Review: Unleashia Glittery Wave Lip Balm And Pretty Easy Glitter Stick

While I own quite a few Korean skincare products, I haven’t properly explored the world of Korean makeup. But, as luck would have it, I was scrolling through Instagram the other week and came across an ad for a brand that I hadn’t heard of before: Unleashia. Their products really caught my eye and I couldn’t resist buying a couple of them.

So, here are my thoughts on the two I chose, the Glittery Wave Lip Balm and the Pretty Easy Glitter Stick.

About the brand

Unleashia is a Korean cosmetic brand that specialises in glitter products. The name comes from an amalgamation of the words ‘unleash’ and ‘utopia’, alluding to a space in between an ideal world and reality where – as the brand itself states – “you can stay true to yourself”.

All of Unleashia’s makeup products are vegan and cruelty-free, as well as being made with biodegradable glitter. They’re PETA certified and pride themselves on putting sustainability at the core of their business.

First thoughts

I couldn’t find any photos which included the outer packaging when I was searching online, so I wasn’t sure what to expect when the products arrived. Each item comes in its own holographic pouch/pocket with the name of the brand printed on the front and a standard product label stuck on the back.

The Unleashia websites claims that the packaging is eco-friendly and while I think the packaging looks really cool, I’m not quite sure if it truly is sustainable. I could be wrong but it feels a lot like plastic!

Glittery Wave Lip Balm

I went for the Glittery Wave Lip Balm in the shade No.3 Mystic. When looking at the product in the packaging, you can tell that the balm has a slight purple hue to it. But, once on, it’s not super noticeable. I’m actually not disappointed in the colour though because I think it looks a lot more natural than it would if the product came out bright purple! Apparently the balm is meant to adapt to your natural lip colour so I imagine it would look different on each wearer.

Flavour-wise, this tastes a bit like grape … a clever idea considering the whole purple tint concept. It’s subtle and not too sickly sweet which is very much appreciated!

My only criticism of this product is that I didn’t feel like the glitter payoff was quite as extreme as it was shown to be in their ads. There was some glitter transfer but not very much. I like this product for the moisturising factor, but if you’re thinking of buying it solely because of the glitter, be aware that it doesn’t show up that much.

INGREDIENTS:

I also had a little trouble finding the ingredients! But I did eventually discover that this contains:

• Olive oil
• Mango seed butter
• Babassu seed oil

2023 UPDATE: I don’t think Unleashia sells this product anymore but the Glacier Vegan Lip Balm is quite similar!

Pretty Easy Glitter Stick

Out of the two, the Pretty Easy Glitter Stick is – without question – the product I preferred. I picked this up in the shade No.1 Thrilled and was looking forward to using it as an inner corner highlight colour. Luckily, it didn’t disappoint!

This eyeshadow stick is pretty creamy and the staying power is quite impressive. I like that the glitter isn’t too chunky so it applies smoothly – I was initially a little worried that it would feel uncomfortable around the eyes!

I’m also obsessed with the way this product looks when the light hits it. The little iridescent flecks of glitter are gorgeous! Unleashia have really nailed it with this one.

Final thoughts

I enjoyed using both of these products but if I’m honest I would probably only repurchase the Glitter Stick. The Glittery Wave Lip Balm is nice, I just wish that – since the glitter is the selling point – it would show up more on the lips. Truthfully, I think there are probably other glitter lip balms out there that would do a better job!

I’d also like to see more transparency about the packaging materials Unleashia uses. I did read (from an unofficial source) that the Pretty Easy Glitter Stick is made out of recycled paper, but again I had no way to confirm this. It would be great it Unleashia could include a bit about this on their site.

Overall, I love the mission of this brand and I would love to try out more of their eye products. I’ve heard loads of great things about their eyeshadow palettes so this is next on my to-buy list. If you’ve tried any of their eyeshadows let me know what they’re like and if they’re worth buying!

Where can I buy Unleashia products?

It doesn’t look like the Glittery Wave Lip Balm is being sold anymore, though you can pick up the Glacier Vegan Lip Balm and the Pretty Easy Glitter Stick from Stylevana and YesStyle.

Have you tried any Unleashia makeup products? And what’s your favourite Korean makeup brand? Let me know in the comments.