Let’s Get “Pretty Please”: A Glossier Girl Puts PRPL to the Test

A diehard Glossier fan puts K-beauty brand PRPL products to the test, from its cushions to its lippies to its blush sticks. Sure, it’s beyond cute, but can it impress a makeup lover? Here, the review.

I’ve been eyeing K-beauty brand PRPL (short for PRetty PLease) since my weekly perusal of Olive Young’s website about a year ago, but never got to actually play around with them. Obviously, my initial attraction stemmed from the packaging — can you blame me? If it’s not pink, it’s covered in hearts, smiley faces, or stars — sometimes it’s all three! The femininity is FULLY jumping out in this brand, and I’m all over it. If I could brand a makeup line to all of my specifications, PRPL would come pretty close to what I’d have in mind.

Needless to say, I was stoked to see the mega-adorbs brand in our monthly curations and rushed at the opportunity to try them.

First a disclaimer: I’m a die-hard Glossier girl (yes, it’s real makeup, I swear it is!), so PRPL had a lot to live up to. Glossier's formulas are some of the coolest and most used in my collection, and for good reason: They're super easy to use and look totally effortless. I'm quite the fan of sleeping in way too late, and Glossier's collection has allowed me to pursue that passion full-time. While I can't necessarily replace my ENTIRE Glossier collection with PRPL's makeup (nor do I want to — Boy Brow for liiiiiiife), I'm ready to see how their products stack up to my current cool-girl faves.

Glow Dual Foundation

The Glow Dual Foundation is a double-layer compact with a cream foundation on one side and three shades of cream lip color on the other. For some reason, I was expecting a greasy mess out of the foundation. Then again, this was my first time trying a “pact” type foundation, so I didn’t really know what to expect.

via GIPHY

I find it’s best to go into the pact with a brush, then blend out with the puff. Maybe it’s just me applying too much pressure, but the puff puts on WAY too much product initially and ends up taking longer to blend out. A brush (I use Sigma’s 4DHD Kabuki) lets me gauge how much I want to apply and where, allowing the puff to blend it out quickly and seamlessly.

The result? A wonderful, satin-like finish that lasted all day. Rather than my typical “wet” look, I was left with a really pretty, soft, lit-from-within effect that controlled my oil from seeping out midday, even without powder. I am very much a fan. The only flaw I found with the foundation was a minor one — it didn’t really have incredible pore-filling properties, so I found myself having to pat a little more aggressively on the sides on my nose and cheeks.

If you have bigger pores, I’d recommend a teeny bit of pore-filling primer (à la 3CE Silky Pore Balm) just to let it glide over a bit easier. It’s not a deal-breaker, but it helps.

The other layer contains the Trio Lip Balm, three glossy yet pigmented cream colors that have some pretty impressive staying power. The gloss lasts for a while (aka until I eat lunch) and leaves behind a pretty, soft stain with no patchiness in sight.

The trio pretty much consists of every shade within the K-beauty lip color spectrum, so it’s perfect for touching up your already-beloved lippies when you’re on-the-go. The trio can double as a glossy cheek stain, too, leaving a watercolor-y effect with a bit more glow than your average cream blusher. I’m very down.

Bling Girl Dual Stick

A universal K-beauty complexion product? Something I can recommend to my friends of all shades? Say it ain’t so!

The blusher end of the Bling Girl Dual Stick is my personal favorite. It doesn’t pull too cool or warm, is super buildable, and works for every skin tone. EVERY SINGLE ONE! For lighter skin tones, it comes off as a from-within rosiness. On darker skin, it mimics the gorgeous rosiness I find myself being incredibly jealous of on my deeper-toned friends. It’s such a pretty, universal color that blends out effortlessly with the warmth of my fingertips.

The highlighter end is a full-blown YES, as I’m obsessed with a lit-from-within, “is she wearing highlight or is she just a naturally shiny queen?”-type glow. If you’re here for a blinding, viewable-from-space highlight, this is not the product for your cheekbones. This does look gorgeous on the inner corner of the eyes and brow bone, though, and I would recommend that for anyone.

Dual Tint Balm

Call me a bad K-beauty fan, but I hate matte lip tints *cue audience boos*.

I KNOW it can’t be just me. They’re just so unbelievably hard to work with. Besides that, I’m usually left with an OK-but-still-lowkey-patchy blotted lip and more product on my fingers than on my mouth. Like, what’s the point? I’ve really only liked stick-type and glossy tints (hello, Romand Juicy Lasting Tint) — until I met the Dual Tint Balm.

The balm is good and gives me a nice wash of color while doing everything a balm should do. It’s softening, moisturizing, and looks good alone. What’s really important, though, is how much I LOVE the Velvet Tint. Like, love love.

Ingredients-wise, it’s nothing life-changing. It’s basically a colorful vat of dimethicone, but it gives the tint the most gorgeous, fluffy texture and makes my lips look smooth AF. Have you ever put a cloud on your mouth? Me neither, but I’m assuming this tint is the closest I’ll ever get to experiencing that. It’s so lightweight, so airy, so … cloudy. I still use my fingers to blend it out, but it creates an effortless gradient without fuss or harsh lines. It’s just so easy.

My favorite shade is #KissTheOrange, a true orange with a touch of neon. The balm pulls a tad bit pink, which makes it perfect to wear alone or to enhance the gradient effect of the tint. Still, I prefer WAY more gloss, so I like to throw on a gloss. The current fave is Laneige’s Lip Glowy Balm on top for maximum shine.

Final Thoughts

The Glow Dual Foundation and Bling Girl Dual Stick have officially become my in-a-rush, quick makeup go-to’s. I switch up my lip makeup constantly, but I adore the Dual Tint Balm for an everyday look, too.

Like I said, I love Glossier, but I have found that PRPL’s products are not only more efficient, but have WAY more variety to them. You know when a product claims to have multiple uses, but in reality, it’s just a regular ol’ lipstick? PRPL is the complete opposite of that — everything in their range has a 2-in-1, sometimes 3-in-1 function to them. One compact can give me 75% of my look, while the lippie gives me three potential looks! I can be simple and cute or fun and full-glam in the same amount of time, with the same amount of product. The multi-functionality of these products is pretty endless, and I’ve been having a blast playing around with them. It’s a YES from me!

So do any PRPL products look enticing to you? What’s your in-a-rush, on-the-go fave products? And let's be real — have you loved a product mostly because the packaging was so cute? Let’s chat in the comments!