Josie Maran Argan Infinity Lip and Cheek Creamy Oil Duo Box
I received the Josie Maran Argan Infinity Lip And Cheek Creamy Oil duo set as a gift a few months ago. It wasn’t something that I had, “wish-listed,” so it came as a surprise; as someone who had really only ever used powder blush, I was extremely skeptical about it.
It isn’t the fact that it is oil-based, or even that it is a cream-type blush product. But, you know, it isn’t in a compact like, oh, any other cream blush I had been familiar with. Josie Maran Argan Infinity Lip And Cheek Creamy Oil is packaged in a metal tube. How the hell do I use this?!
When I first unboxed them, I unscrewed the small black caps and tried to squeeze them out, not really knowing what to expect. At first, from Timeless Coral, there was a tiny bit of oil, then came the pigment. Everlasting Honey, on the other hand, seemingly wanted to give me only oil until I recapped, randomly squeezed and kneaded the tube around to recombine the product…only then, and after a far-heartier squeeze than it should have needed, did I get pigment. Even today, same thing – I usually have to be a little rough with the Everlasting Honey tube before use to get pigment, whereas Timeless Coral just pops right out with little coaxing.
I don’t have a stippling brush so I tried, on several occasions, to apply to my cheeks with my fingers. No offense to the finger-application wizards that may be reading, but there’s a reason why a lot of face products are applied with brushes or sponges; fingers just can’t get it even, ESPECIALLY blush. I resigned myself to using it as a lip product – but it had a strange flavor and escaped my lips too easily.
So the Josie Maran Argan Infinity Lip And Cheek Creamy Oil duo sat in the back of my drawer for months, untouched.
I was poking around one day and came back across it, and just decided to play around with it after I had slapped foundation on. I couldn’t remember how the colors truly looked, so I made some (shoddy) swatches for my own amusement. I dispensed a tiny bead of Timeless Coral onto my hand, initially shocked at the intensity of the color. Then remembering what the product really was, I smeared it around the back of my hand, sheering it out and making it far less intimidating. Strangely, though, I noticed that it sometimes is gritty or grainy – maybe tiny clumps of pigment? I have no idea, though, but it is visible below in the lower-left of the middle swatch.
Josie Maran Argan Infinity Lip and Cheek Creamy Oil – Timeless Coral
When I realized that it didn’t have to look neon coral, I flicked away the gritty/grainy bits, grabbed my beautyblender.PRO (the black one), dab it into the now-diffused-on-the-back-of-my-hand Josie Maran Argan Infinity…and patted it on my cheeks.
It looked decent! I had to work out the kinks in my application so it suited my face – but I was able to achieve a sheer wash of cheek color without looking like a three-year-old who had gotten into mom’s makeup bag. I was disappointed, though, to find it really doesn’t have much lasting power. Even when built up in layers to give a slightly more-obvious flush, you probably still won’t see it longer than three hours. On me, I saw it for 2-3 hours, tops. I’m not someone who has time to reapply blush after a couple hours; nay, I’m a punk enough about reapplying lipstick after that time-frame, and I don’t need tools or to get the back of my hand covered in pigment for that.
The next day, I went about the same thing with Everlasting Honey – taking the time to try to re-emulsify, in the tube, the pigment-and-oil. It is definitely the oilier of the two, but still produces nice, natural-looking results when sheered out and applied in the same fashion.
Josie Maran Argan Infinity Lip and Cheek Creamy Oil – Everlasting Honey
Unfortunately, the grit isn’t only in Timeless Coral. Here, you can see it almost looks like microbeads.
Product Celebrations:
- Josie Maran Argan Infinity Lip and Cheek Creamy Oil produces a healthy, natural-looking, luminous-but-not-remotely-glittery flush in either color I tried. Personally, I don’t tend to bother with highlighter, so the sheen these products deliver gives you a lively, dewy (in a good way) look.
- The Argan Infinity products would be a godsend for ladies with dry skin, but would also suit MOST skin-types unless you are cursed with exceptionally oily cheeks. It does not feel or look greasy, and can be mattified with translucent powder.
- Due to the nature of the product, if you overdo it, it’s very easy to take whatever’s left on your foundation brush or sponge and gently pat overtop to tone it down.
- The colors are gorgeous and wearable, even if they seem intense at first.
- They DO look very nice as long as they are visible.
- A little goes a long way.
Pain Points:
- What is going on with the grainy/gritty bits? Reviews on Sephora’s site suggest that is a common problem. It isn’t a major problem for how I use it because I can identify and remove the grainy bits so they don’t end up on my face, but they need to revisit QA and get that sorted out. I shouldn’t have to pick bits out of my blush before I slap it on my face.
- This appears to be another common problem with Josie Maran Argan Infinity but the pigment and oil need to combine better. There’s no reason why a consumer-grade product should require that much effort to remix. It may be just that color (Everlasting Honey), because even when I use it now, I have to use a little elbow grease before bothering. If I’m in a rush, that’s no good. This seems to be another QA problem
- Longevity is lacking and desperately needs improvement. I’m not saying this needs to be a, “long-wear,” product, but at least 4-5 hours would be nice. Ain’t nobody got time for three or more reapplications in a day!
Bottom Line:
I’ll use up what I have. I like how it looks while it is visible, so if/when they get their formulation straight, I will repurchase. Until then, I can’t justify buying a product I need to either a) knead like pretzel dough to maybe get it to dispense properly or b) pick grainy bits out of, especially considering its lack longevity once applied.
Have you used the Josie Maran Argan Infinity Lip and Cheek Creamy Oil? What’s your verdict?