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YSL Rouge Pur Couture The Slim Matte Lipstick Review & Swatches

February 5, 2019 / FASHION & BEAUTY / 0 comments

Kung Hei Fat Choy everyone! How’s your Astrology this year? 🙂 Mine? It’s forecasted that there will be more lipstick hoarding this year, LOL. Speaking of lipsticks, here goes another Yves Saint Laurent lip product to love, the YSL Rouge Pure Couture The Slim Matte Lipstick ($39). When I first saw this product both online and in-store, I was like “Nooooo, please stay away from me, in heaven’s name….” Haha! Oh well, fast forward, a couple of weeks later, I’ve been fangirling this lipstick a lot and I think, this should definitely be included in the list of lipsticks that sparked joy for me this Winter (see the list HERE).

You guys know that I’m a big fan of YSL lipsticks and I review them a lot here in the blog, Whenever I see a new YSL lipstick, I get weak in the knees, LOL. They’re pretty much my Achilles heel, and with the new Slim Matte, I feel like I found another matte lipstick to obsess about. Lord help my soul… 🙂

The new YSL The Slim Matte lipstick as the name says is a slim square/diamond-shaped lipstick with a true-matte texture. It is extremely pigmented on the lips with just one swipe and it has a nice soft cushiony feel. It pretty much feels like nothing on the lips, totally weightless and super comfortable. I never noticed my lips feeling dry whenever I wear it. I find that the color stays on my lips for almost the whole day and it still remains on my lips after eating and drinking. I only noticed a very minimal to almost zero transfer and this lipstick doesn’t bleed or feather. I find the slim design to be really easy to toss inside one of my mini bags and it looks luxe, minimalist, and sleek. However, that same design may be tricky to apply on the lips at first because of its many angles, but once you get the hang of it (tip: use one of the angles to line your lips) then you’d find that this lipstick does and has it all.

I love all the shades available in this lipstick, but I decided on a few nudes since they’re super saturated. I think I spotted a nice wine-red color (my fave) but I skipped on that one because I have too many of those shades already. I did see a lot of bold colors in the lineup, like deep reds, saturated plums and different variations of pinks and corals.

11 Ambiguous Beige – nude coral rose

12 Nu Incongru – nude antique rose

17 Nude Antonym – nude rose mauve, my most favorite among the three. Will be wearing this a lot from now on. I think it’s a perfect universal nude for everybody.

The YSL Slim Matte Lipstick still has the same mango-ish scent/flavor that you’d come to know with most YSL lip products. When comparing it to some other similar matte lipsticks that have been released recently, two products came to mind. One is the Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet Extreme Lipstick (reviewed HERE) and the other one is the Rouge d’Armani Matte Lipstick (swatched HERE). The Chanel Velvet Extreme feels a bit drier than the YSL Slim Matte, while the Rouge d’Armani Matte may be just a tad drier as well since the YSL Slim Matte has a bit more cushion it, but it’s almost hard to tell the difference between the two. I feel like they’re so neck and neck with each other, although the YSL Slim Matte (I think) has better color range in the lineup since you’ll find more wearable nudes and reds, but the Rouge d’Armani Matte is only limited to 102 Androgino as its universally flattering nude shade, and some of its shades look totally different when applied on the lips, read the review HERE.

Now, you’re probably wondering, how is this lipstick different at least formula-wise with the original YSL Rouge Pur Couture The Mats Lipstick? (reviewed HERE). The YSL “The Mats” have a bit of shine to it compared to this YSL The Slim lipstick which is totally just plain matte.

Overall, I find this lipstick to be one of the best matte lipsticks I’ve ever tried. It’s right on point with its wear time, it looks beautiful, luxurious, easy to store/carry, and the shades are absolutely beautiful.

Have you tried this already?

The YSL Rouge Pur Couture The Slim Matte Lipstick is currently available at Sephora, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Barneys New York, Bloomingdale’s, Harrods, Lord & Taylor, Neiman Marcus, and yslbeautyus.com

Tom Ford Lip Sculptor & Lip Color Satin Matte Review

October 4, 2018 / FASHION & BEAUTY / 0 comments

Tom Ford recently released a couple of new lip products, one of them is the Lip Sculptor which is basically a lip liner with a lip brush, and another one is the newest Lip Color Satin Matte, which is a velvety soft matte lipstick that is meant to be high impact and long-wearing.

I went to my local Tom Ford beauty counter to check out these two new products and also to swatch the colors and find out which ones would look well on my skin tone. I picked two colors from the Lip Sculptor line and also picked two from the Lip Color Satin Matte.

Lip Sculptor ($46) – This lip liner glides comfortably on the lips and it has a built-in lip brush on the other end. It contours, sculpts and defines the lips and it’s great with any Tom Ford lipsticks or with any other lip color as well. This sets into a matte finish and can be easily corrected if the application wasn’t accurate. There are different shades available from this lip liner and they are all beautiful, especially the deep ones. Since this lip liner has an easy-to-glide formulation, this could potentially be worn as a lip color, provided that your lips are not the type that dries easily. Unfortunately, for me, this is too drying when used as a lip shade. On the other hand, since this particular lip liner is quite matte, I don’t really see how the lip brush on the other end can work with this liner unless of course it’s meant to define the lips with a lipstick, which I suspect is what it’s really meant to be. The price of this lip pencil is high, but the quality is very good. Having a few is worth a try.

Crave – light terracotta

Devour – mauve rose

Lip Color Satin Matte ($55) – This newest lip color from Tom Ford is very pigmented in just one swipe. It has a creamy feel once applied on the lips, then it sets into a true satin matte. It is one of the most comfortable matte lipsticks I’ve ever tried since it’s non-drying, lightweight, and soft-focus without emphasizing too much lip lines. It has a blotted effect as it wears for several hours. This particular lipstick, however, does transfer but it’s not to the extreme since the color will still remain on the lips. On me, this lasts about six hours after drinking tea or coffee, and about four hours for the lighter shade after eating. The darker shade tends to stay longer. There is no strong scent detected, but only a faint buttery one. However, finding the right shade from this lip color line that would look well on my complexion was such a dilemma. There are for sure several Fall/Winter colors like deep berries and reds but I had a hard time finding the right nude or neutral beige for my light-medium skin tone since most of the nude and neutral ones are either too nude or they’d pull off as bright pink or coral on me. Another thing I noticed is that it’s pretty hard for me to accurately apply this lipstick on my lips since this has a slightly angled flat round tip, as opposed to being more pointy like most lipsticks, so, I always end up overlining my lips. But then, that’s easy to remedy, I just use the lip brush that came with the Lip Sculptor above. Anyway, I can’t seem to find a product that closely resembles this lipstick, especially when it comes to its texture and its finish. For starters, this is definitely not as mattifying as the Tom Ford Lip Color Matte. This lip color is more comfortable and it feels more lightweight. This also feels a bit hydrating but it’s not shiny. I’m thinking perhaps the Dior Ultra Rouge Lipstick might be on par, but I will have to investigate more, and speaking of that, I will be reviewing that lipstick soon. I also think the YSL Rouge Pur Couture The Mats (reviewed HERE) might be similar as well, and probably the Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet too, but the Chanel ones may be a bit more mattifying than this TF Lip Color Satin Matte.

Modern Love – light coral

Stiletto – blue-toned red

Bottom line, this latest Lip Color Satin Matte and Lip Sculptor from Tom Ford are worth the splurge. These perform just like what they claim. The Lip Sculptor is a reliable lip liner that sets well and applies smoothly. It truly contours and defines the lips. The Lip Color Satin Matte is one of the most comfortable easy to wear matte lipsticks I’ve ever tried and I really like its velvety matte effect on the lips.

The Tom Ford Lip Sculptor and Lip Color Satin Matte are out now at Nordstrom, Sephora, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Harrods

YSL Rouge Pur Couture The Mats, Part II

February 20, 2017 / FASHION & BEAUTY / 0 comments

Howdy All! Today’s review is going to be exciting because we’ll be talking about YSL Rouge Pur Couture The Mats, again. But before that, the part 1 of this review can be found HERE. Since you all know that I’m an avid fan of YSL lipsticks, I have added four more of their matte lipsticks, called The Mats, as part of my personal stash of YSL lippies. You might be wondering why YSL? Because I just love their lip product’s formulation, the overall feel, longevity, and their gorgeous colors! There’s something about YSL’s lip products that makes your lip radiant, glowy, and simply beautiful.

We all know that YSL beauty recently added a couple more shades to the Rouge Pur Couture The Mats, and there’s quite some exciting colors to choose from. I had my eyes on the shades; 214, 217 and 218 and 206 shade.

Aside from the creamy and long-lasting YSL Rouge Pur Couture Lipsticks that I adore, I’m also a huge fan of The Mats. Their velvety matte formula is not like most matte lipsticks in the market nowadays. They sort of have this non-drying satiny matte feel that is comfortable on the lips while lasting for hours. They don’t feel heavy and leaves a soft stain even without reapplication.

The YSL Rouge Pur Couture The Mats still retain the same flavor that goes with any YSL lippies, which you may hate or love. As for me, it doesn’t bother me that much since I got used to their melon-mango flavor. Another thing I love about these lipsticks is that they have such gorgeous packaging. You can even engrave them whenever you purchase them at YSL’s website.

Here are my 4 faves:

218 (Coral Remix) – Pretty nude shade with a hint of coral. It’s the perfect daywear lipstick and can be worn by anybody with a medium skin tone. The texture is quite creamier than most The Mats.

214 (Wood On Fire) – This is a light red shade for those who like red, but not too much red. Think of it as an everyday red lipstick that doesn’t go over the top. It’s also a bit creamy.

217 (Nude Trouble) – This shade is definitely not nude. You could call it a nude pink-mauve perhaps, but this is more like a muted mauve that works really well if you have a medium skintone and sort of pigmented lips. Texture-wise, this feels like a perfect velvet-matte.

206 (Grenat Satisfaction) – This mix of dark, plum, brown and red shade is beyond gorgeous! Though this lipstick feels a bit drier compared to the other The Mats lipsticks, I think this is my kind of shade because it fits my skintone well.

Arm Swatch:

I like all the shades that I featured here, but if I have to rank them among each other, it would be; 4th place – 214, 3rd place – 217, 2nd – 218, and 1st- 206.

What do you think of these YSL Rouge Pur Couture The Mats? Any lipstick brands you swear by?

To see what’s coming next, follow me on Instagram: @reviewsandotherstuff

Bye for now!