Greetings, slightly out of breath, from the time portal, fellow rogues!
A little wyvern told me that there has been a recent important event unknown to yours truly! It seems that there is a special day set aside in honour of lipsticks…and I missed it! OK, not by much, but how can I stand for missing the occasion commemorating my favourite beauty product? With this in mind, I’m bringing you a very exciting lipstick related post – the review and swatches of my first foray into Guerlain!
As usual, these lipsticks were a product of my recent Dubai Lootstravaganza. As it happens, I believe they were the last things I actuallly picked up, after seeing the little set in the Dubai airport Duty Free and realising that a) it contained some truly magical shades and b) the price for the 3 was about the same as the price of ONE in Middle Earth.
…Guerlain!
The three Guerlain Rouge Automatiques packaged together in this set are Nahema, Roselip and Champs Élysées. Basically, they cover your non-red lipstick basics: a coral/peach, a fuchsia and an inoffensive, MLBB pink. I believe that the latter shade (Roselip) is actually an Asia exclusive or something of the kind – it’s on the Guerlain Hong King site, for example, but not the US one.
Top Left: Nahema. Top Right: Champs Elysees. Lower: Roselip
This is, as mentioned, my first experience with Guerlain makeup of any kind – of course, I started with lipsticks, and of course, I started in Duty Free. Their makeup is fabulously expensive here ($88 Rouge Gs anyone?) and their foundation products tend to run a little on the ‘why did you wash your face with Cheetos?’ side when applied to this vampire. Lipsticks, however are my weakness, and I’ve been wanting to try Guerlain’s offerings for a long time. When you head into a catacomb expecting a hard fight before you can claim your prestige, luxury lipstick artefacts, you tend to want to get something pretty spiffy out the end of the process. Fortunately, Guerlain did not disappoint!
Guerlain Rouge Automatiques in their natural catacomb habitat…
First up, I think we have to say something about the packaging. The gold and embossing are great, and the package is sturdy though really quite lightweight (I think one of my Revlon lipsticks weighs more, to be honest), but the real star is the mechanism. With one smooth, pleasantly resistant slide of the little ‘G’ embossed button, the ‘Guerlain’ embossed hatch at the top glides open and the lipstick bullet emerges, deus ex machina style. Slide the button the other way, and the process reverses. This never gets old, seriously. The only downside is that the large square barrel around the slender bullet means that if you don’t push the lipstick out far enough, the edge of the barrel dings your bottom lip as you’re trying to do the top one. This isn’t a crisis, but this is not a lipstick I want to risk breaking the bullet of because I extended it out too far.
Shades! #174 = Roselip, #143 = Nahema and #165 = Champs-Elysees. Rather unhelpfully, Guerlain doesn’t put the shade name on the packaging…
One other quick note about the package: the name of the shade is on the box, but is lacking on the actual barrel of the lipstick. You get a number instead, presumably because Guerlain considers numerical recall to be paramount. Now if only I could remember the number I have to think to get in telepathic contact with the Druid’s owl familiar…
Despite having been sealed in a catacomb for milennia, the lipsticks were all cobweb-free and ready to go…
So! Let’s start with some basics: these lipsticks don’t taste of anything (despite having lain in a catacomb for Gods know how long) and have that characteristic Guerlain scent, which I’m told is ‘violet’. It’s definite and floral during application, but doesn’t hang around under the nose too long. Application is irresisitibly smooth and the resulting pout lasts for about four hours (or a little longer if I’m not in feasting/quaffing mode). One really lovely thing I discovered was that these lipsticks were not only pleasantly moisturising while I wore them, but (particularly with Roselip) my lips actually felt distinctly softer and smoother after the lipstick was gone! Almost as thought I had used a nourishing balm. Colour me impressed, Guerlain!
Bullets!! No kevlar required, fortunately.
Roselip is a soft, subtly warm toned but funtionally neutral pink that fits perfectly into my roster of ‘MLBB’ or ‘inoffensive pink’ lipsticks. It’s a medium-pigmented, buildable cream lipstick with a satin finish that’s very forgiving on dry lips. It’s the kind of thing you can throw on when you’re not wearing any other makeup. It’s the kind of thing you can throw on when you’re having a bad skin day but can’t be bothered putting on concealer or whatever. Roselip has your back. If it were an adventuring party member, it’d be giving you constant buffs and healing you without you even having to ask.
Champs Élysées is a fabulous fuchsia. Susie the Rockbard, a conoisseur of fabulous fuchsias approved mightily of this one. The colour is deep and rich as well as being bright, and it has probably the glossiest finish of the three. If you hold it up to the light you can see that it’s infused with the most micro of gold microshimmer, but this doesn’t translate to a visible effect on the lips. Stealth shimmer! Pigmentation is sheer but rapidly buildable, making this lipstick quite versatile as you can choose your intensity. Having said that, the pigment never looks heavy, even when built up.
Nahema is, in many ways, the punchiest of the three, especially on my skintone. It’s a coral with red leanings on me, filled with visible gold sparkle. This doesn’t mean things get glittery, it just means that your lips get a subtle, elegant sparkle to go with the pop of colour. Like Champs Élysées, you can choose your intensity with Nahema – this is great for me, as it stands out bolder than an overzealous Paladin on my vampire complexion! As usual, Sunny gets the blame/credit for waving this shade under my nose and tempting me, resulting in all three of these beauties! 😉
Lipswatches! Including different lighting schemes because I started taking photos and the sun was all ‘LOL NOPE!’ 😀
I absolutely love all three of these shades, and I’m so happy that these luxury lipsticks lived up to what you’d expect of an expensive line/brand. Roselip is in daily rotation, and Nahema has been brightening up some seriously icy, grim Winter quests recently. Champs Élysées is probably the least unique/daily essential shade of the three (based on my stash), but I mean, just look at it! An extra fabulous fuchsia never hurt any adventurer – some dungeons are so dank, you just need bold pink lipstick to make them bearable 😉
What do you think, fellow adventurers? Have you tried any magical lipstick artefacts from Guerlain? What’s your favourite fabulous fuchsia or everyday pink?
The practicalities: Guerlain Rouge Automatique lipsticks cost US$36 / NZ $65 for 0.12 oz / 3.4 g, are permanent, and may be acquired from Guerlain counters the world over, as well as Sephoras. This particular set is exclusive to Duty Free Guerlain counters. For more info, check out www.guerlain.com or www.sephora.com. (These links aren’t affiliate, just here for your convenience!)
Until next time, fellow adventurers, don’t forget to check for traps!
Syl
I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com., or use the contact form provided! All images and text on this blog are the property of The Painted Rogue unless otherwise stated. If you nick off with any of it, be prepared to find that your morning hot beverage tastes a little…different than usual. Didn’t the rogue say something the other day about that new poison that makes your innear ear itch maddeningly for the rest of your life? I think she did…
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