Save or Splurge? Moisturizing lip stains

I'm one of those girls that's absolutely obsessed with makeup but, to be honest, that usually only includes makeup for my eyes. Show me a new, cool volumizing mascara or a blackest black eyeliner, and I'll hand over my credit card immediately. That's why it came as a big shock to me, earlier this year, when I fell in love with lip stains.

I've been using the same one for a while, though, and I honestly started to get a little bored. That's why I was SO excited to try the next generation of lip stains, the kind that promises to moisturize AND keep my lips looking perfectly painted all day long. That's why for this week's Save or Splurge beauty battle, I'm tacking the difficult task of figuring out which is better: REVLON's Just Bitten Kissable balm stain, $9 or tarte's natural lip stain pencil with LipSurgence, $24. So which one won my everlasting love and adoration?

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The two lip stains were actually very similar. I picked the Revlon in "Romantic" and the tarte in "lust", both a brighter red shade because I want a lip stain that lasts, in a color that makes me feel sexy. After trying both shades a few days in a row, I'm going to give this round over to REVLON's Just Bitten Kissable lip stain. Here's why: their colors and shade selection was brighter and more vibrant.  Their balm stain also made my lips feel moist without going overboard, unlike the tarte natural lip stain pencil.

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What I liked about tarte was that it made my lips SUPER moist. If you have problems with chapped lips, then this may be the option for you. However, I don't have this issue, so by the end of the day the color actually started to bleed outside of my lip line, making it look much messier than I would want it to. I might give this one a try again in the winter, when my lips tend to dry more, but the Revlon version was really fantastic. To be honest, it was also a better "stain", since I noticed that tarte faded a LOT quicker and caused me to reapply more often. What's the point of a lip stain if it fades almost as quickly as a lip stick? I was not pleased, I admit.

So this time, the beauty product that wins the Save or Splurge battle is the "save" version. And, honestly, I was a bit surprised that the cheaper version won out but, still, I say: WOO HOO!

Image via Irina Gonzalez