Shu Uemura Tint in Gelato Lip & Cheek Tint in Blood Orange

A while (two months?) ago Shu Uemura was running friends and family sale. I went to the site trying to pick up another Vinyl Unlimited (sold out, as it was in the clearance section already). Instead, I went ahead and picked up two of their eye brushes (21R and 17F) as I was on a brush kick. Well, the two brushes is still 12 bucks short of the free shipping threshold so I added a 28-dollar filler...That's how I ended up with this.

 Shu Uemura Tint in Gelato is a lip/cheek tint in a shiny plastic tube that scratches extremely easily (when placed with other cosmetics items in a bag). Each tube contains 5-6ml of products which seems like the standard norm of cheek tint.

The applicator is an oval paddle with a hole in the middle. This should work great on their lip gloss but I find it deposits too much on the lip and a little unsanitary (when it's used both way/and that it picks up dead skins) on the cheeks. So, I just use my finger tip/lip brush to grab from the plastic wand. 

The shade I picked was CR1 Blood Orange. It's the neon-bright pink coral that can be sister of some of my favorite coral lippies like Essence Candy Bar and Maybelline Coral Crush.

Blood Orange, Canmake Cream Cheek in Sweet Orange and Besame Crimson Rouge. On the cheeks, the blush is a dream to apply. It's super-pigmented, very easy to blend and imparts a natural flush with a bit of creamy opacity (so the Tint in Gelato is perfectly fitting). I like that it spreads out nicely but still give me some control (not spreading into a huge area of clown cheeks).

It works perfectly well on bare face and looks surprisingly natural (well, as natural as neon coral flush gets) over my pasty sunscreen. I am quite happy with the color as well, as it's brightening, flush-like without looking like sunburn.
 

On the lips, it can be tricky to apply (as with many other matte liquid lip color). Not only it requires a smooth-lips day. I dab a little in the center of my lips and spread it out with a brush. This is one of those product (that imo, at the very least) that absolutely requires a lip brush because the applicator would give a gunky and uneven finish while finger tip would soak the wetness off.

Blood Orange - all spread out. Not perfectly line-smoothing like actual gloss but I think it's decent for a matte lip color. Well, since the layer it's quite thin, it does wear out a bit in an hour or two (or maybe it's just the crazy heat/humidity here and that I drank). 

Overall: I like this a lot (mostly as cheek tint) but I can only recommend this with some reservations

1. It's a wee expensive at 28 bucks. (Not expensive if you can make your self only to commit to selected few. I personally like to have some variety and stay within drugstore to mid-range).

2. Packaging kind of sucks (not the wand but the scratchy plastic).

3. I suspect the Canmake Lip & Cheek mousse should be quite similar(at a much better price) so if I want to have fun with other colors in this type of formula, I will most likely reach for Canmake or Lavshuca girly whip cheeks. Oh wait. Lavchuca is around 14 bucks and contains 2.7ml of products (so not necessarily cheaper than blood orange). 

Side note: I need more lip brushes.