Big Bang - Rimmel Apocalips Show Off Lip Lacquer

When it was first released (I don't know, maybe a year ago) in UK, Rimmel Show Off (Apocalips) Lip Lacquer had supposedly caused some stir over the pond. I am normally opposed to buying to the hype (because compared to the general public, I tend to have a strangely high level of expectation for how little I pay am anal) but sale and coupons got me again. So I bought two of these after a moment of stroke...Boy did I just forget I hate most of the Rimmel lip products I bought?

Sorry for the blurry pictures (didn't want to try too hard given the black plastic one was already quite scratched up after a month) but I actually really like the wand (might as well praise it a bit before the bitchfest starts). The doe-foot applicator is just slightly bouncy, absorbent (and has a grove in the center) and slightly pointy at the tips. It's super easy to maneuver and one dip usually houses enough product for the whole lips. The liquid lip color seems runny, light (in a non-sticky way) and smells the same as the new Matte Kate lipsticks. It's artificially plummy but I personally find it pleasant.

Big Bang is an opaque warm red (the kind of color that always turns into a strange shade of bright cherry on my mouth, when actual cherry reds tend to look more natural) that really stands out (aka clashes badly with) on my face. While the bad color choice is no one's fault but mine, I find the formula very hard to work with. Yes, it's watery and comfortable (feels light as it gets on and doesn't dry my lips out) enough, it's incredibly difficult to contain the thing within my lip boundary. Applying it like a normal gloss, having the pointed tracing the edges, would just guarantee an instant uncle-McDonald mouth (I figured it out after the 5th try).

Even if I dab it carefully in the center and slowing dispense the color outward by smacking, there is always a bit of color that would just slide out. Anyway, the very reason I love lip makeup is that it requires no-skill and effort to put on, and now you are asking me to do the careful dab and smack for a color I don't even like?

To me, the Apocalips has the same problem as all the other Rimmel Kate Moss lipsticks (which by the way are all generally well received so you might like it yourself), the complete lack of homogeneity. The formula just sits on top of lips (even when it stains when it becomes drier, it can still get rubbed off easily) and cannot distinguish the skin on my lips from outside. People can like the glossy finish, high level of pigment (this particular color give me a pin-up vibe) and price but personally. I beeping hate it (much more so than the L'Oreal Shine Stain).