Lipstick Obsession: Clinique Black Honey

I'm sure after looking at the picutre above, a lot of you are thinking, "Are you crazy with that color?" It's certainly intimidating in the tube, and totally not something I'd normally gravitate toward. But, after reading fantastic reviews about Clinique's Black Honey ($14) -- reviews that specifically warned against letting the dark color in the tube send you running for the hills -- I just had to go and find it. How could a lipstick that looks this dark actually be touted among the top perfect-for-anyone colors?

I went to the Clinique counter on a mission to find it. This mission has been on my to-do list for a while, but I only got around to it last week. Shame on me. I'd been missing out. This color is indeed quite flattering and not at all intimidating. It actually goes on as a pretty, sheer, brownish-pink-berry color. It glides on smoothly and I'd say is even slightly moisturizing. In fact, it's not really a lipstick, it's an "almost lipstick," which is why it is sheer. But, you can build it up, though not to something uber-dark. Check out the swatch below and the pics of the color on my lips.

Not scary at all, right? What do you think? Do you like it? I totally love it. I was with Mr. Girly Things when at the Clinique counter (he wandered off to find some shirts), and when he came back and saw the color in the tube, he was skeptical. But when the lady at the counter applied it on me, he was pleasantly surprised as well. He actually said, "Oh, I like it." This is a big deal, he doesn't really comment much on my lipstick choices. Heck, the mere fact that I get excited over finding a good lipstick (or almost lipstick) shade still amuses him. He actually told me that I should definitely get it. That's a pretty good stamp of approval in my book.

Do you think you might try out this color now that you've seen it's not really as intimidating as it seems?