By Catherine Tse
YSL Beauty recently launched a new lipstick, a new slim version of its much coveted Rouge Pur Cou-ture lipstick. Now in a super slim format featuring an elegant matte black and glossy gold exterior with square bullet and a “leather-matte” texture.
All the fashion-forward shades were inspired by YSL’s Creative Director, Tom Pecheux, so this will work seamlessly with your fall/winter wardrobe. While the formula is richly, densely pigmented, it can also be challenging to apply. A precise, steady hand is absolutely necessary to apply these jew-el colours to the lips. The square shape, while beautifully contemporary with its sharp angles, also proves to be one of the greatest challenges to overcome. Application with a square tip is not easy or intuitive, forcing the hand to continuously modulate, compensating for a square’s unforgiving angles against lip’s organic shape. There’s a reason why lipsticks are traditionally tear-drop shaped and, unfortunately, the decision to create a square bullet is another example of how brands choose fashion over function.
The brand claims that the square shape is intentional, allowing for the top corner to be used as a replacement for lip liner. But what happens after a few applications when the tip becomes blunt?
If you’re willing to overlook some of these shortcomings and don’t mind using a lip brush, you’ll be rewarded with richly pigmented colour. The “leather-matte” finish is actually on the dry side, so using a lip brush will avoid the tugging and dragging that can happen when trying to apply directly from the bullet.
Available at Nordstrom, $39.