Makeup Monday: Hourglass Cosmetics Extreme Sheen Lipgloss in Siren

This is now my third test of an Hourglass product and it only reinforces my opinion. Their formulas are great. The first Hourglass review I did was of the shadow and the Prodigy lipgloss and I was quite impressed. Today I have the Extreme Sheen lipgloss formula in the shade Siren and I'm more than impressed, I'm blown away.


The tube carries that luxurious feel that is present in the line's packaging. The heavy black chrome metal cap and the substantial tube with a subtle logo at the base. That dark mirror-shiny metal they use on their packaging is so gorgeous.



It comes with a brush wand applicator. The brush is a little small, but with this gloss, that's a good thing. This is such a bold color that you need a precise application and this small brush can achieve that. Normally brush applicators like this tend to get very messed up after a while- remember the brush from my Too Faced Glamour Gloss, how the bristles just splay out in every direction? I've used this a whole lot and the brush is still like new, so hopefully it stays that way.

If you think the packaging is gorgeous, wait until you see the gloss itself:


This shade is called Siren. Appropriate. This is the craziest, most gorgeous red gloss I've ever seen. It's a warm coppery red, borderline duochrome, with an insane reflective, mirror-like chrome finish.

It's so amazing on the lips. Here's a first...

I never do lip pictures because I can never make them look normal. All you bloggers who do amazing, normal-looking lip pictures where you're not making duck face or doing macro shots of your nose hair, I don't know how you do it. I salute you. I took nearly 100 pictures of this on my lips and couldn't even get one that looked decent enough to post. So, yeah, I know these extreme lip close-ups are a little creepy, but this gloss is so amazing on the lips I just had to try to show it. Do you see how reflective it is? It's bright and shiny and it glows like a neon sign.

The formula is just as nice as the color. It's thin but pigmented, completely non-sticky and smooth as silk. It doesn't dry my lips and it doesn't seem to migrate or bleed, even with this strong of a color.

Do you remember MAC Chromeglass from a few years back? This formula is really similar to that. Slick and smooth thin texture, mirror-shiny reflective finish, even that subtle metallic smell. The Hourglass Extreme Sheen Siren has a vanilla scent and taste that's even similar to the Chromeglass. Hourglass seems to be a more creamy, subtle, custardy sort of vanilla and the MAC is more of a sweet vanilla wafer vanilla.

The color is opaque and wears really well, and once it's worn off it leaves a slight reddish gold tint behind. It does not seem to stain my lips. My lips don't feel dry or irritated during or after wearing this. This is such a strong color that a lip liner would be beneficial, but I always wear it without one and it's fine. You may also want to use a separate lip brush for an even more precise application, but I'm able to get a pretty decent application with just the included brush wand.

I haven't tried any of the other shades of Extreme Sheen to compare formulas, but I'm pretty sure this is the only shade with the chrome metallic finish.

The price is steep at $28 for 0.12 fl oz, but I think this color is totally worth it. For me, at least. It's more expensive than most glosses, but this color is so much more interesting and special. I wouldn't pay $28 for a run-of-the-mill pink gloss, but for crazy flaming bright shiny chrome red I would. The formula is great, the packaging is really great, the color is amazing and it smells like vanilla. Oh yeah, I'd definitelty buy this again.

This one's available online at Sephora, but I'm pretty sure all the places that sell Hourglass carry the Extreme Sheen line.

(This was sent to me for review.)