If you’re a young person seeking to delve into the adventures of lipstick, Tarte’s Rise & Shine Plumping Lip Stain and Gloss is a great start. Now, you might be thinking, “Silly Jinra, lip stain and lip gloss are not lipstick!” Luckily my review of Tarte Rise & Shine Plumping Lip Stain and Gloss in Mauve will help you to see my logic in using it as lipstick training wheels.

As you can see above, the product is a double-ended stick. One end is the lip stain (Rise) and the other, the gloss (Shine.) As a product meant to be a duo in lip wear, I found the packaging to be as efficient as it could possibly be. And just in case you might get the two ends confused, the stain end is not shiny. Obviously one benefit of this design is that you can wear whichever end you feel like wearing. Here we have my lips with just the stain on:

Initially, I found the stain very dark and intimidating looking. Fortunately, the stain on the lips is just that — a stain of the much darker colored-liquid in the stick. As with all lip plumping products, the stain does indeed sting and it will last you an interesting, tingly minute at most. The good news is, is that the more often you wear it, the less sting you feel. Another thing to note, is that the more you layer on, the darker it is. In a sense, it’s like lipstick but less of a thick texture.

And here are my lips with the gloss on top of the stain:

Putting the lip gloss on over the stain softens the look of your lips so that it’s more natural looking. As the gloss wears off, the stain remains. The gloss will only wear as long as you can keep it on without putting your lips into contact with things. For me, that’s two hours max. I’m always eating or drinking something. The stain on the other hand, will pretty much last you the whole day and will take more effort than wiping your lips with a tissue to remove. For fun, I kept the stain on and took a shower and the stain did not budge. It wasn’t until after my shower that it came off while I was rubbing my lips with wet fingers. Probably not the best way to remove it, but it worked for me. One thing that I enjoyed the most out of Tarte’s Rise & Shine wear is that I felt less of an urgency to actually reapply after the gloss wore off. The stain was some sort of second line of defense for the lip gloss.

In wearing Tarte’s Rise & Shine Plumping Lip Stain and Gloss, I came across an interesting notion of it being a gateway drug to lipstick. If layered, the stain can wear like lipstick. If you feel like the stain is lacking in color, lipstick may be the next best thing. At the same time, if the prospect of lipstick on your lips terrifies you, you can always dab a little gloss from the other end of the stick. The less gloss you use, the more ready you are to try lipstick.

Here’s my bare face with just the stain and gloss on:

My only qualm about this product was that it was a little tough to remove the lip stain. I’m also pretty sure that if you feel like my lips are plumper, it’s because of the gloss by itself — the stinging feeling was just added to make you believe like something is happening to your lips. Since I value it’s staying power and versatility, the fussy lip stain removal and the fact that it doesn’t really plump your lips aside from the effect that gloss provides is tolerable. I highly recommend Tarte Rise & Shine Plumping Lip Stain and Gloss for anyone looking to have a little fun in their beauty routines or, if you’re looking to get into lipstick by using it as a gateway product.

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Score: 4/5

Disclaimer: This product was provided to me for review purposes only. The opinions stated in this review are 100% my own.