Giorgio Armani #505 Gloss d’Armani

Giorgio Armani #505 Gloss d’Armani ($28.00 for 0.22 fl. oz.) is a blue-based, raspberry-pink with iridescent fuchsia shimmer. It’s semi-opaque and upon application yields good color coverage for a gloss (that’s not closer to a liquid lipstick), but you do still see my lip freckle peeking through.

I feel the need to preface this review with: I LOVE these lipglosses. I am personally impressed and think these are an excellent new gloss on the market, but just because I personally think a product is great for my needs does not mean I can disregard what the product is supposed to do. I think they over-promise on the gloss, but the gloss itself is better in certain ways than your average lipgloss.

Gloss d’Armani makes a surprising amount of claims, many of them seemingly lofty, including: “concentrated, high definition color,” “stay-fast color is like a second skin that remains true for eight hours without fading or migrating,” and “hydrated, silky smooth feeling without any stickiness.” It sounds like we should expect a long-wearing gloss (8 hours, as specified–and more importantly, that is when it should start to fade) that’s rich in color (“concentrated, high definition color”), hydrating (‘hydrated, silky smooth”), and not sticky (“without any stickiness”). Although, later on in the product description, Giorgio Armani describes the “nude beiges” as “draping the lips in a sheer chiffon-like veil” and further describes shade #400 as a “sheer version for an astonishing, explosive effect” of one of their signature reds. This seems to say that the color range is ultimately going to vary in pigmentation, because “sheer” doesn’t mean “concentrated,” and “chiffon” is certainly not opaque. Talk about making things confusing!

The texture of the Gloss d’Armani’s is really complex, and I say this because it changes over time as you wear it. Initially, it feels thick without being heavy or goopy, and glides on much like a gel would. It feels squishy on the lips but doesn’t slip and slide around. Within fifteen minutes, I find it feels less like a gel and a little tacky. After two hours, it’s definitely a tackier lip product. It’s not thick and sticky like MAC Lipglass, but there is definitely a sticky quality to it. I find removal is best with a makeup removing wipe or cotton round (or the like) in eye/lip makeup remover.

It doesn’t quite wear for eight hours for me, and certainly not without noticeable fading. It lasts about five hours before beginning to fade, but by the sixth hour of wear, there is some fading. When I drink, some of the gloss did transfer onto the edge of the cup, but the gloss remains mostly intact. I think if one doesn’t drink or eat, six hours of decent wear is more attainable, but it’s not very realistic (I could not get to eight without fading). The good news is that six hours is still a long period of time to wear a single lip product, and you’ll certainly be able to tell if it wasn’t hydrating–this gloss is definitely moisturizing. After wearing nothing but this gloss on my lips for eight hours (including some of their lighter shades), my lips did not feel cracked dry afterward.

This product fell short of the eight-hour wear claim made, which hurts the rating of this product in longevity. I appreciate they specified what “long-wearing” meant, though. Many brands will say “long-wearing” but never give you any kind of time frame to expect, and thus, it can be difficult to determine where one marks normal wear and long-wear. I also found this product noticeably tacky; while it feels like a non-sticky gloss when swatched and initially worn, it becomes sticky over time for me. I thought maybe I was delusional on that point, so I actually tested out three colors several times just to determine the tackiness.

The three I have are scent- and taste-free. They come in rounded, slightly oval tubes and look a lot like the Rouge d’Armani Lipsticks. It has a slanted, doe-foot applicator (see photo below), that’s long and easy to maneuver across the lips. I did find that the applicator doesn’t get a lot of gloss on it, so it’s difficult to apply one full layer on lips with a single pull of gloss. It contains a good amount of gloss, too; it’s not all tube and little product inside.

Again, I loved this lipgloss, and it’s one I intend to purchase additional shades in. I am impressed by the length and quality of wear overall, but I review based on what a brand claims their product can do, not what I want it to do (or what I’m willing to forgive). While I have no problem with stickier glosses, since these are said to be non-sticky, it affected the texture rating, while the shortcomings in wear are reflected in the longevity (I considered 8 hours = perfect 10, so 5-6 hours of good wear means the brand fell short by about 30%). Characterstics of a product not specifically addressed quantify the overall product quality rating, which made sense to give 10, since it’s very moisturizing/hydrating, comfortable to wear, and had great shine.

Giorgio Armani #505 Gloss d’Armani

Giorgio Armani #505 Gloss d’Armani

Giorgio Armani #505 Gloss d’Armani

Giorgio Armani Gloss d’Armani Applicator

Giorgio Armani #505 Gloss d’Armani

Giorgio Armani #505 Gloss d’Armani after 6 hours (including cup of coffee + lunch)