Bubble Tea Panda

I’m going to admit that I’m not above buying a product solely for its geeky overtones. This is probably why I was so smitten with Shiro Cosmetics at first sight. It helped, of course, that all the Intertubes were abuzz with positive things. OK, that was a lame attempt to segue into this review, which is for the Why Not Zoidberg? Intertube.

Shiro Cosmetics’ Intertubes are intensely tinted lip balms which are also inspired by and named for certain geeky things, memes, etc.; of course, they themselves are named after another meme. These have gotten such rave reviews that I knew I had to try one on my first foray into the indie brand.

Shiro Cosmetics Why Not Zoidberg? Intertubes

My boyfriend and I are huge Futurama fans, and I love anything coral, so it was a natural choice for me to get Why Not Zoidberg? After Nibbler, Dr. Zoidberg is my second favorite character on the show, also. :3 It’s almost meta, because my thought process was, “Which Intertube should I get? Why not Zoidberg?”

Unfortunately, I’m not sure if it was an issue with my specific tube/batch, or if this is what all the Intertubes are like, but my tube was horribly grainy. You can see what I mean in the close-up shot.

You can see the ‘beads’ which translate into grains on the lips

In addition, When I twisted it up to see if the graininess extended through the whole product, it got “stuck” at the top. This is something that certainly isn’t unique to indie brands — I’ve had it happen with lipsticks and lip balms from giant companies. But the Intertubes have such a soft and creamy consistency that when I tried to gently apply it anyway, it smooshed everywhere and I ended up just scraping off the excess in order to use it.

Ingredients

If I’m honest, that’s the only negative I have about this; they’re so soft that it’s very easy to overapply. With the graininess, it applies extremely patchy and with weird little beads all over your lips. However, I’ve found if I let it sit for a moment and warm up to my body temperature, it instantly melts into my lips and the patchiness disappears. It is unscented and unflavored.

This shade in particular is absolutely lovely. It’s the perfect summer shade, and is a lobster-pink coral. The balm is nicely moisturizing and feels and looks great even on chapped lips, but I’ve found the effects don’t linger after it’s worn off. Like most balms, it only lasts around 2 hours on my lips although it does stain them very, very lightly.

On lips

It is very glossy and makes lips look very juicy and fresh. It’s not totally opaque, but has sheer to moderate pigmentation (can be built up) that allows your natural lip color to come through.

Overall, despite the texture / possible quality control issue, I really love this. I’m definitely going to try at least a few more shades of these, and I hope the graininess isn’t an issue with other tubes! I really want to try Rickrolled, Nyan Cat and Forty Cakes in particular.

UPDATE 02/04/13: Caitlin contacted me in the comments to let me know the graininess is something which happens after exposure to excessive temperature changes. She recommended I take the cap off and microwave the tube for 30 seconds intervals until it was a thick liquid, then let it cool to “reset” the texture. I did so, and it worked perfectly! It’s perfectly smooth now, and I can’t wait to order more Intertubes!

Shiro Cosmetics is vegan and cruelty-free.
Price: $1.80 for a sample (~1.5 grams in clamshell), $5.00 for a mini (~4 grams in tin), $6.50 for a full tube (~5.5 grams).
Where to buy: Shiro Cosmetics
Would I repurchase?: Yes! The graininess is disappointing, but I love the color and feel. I definitely want to try more and see if the graininess is a deal-breaker, or just a one-off fluke.

Disclosure: All product(s) featured in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own.