L.A. Colors Color Balm {Review}

Overview

Rating: 4.5/5 stars ★★★★☆
Price Tag: $1 USD
Shades Available: 6 shades
Weight: 0.13 oz
Where to Buy: Dollar Tree

You can currently find the L.A. Colors Color Balms occasionally at your local Dollar Tree store. The lip tints don’t seem to be permanent fixtures, but they often pop up in DT. Plus, they’re available by the case online. While I have only found these at Dollar Trees, you might be able to find them at other dollar stores.

I’m fairly certain that the L.A. Color Balms are (cruelty-free) dupes for the popular Maybelline Baby Lips. Since the latter is not vegan, I’m not going to compare the two products. But they definitely look similar.

L.A. Colors is a certified cruelty-free cosmetics brand with some vegan options.

L.A. Colors Color Balms: Ka-pow!, Wham!, Swoon, Smooch, Zap, and Boom.

Packaging

The tube for the Color Balms are very similar, if not the same, as similar products like the Townley Disney Lip Balms and the e.l.f. Lip Kiss Balm. The balms feature a colored plastic base with a transparent cap with the words “L.A. Colors” and “Color Balm” printed on either side.

Packaging of the Color Balms.

The base of the tube is durable, but the lid is quite flimsy. They don’t stay on the base well, and are prone to cracking.

I have not had any problems with the lip tints detaching from their bases or breaking in half.

L.A. Colors Color Balms: Ka-pow!, Wham!, Swoon, Smooch, Zap, and Boom.

Formulation

The lip tints are a moisturizing balm with some color pigment. While the first review I watched on YouTube claimed that they didn’t have much color payoff, I haven’t found that to be the case with me. But that could be due to me being the skin tone of ghost white. Then again, I got fairly good pigmentation with the swatches.

Ingredients listing for the L.A. Colors Color Balms.

They do contain a rather off-putting sweet scent. Like most budget-friendly lip products, the Color Balms contain petroleum by-products.

Shades

As this is a lip tint product, all of the Color Balm colors have sheer color payoff.

So far there are only six shades available at Dollar Tree with all of them have comic book sounding names.

Swatches of the L.A. Colors Color Balms: Swoon, Smooch, Zap, Wham!, Ka-pow!, and Boom.

BLC637 Ka-pow!

A violet pink.

Ka-pow! shouldn’t work as well as it does with my warm skin tone, but I like it quite a bit.

A good choice for those with light to medium skin and neutral to cool undertones.

BLC638 Wham!

A bold coral.

My favorite shade of the bunch. I wear it all the time.

A good choice for those with light to medium skin and warm undertones.

BLC639 Swoon

A pale beige.

Swoon is like a concealer. I only got this because my local stores were out of the other shades at the time. I have overly full bottom lips at the sides of my mouth (the reason I’m reluctant to doing lip swatches) so I occasionally use it to blend the edges to make my lips look better. Or, I’ll use it to help with the popular Korean ombre lips trend.

Really only for those on the very light end of the spectrum.

L.A. Colors Color Balms: Ka-pow!, Wham!, Swoon, Smooch, Zap, and Boom.

BLC640 Smooch

A baby pink.

This is my least favorite shade of the six. Like light shades are wont to do, it really shows off all of the lines in your lips in a decidedly unflattering way. Also, it really picks up on my yellow undertones, making me look jaundiced.

A good choice for those with light skin and cool undertones.

BLC641 Zap

A bright pink.

Darker and more vibrant than Smooch, but a similar shade. While the color doesn’t pick up the lines in the lips, it’s still far too cool for me to wear often.

A good choice for those with light to medium skin and cool undertones.

BLC642 Boom

A dark pink.

My second favorite of the group. If you’d like to try dark red/pinks but shy away from the boldness, give Boom a shot. It comes off as a pop of color, but it’s sheer enough for day wear.

A good choice for most individuals.

Product Photos

Final Thoughts

Pros: Budget friendly, sheer formulation, moisturizing formula
Cons: Flimsy lid, scent, contains petroleum by-products

Despite the copious amounts of petroleum by-products and an off-putting scent, these are some of my favorite lip products at the moment. They’re extremely budget-friendly at a dollar, and a decent vegan-friendly option since it’s widely available.