Avon Smooth Minerals Lip Tint

I've been on an Avon binge, and I'm loving every minute of it! A brand I had long overlooked - except for my must-have-at-all-times Skin So Soft Bug Guard - has come back into my life. I'm having fun too.

You know by now that I buy a lot of pricey beauty products. They are often the standard against which I judge less expensive brands. Avon is holding its own quite nicely. In some cases, it has outperformed one of the most expensive makeup brands I own. You'll have to read my recent Avon reviews to find that brand.

Avon sends me a tempting catalog with each order. In the last one, I saw the Smooth Minerals Lip Tint ($6). There is a special - buy one, get a second for $1.99 - so I couldn't limit myself to just one. Besides that, I'm a lip gloss/balm/conditioner junkie, so Avon's description, plus the ingredient list on their Web site, had me.

The smoothest, softest kiss of color. Sheer hint of color with moisturizing vitamin E, castor seed oil, lanolin, olive oil, and cocoa and shea butters for the smoothest, softest lips ever.

There are six colors available. I now own four! Here they are, photographed in sun, all flattering to the lips. From left to right: Smooth Raisin, Smooth Berry, Smooth Pink, and Smooth Nude.

Each provides a nice, sheer, and shiny tint; feels great on my lips - so moisturizing; and has no flavor (despite the peppermint oil in the ingredient list). I like the fact that there's enough pigment in them to distinguish them from clear lip conditioner. My favorite shades are the two darkest ones, Smooth Raisin and Smooth Berry because they leave a clearly detectable tint.

There's one "at the ready" on my desk at work at all times now - with distinguished company. These compare very favorably to the new beauty blogger favorite, NARS Pure Sheer SPF Lip Tint. The NARS tint is $25; Avon's is $6 (less during special if you purchase two). NARS has the sun protection factor; Avon has a little more pigment.

Next up, I'm ready to try Avon's skin care. There's a new product, Anew Clinical Luminosity Pro ($54), a brightening serum, that I am about to test for a few weeks. I used it last night for the first time.

How's this for enticing? Avon's first topical serum with a skin brightener that provides an at-home option to a dermatologist's laser! Instantly makes your skin look brighter and more even toned. Eighty percent of women saw the look of dark spots dramatically diminish, and over time, 100% of women showed more illuminated skin with a visible reduction in fine wrinkles. I'm there! Can't wait to use it long enough to tell you more! Who wouldn't love to have brighter skin?

For a look at the Smooth Minerals Lip Tints or some of the other Avon products I've tried lately , head over to Avon's Web site. While you are there, you can find your local Avon representative to get free shipping every day! Or you can sign up for Avon's e-mails to get free shipping and discount offers that arrive often enough to keep me ordering.

Photo at top courtesy of Avon