Swatches

Etude House Dear Darling Tint (S$ 10) available from Etude House stores

Etude House Dear Darling Tint is a gel based lip tint with that reminds me a lot of one of my favorites, Benefit Benetint.  I love wearing lip tints in the summer since they look nice and juicy and you can carry them in your bag without the worry of them melting.

Packaging – The tube is a old fashioned shape with a few curves and a lilac metallic lid.  The applicator is a normal doe foot applicator that does the job decently.

Shade – As the name suggests, Etude House Dear Darling Tint Real red is well, red.  Really red.  Puns aside, I can’t think of another word to describe this apart from a true red.  The shade is extremely similar to the famous Benetint when worn on the lips.  In the tube it does look a little darker, more blood red but that is due to the fact that this is a gel whereas Benetint is a liquid.  The saturation of the gel makes the colour look deeper.

Texture and Formula – The gel is a little thicker than a normal tint.  In fact if you look closely at the tube, you can see a lot of bubbling.  The thicker than water gel, tends to settle like a jelly.  When applied on the hand for a swatch you can clearly see that even though this is thicker than a liquid, the tint spreads very quickly into the fine lines.  Etude House Dear Darling Tint also goes on a bit uneven.

On my lips I needed to go over about 3 to 4 times as the initial application was quite patchy.  When you look closely you can see the product has sunk into the lines and there is also a little bit of the product that has bled into the sides onto the skin.

Finally this has a funny cherry syrup style plasticy fragrance.  I found it quite drying on the lips, though it was better than some of the new matte colours.

This takes some time to dry on the lips and if you are not careful the colour transfers quite easily.

Pigmentation – If you have used Benefit Benetint then you will find this as a thicker more saturated and pigmented red.  However since Etude House Dear Darling Tint goes on uneven it does appear very sheer in patches and completely dense in others.  There is a learning curve in the application. Once you master that, you will find the colour is a spot on dupe for Benetint, albeit more pigmented.

Staying Power – Etude House Dear Darling Tint lasted on me for about 3 to 4 hours before fading unevenly. It also wore off easily on eating and drinking.

Overall Thoughts

I love the colour and the feel of Etude House Dear Darling Tint on my lips.  I do with this was easier to apply, however tints are more difficult to deal with than normal glosses, so I’m willing to forgive the application issues.

I definately do not like the fragrance and the fact that it sinks into the fine lines.  However this is a much cheaper option to my favorite Benetint and I know I will be using this in spite of  the problem child behavior.

Rating 3 / 5

*Written By Dela