There's no doubt that this season has been all about the lips! Not that a lipstick bandit like myself can complain. ;-) It was hard to resist the plethora of bright, happy shades in various formulas made available for spring. Here are the selection of lip products I picked up and used over the season mostly from Chanel (coz they just make some of the prettiest shades and most flattering, sophisticated sparkles) and one from Dior. Hope you find my brief thoughts on them, swatches and comparison swatches useful.
Rouge Dior Baume in 'Belle de Printemps' is described as a "luminous coral". I reckon it's more of a coral peach, which makes it more wearable for me as I'm not a huge fan of corals. In fact, I really enjoy the colour and the brightness is just enough for spring - a nice change to my usual pink lipsticks! This is my first to try the Rouge Dior Baume formula. It's definitely balm-like in texture, though I didn't feel it was moisturising - it was actually a touch drying. The pigmentation was fairly decent (semi-sheer to medium coverage) for this type of formula and does well enough to cover most of my naturally-pigmented lips.
Chanel Rouge Allure in Badine (154) (left) and Rouge Allure Velvet in La Romanesque (50) (right).
Badine is a Rouge Allure lipstick, so it has a luminous, satin finish. I do appreciate a soft, baby pink for day now and then, but unfortunately Badine, is just too light for my skin tone when worn with enough layers for good coverage, and it also appears much more blue-toned (similar to my natural pigment undertone) compared to how warm it appears in the tube. In general, the sheerer or more translucent ones tend to be more wearable for me (such as Chanel's Rouge Coco Shine in Chance - see swatch comparison below) - these give an overall softer look. I recommend trying Badine in person before buying.
Rouge Allure Velvet is amongst my favourite lipstick formulas (they have a luminous, velvet matte finish) and La Romanesque is just one of my favourite type of colours. I was worried it would be too similar to one of the other shades in my collection (I am indeed fond of this bright fuchsia-plum-purple colour family), but fortunately, there's not an exact dupe. :) I love it. Particularly flattering for those with yellow/olive skin tones.
Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Désinvolte (97) (left) is a medium coral and Étourdie (98) (right) is a sparkling, medium raspberry. Désinvolte was another attempt at me trying to branch out to other shades, but I was hoping it would be more like Pygmalion (reviewed HERE). Alas, it is definitely much more coral - more than I am comfortable with. I'll most likely mix it with more peach or raspberry shades to get it to work for me. Étourdie, on the other hand, is a winner for me. :) When swatched, it looked sheer and unimpressive, but as soon as I applied it on my lips, I was truly wowed. The combination of gorgeous raspberry, amazingly beautiful sparkles, and juicy finish on the lips made it unique and stunning. The sheerness of it also allowed my natural lip colour to show through adding another layer of hue that is unique to to my own lips. This lipstick makes my lips look more plump and pretty - i.e., "my lips but stunningly better!" ;-)
Chanel Glossimer in Crazy Fuchsia (194) - another unique lip gloss in my collection. This one packs a punch in both colour and that Chanel sparkle. Another one that makes me smile when I wear it. :) So pretty!
Packaging
Swatches
Below are swatches of the lip products on my medium, olive (~NC30) skin tone. Photographed indoors using a strobe.
Below are the same swatches but photographed in low light (without a strobe) to depict the shimmers.
Comparison Swatches
Overall
My favourites are Crazy Fuchsia, Étourdie, La Romanesque and Belle de Printemps. I would say the two most unique in my personal collection are the first two and therefore, are must-haves for me. :)
Hope this was helpful.
Thanks for looking! ^_^ xo
Thanks for looking! ^_^ xo