L'Oreal pro matte gloss #316 statement nude - review & lip swatches

Let's start out with what I thought I was buying - a longwear gloss formula with no shimmer. It turns out that "matte gloss" doesn't mean what I thought it meant! The L'Oreal pro matte gloss is a demi matte liquid lipstick formula and is not at all glossy and not really long wearing. I bought mine from Ulta in shade #316, statement nude.


Lip swatches and my thoughts on the formula below:



Bare lips 
I like seeing a picture of a reviewer's bare lips along with lip swatches, so here are my bare lips.

I have dry, sensitive skin, including my lips.

Freshly applied
I applied straight from the wand, no lip primer, lip liner, or lip brush. I like testing out products as they were designed and advertised.

Right away, I noticed a few things:

• Even, opaque color
• The teardrop shaped applicator works really well and was easy to use 
• A thin lotion like texture that starts out creamy and then dries to a satin finish and wears down to a soft matte finish. Not at all sticky.
• An odd tingly feeling, almost like a plumping ingredient. It wasn't super strong, but it was noticeable. 
• The classic L'Oreal lip product scent. Thankfully it didn't linger too long!

After a few hours

By this point, the L'Oreal pro matte gloss had worn down to a soft matte finish. My lips felt uncomfortably dry and my lip lines were emphasized. This product does wear down pretty evenly - no weird lip liner ring here!

Swatches - #316 Statement Nude
Swipe straight from the applicator on the left, blended in with the applicator on the right to show a sheer application. 

Pros

• Beautiful shade and nice shade range
• Opaque
• Wears off evenly
• Reasonable price
• Lightweight texture

Cons

• Icky L'Oreal scent (but it doesn't linger, so maybe not a big deal)
• Odd tingly sensation when freshly applied (if you like tingly plumping lip products, this might be a pro)
• Drying
• Irritated my dry/sensitive lips. The next morning I got a little peeling despite using the Jack Black lip balm overnight.
• Stupid name - I thought I was buying a lip gloss without shimmer? Who even knows what a "matte gloss" is? It certainly wasn't glossy and it also wasn't matte for the first hour? I wonder how many other people bought this not knowing what it was.

Overall, I can see why someone might really enjoy these, but this formula isn't for me. I found the formula drying and irritating, and no shade is beautiful enough for me to tolerate that. I thought I was buying a lip gloss and this isn't a lip gloss at all!

Have you tried these? What did you think?