*PR Samples
Today I wanted to chat about the brand Romand (rom&nd). Romand is a South Korean-based brand founded in 2016 by Beauty Influencer Saerom Min known as Gaeko. I can't remember when I first heard about them but I started hearing more about their lip products earlier this year when the Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Lip Oils launched. I saw a few people comparing the Rare Beauty Lip Oils to the Romand Juicy Lasting Tints. As far as I know, the only K-Beauty brands that I have tried so far are Missha, Too Cool for School, Erborian, Beauty of Joseon, COSRX and Laneige. I wanted to try some makeup from a K-Beauty brand and compare them to some products I already own.
I decided to order a variety of lip products from Romand via Stylevana. I hadn't ordered from them before and they had actually contacted me last year looking to give me a voucher to order products but they were looking for specific reviews within a week of receiving the products and content without payment so I said no as I only accept PR without any obligation to post anything. I'd never be able to give a review just one week after receiving a product.
Romand is stocked on a few different websites that ship to Ireland but I decided to place an order with Stylevana just to experience shopping from their website myself. It was quite straightforward and I had no issues other than the package took a while to arrive but I was expecting that so as long as you're not in a hurry, it's probably the best value for money as they always have offers going on. I think I ended up spending just over €30 on these 4 lip products. I ordered a few other skincare items from other brands as there was free EU shipping if you spent €49 so I took the opportunity to try out some other products I have been wanting to try. I just thought I'd mention where I ordered from as well as the prices and the experience as I know it can be offputting to try out a new brand if it's not readily available from a retailer that you order from regularly.
This post is quite photo-heavy as I wanted to provide as much detail as possible. When I was researching which products to buy and what shades to go for, I couldn't find many reviews or swatches that weren't heavily edited. I really wanted to try the Glasting Melting Balm, the Zero Velvet Tint and the Milk Tea Velvet Tint but they didn't have the shades I wanted in stock and I had to be selective as I didn't know whether I would like the formulas so I went with two shades of the Juicy Lasting Tint, a Glasting Water Gloss and a Blur Fudge Tint. I tried to play it safe with a selection of shades that I knew I would wear and could easily compare to others in my collection.
Let's get started with the lightest shade of the four. It's so light, it's crystal clear. I'm a sucker for a juicy lip gloss even though I tend to only wear them when my hair is off my face. The Irish wind and lip gloss are not a winning combination, but I love how it looks. I have a few clear or shimmer lip glosses and oils- the Dior Lip Glow Oil in shade 000 Universal Clear, the Glossier Lip Gloss in both Clear and Holographic, the Danessa Myricks Colorfix Glaze in Clear and the Lisa Eldridge Gloss Embrace Lip Gloss in Silent Sun.
There are a few shades available, all translucent with glitter but I decided to go for 00 Meteor Track which is a transparent gloss with blue sparkles. I was mesmerised when I first opened this one. It definitely gives that Y2K nostalgia that will delight any fellow elder Millenials. The packaging is probably my favourite out of the four products I bought, mostly because it's so satisfying to be able to see the liquid inside and the tiny sparkling blue glitter. It glides onto your lips and feels smooth, not sticky in any way. It really lives up to its name as it's such a thin, almost watery feeling. The applicator is unlike any I've seen before. It's a thin silicone paddle rather than a doe foot which is great for if you want to clean it off or sanitise before putting it back into the tube. That's one thing I really appreciate as I hate when you have a clear gloss and you can see it getting cloudy from the tainted doe foot applicator going back into the tube. Maybe I'm just a bit weird or does anyone else feel the same way? In the photos below I am just wearing the Glasting Water Gloss, no lip liner. In the photos at the very end, you can see how it looks over the Blur Fudge Tint. I'm sure it would look amazing over a liner or a lip stain too. I quite like wearing it alone because it is so shiny, I like letting that be the look.
The formula has menthol in it in the form of menthyl lactate which gives it both the scent and cooling feel of a menthol lip product. I know some people like to avoid menthol as they find it irritating or drying or don't like the scent so I wanted to mention it as I know scent in lip products is an important factor for some people. It also has sweet almond oil extract for hydration. I love how this looks on my lips, I don't mind the cooling sensation and if given the choice, I'd rather it didn't have the scent as it's not my favourite but it doesn't bother me enough that I wouldn't use it. It definitely gives the appearance of smooth and plumped lips and because of the thinner texture it doesn't disturb any product underneath so it's ideal for layering. The glitter is small and dispersed enough that it doesn't look overtly glittery. It cost me €7.89, so it's ideal for anyone who wants a clear gloss but doesn't want to spend too much on it. If scent isn't an issue for you, I'd definitely recommend this one over the Glossier which is a thicker consistency and can be hard to layer on top of other products.
The Juicy Lasting Tints were the ones I was most interested in trying. As I mentioned I had seen several people I follow on social media saying that the new Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Lip Oils were a very similar formula. I ordered one shade of the Rare Beauty ones when they launched as I hadn't tried the brand yet and I loved the sound of the formula. As lots of other people have said in their reviews, the Soft Pinch Lip Oils are not a traditional lip oil formula but rather a glossy lip stain. I can't review the Juicy Lasting Tints without comparing them to the Rare Beauty ones as they are so similar in my humble opinion but I'll cover that at the end.
As I said I found it difficult to choose a shade because the swatches didn't seem true to life. That's probably why I ended up ordering two shades, a warmer shade, 23 Nucadamia and a cooler shade, 25 Bare Grape. I was hoping that Bare Grape would be the Romand equivalent of the Rare Beauty shade I bought called Hope. As you can see from the swatch comparisons below they are very similar, Bare Grape is just a bit deeper. The packaging is quite simple, the tube is colour-coded for the shade that's inside which is always helpful. There is a standard doe-foot applicator with enough product on it to apply a thin layer on the lips. The first thing that struck me about it when I opened the tube was the scent. It has a very strong fruity scent, almost like a kid's fruit yogurt if that makes any sense. It's something I wanted to mention just in case anyone is sensitive to particular scents. I prefer fragrance-free over a scented product because not everyone is going to like a scent whereas something that is fragrance-free is more inclusive. This scent does dissipate after a while and like I said above, it doesn't bother me enough to stop using these products. I find it easy to apply and the finish gives you smooth, juicy looking lips with the ideal level of translucency for a product like this. As you wear it, the shine fades and you are left with an even stain. You can reapply and you will get a deeper shade as the stain layers or you can apply a balm or a clear gloss like the Glasting Water Gloss on top.
I know most people will want a comparison between these and the Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Lip Oils. Firstly, as I always do, I checked where the RB ones are made and I wasn't surprised to see that are made in South Korea. The main differences are that the RB ones are fragrance-free but they do have menthol and that cooling sensation. The RB ones also have jojoba seed oil, sunflower seed oil, glycerin and squalane, ingredients that are going to moisturise, soothe and protect your lips. The Romand ones have coconut, kiwi, mango, guava and papaya extracts in them to moisturise, soothe, condition and provide antioxidant and anti-aging benefits. I would say that the RB has a thinner consistency too. I included a photo below where you can see the stain left behind from the two Romand Juicy Lasting Tints and the Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Lip Oil. The RB leaves a slightly deeper stain, it actually applies lighter in colour at first and as it settles on your lips it darkens to the actual shade. The wear time is quite similar in both products as is the evenness in wear as the shine fades. The major difference is that the Rare Beauty ones are more than double the price of the Romand depending on where you buy them.
I still think the Rare Beauty Lip Oils are a great price at €22. However, if you like this kind of formula and you'd like a couple of shades, you will get more for your money with the Romand ones. It may also come down to shade preferences, overall I prefer the shades of the Romand ones, whereas I was happy with one of the Rare Beauty ones and I didn't find myself lusting after more shades. If you're unsure which to go for, I hope this review and the comparisons have been helpful.
