VT Cosmetics Reedle Shot: Lovely Gift Set With Irritating Plump

TLDR: This is a great set of glosses that would be perfect as a gift or as a collectors item. The gloss formulas are smooth, shiny, and not sticky at all. The plumping effect varies on the shade but overall, these glosses have more of an irritant effect than a plumping one. They do plump, but not as much as other glosses I’ve tried. I've attached before & after images for each shade so you can see the results for yourself :) Packaging: 10/10. The lip glosses come in a gorgeous box, the presentation is truly great. The design of the box is super cute, it’s the kind of box you save, you know? The components for the lipglosses themselves are really nice, the metallic finish adds a nice touch. I also enjoyed the silicone applicator as it made applying the product precisely easy (very important, I’ll get to that later.) Gloss Quality: 9/10. The glosses are nice, they’re really shiny! The only shades I had some issues with were the ones with glitter. They appeared a bit lumpy on the applicator, though once they were applied to the lips it wasn't noticeable. The pigmented glosses had perfect, medium coverage. They weren’t super sticky either, which is important in a gloss! Plumping: 7/10. The intensity of the plumping effect varies by the gloss. The least intense is Beginner, the most intense is Expert, with the glitter and pigmented shades landing somewhere in between. The glosses definitely had a plumping effect on my lips, but I’ve tried lip glosses that plumped more. These glosses had more of an irritant effect than a plumping one, bringing natural color out of the lips rather than swelling them. Be very careful when applying them to keep the product within your natural lip line. The irritant effect of the gloss will turn your skin pink and it won’t look good if you get it everywhere. I also do not recommend wearing these in the wind if you have long hair, because if a strand gets caught in the gloss and spreads it to your face you’ll end up with streaks of redness for a bit. This applies to all lip plumper but it was really noticeable in the Extreme shade. Here’s my take on each shade: Beginner: this shade burned the least, I’d say it would be a 5/10. It’s definitely strong if you're sensitive to it, but if you have experience with lip plumpers it's not bad at all. Like the shade name suggests, if you're new to lip plumpers, start with this shade so you can build up a tolerance for the sensation. This shade had a subtle plumping effect with a bit of added natural color. Expert: holy cow, this one BURNS! Out of any lip plumper I’ve tried, this one is the most intense at a 10/10. Though, for how much it burns, I was expecting way more plumping action. It definitely did swell my lips, but it more so just made them darker from all the bloodflow to the area. The first time I tried it I showed my partner the results and he asked if I was having an allergic reaction… So, my favorite way to use this shade is to apply it only on the middle of my lips and not the edges. Since it causes redness on the skin adjacent to where it was applied, keeping it concentrated in the middle still gives a plumping effect with but with less redness. Crystal: this shade is a clear gloss with blue/purple iridescent glitter. The plumping effect and burning are moderate, so it’s a good middle ground between Beginner and Expert. The glitter in the formula isn’t gritty on the lips, so it’s comfortable to wear. Twinkle: this shade is a clear, light-pink gloss with pink iridescent glitter. The plumping effect and formula quality are the same as Crystal. Usagi Pink: this is a warm-neutral pink shade. The gloss is medium-coverage, sheer but not too transparent. The plumping effect is similar in strength to the glitter shades. Rose Berry: this is a cool-neutral, muted mauve/berry shade. The formula of this gloss is comparable to Usagi Pink. Out of the two, this one was my favorite. I have pale, muted, neutral olive skin so this shade looked a lot better on me IRL (most lip products pull way too pink on me.)