YSL Lip Vault

If you were going to break the bank on lipstick this vault set from YSL might be the way to go.

You  get nine lipcolors in three of the brands  formulas . All three are pretty darn good but I have special love for Rouge Volupte Shines.

The set contains:

 Three  Rouge Pur Couture Lipstick in Le Rouge (blood red), Rose Dahlia (coral orange), Corail Urbain (medium peach orange) 

Three  Rouge Volupte Shine Oil-in-Stick Lipstick in Corail in Touch (creamy orange coral), Rouge Tuxedo (cherry red), Nude in Private (spicy warm beige) 

Three  Vinyl Cream Lip Stain in Rose Mix (light pink), Rouge Vinyle (true red), Rhythm Red (electric orange)

The YSL Lip Vault is $ 250 at Sephora ( online only)

YSL Beauty Engraving

A personally engraved lipstick? Sign me up. YSL Beauty is offering free engraving on lipstick, fragrance and more.  And you know they have amaze lippies. Rouge Volupte Shine is my personal fav.

You can have anything engraved, not just your name, but a special date,  phrase etc. What a fabulous gift and if any of you are getting married this Summer, there's your perfect bridesmaid present.

Head over to  yslbeautyus.com for more info .

Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Pur Couture Mini Collection

All you might want to give or get for Christmas is this set of lipsticks from YSL.

The Rouge Pur Couture Mini Collection has four mini lipsticks in  Le Rouge #1, Le Orange #13, Le Fuchsia #19, Le Nu #70  set in a red gift box. 

If your giftees love color and variety it would be hard to go wrong with this. YSL Rouge Coutures are full coverage  , satin finish, hydrating lipsticks. 

Just remember these are minis at .03 oz each. 

Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Pur Couture Mini Collection is $ 60 at Sephora

YSL Couture Kajal 3 in1 Kohl Eyeliner- Fall 2015

Part two of  a look at YSL Fall is the new Couture Kajal 3 in 1 Kohl Eyeliner . ( Metal Clash Eye Palette here )

I love just looking at these. They are so chic and stylish. Once the lid is off, you get a deep pigmented eyeliner.   Couture Kajal pencils apply smoothly without any tug and can make a thin line or a thicker one or  use as eye shadow.

These are long wear and have done well on me.YSL says up to 12 hour wear. Unless you count the time I tried them , went into the pool in  95 degree temps with blasting humidity.  Don't try that at home.

These are self sharpening and YSL recommends applying with the side to keep the point sharp.  That might be easier said than done, but I love the sharp point so we'll try.

There are four shades, all shown except black ( N°1 Noir Ardent ). There are two blues and a gorg blackened green .

 N°1 Noir Ardent
 N° 2 Bleu Cobalt
 N° 3 Bleu Pétrole
 N° 4 Vert Anglais


YSL Couture Kajal 3 in 1 Kohl Eyeliner is $ 35

YSL Metal Clash Couture Eye Palette - Fall 2015

YSL's fall collection has a lot to love. Two standouts are new kohl eye pencils ( review coming soon) and this new eye palette .

Metal Clash has a lot of browns and bronzes which is why it gets my vote. The rich pinkish burgundy shade isn't too bad either. Mixed with any of the browns it's a great fall look. The  golden bronze shade  has a lot of shimmer,  while the darkest brown ( center)  has a hint of simmer and the medium one  is more satin.

In general I find YSL shadows to be ones that last really well on me and they have  rich pigment. Metal Clash gives you  five fall color choices  all in one with several shades working just as well now.  The badass studded metal looking compact cover doesn't hurt either.


YSL Couture Palette Metal Clash  is  $ 60 and LE . Available now at Nordstrom and soon on yslbeauty.com

YSL Gloss Volupte Summer 2015 - Orange Sagatte & Bordeaux Sarouel

Looking at the two new colors of gloss from YSL for Summer immediately made me think of bronzed skin, sunshine and strappy sandals to go with these bright lips.

These are two pretty shades from the Marrakech inspired Les Sahariennes collection  and the tangerine /peach of Orange Sagatte is especially a favorite. For me, it's basically a color I wear anytime and all the time.  It's not super bright but not pale , having a medium peach/orange color with slight gold shimmer.

The other shade, Bordeaux Sarouel is a muted red, with hints of burgundy and one I can actually wear. I have a hard time with reds but this works with my coloring and I like it.  I have so few reds in lip repertoire, so it's nice to have one that will be wearable basically all year . Yes it'll look great in Summer but also now and in Fall through Winter.

Both of these are very shiny , non sticky glosses. They have medium coverage and pigment with a fruity scent.

If you're looking for a new lip color for Spring & Summer fun, you won't go wrong with these.

Available soon at Sephora, Nordstrom and more for $32 each.

YSL Black Opium

YSL's newest fragrance is Black Opium. It's a dark name , true, but the original Opium in 1977 was no shrinking violet .  It was one of those fragrances that we can now truly call iconic.

Now we have Black Opium , a coffee tinged floral that comes  in a bottle that sparkles , all black iridescence and feels like a flask in your hand.

The big note to note  here is coffee accord, and YSL  says that it is used here in the highest concentration yet in a  female fragrance . At the early stages of the scent you get a good whiff of that , not at first but soon after first spritz. It then gets stronger but never espresso strong and mixes with the pepper for spiciness. As the fragrance dries down it becomes more floral and has a tinge of sweetness. The jasmine and orange blossom are very present  making Black Opium more of a floral than you might expect.

As it dries down all the way the patchouli note comes in adding that sweetness with a hint of smoke.

YSL brought in not one or two, but  four stars of the perfume world to create this new scent- Nathalie Lorsen, Olivier Cresp, Maria Salamagne and Honorine Blanc . All bring their own way to the table and focused on a single area , for instance Blanc  looked for light working with the white florals in the composition.

While I think anyone looking for a strong coffee based fragrance may not go for this, I think it's very pretty  and wearable. It has just a little edge  and hey I am for edge in a scent, but pretty with a light edge can work too. It's an EDP   and wear fairly close to the skin. Sillage is medium.

Notes include : coffee extract, pink pepper, orange blossom, jasmine, vanilla, patchouli and cedar.

Prices -
.03 oz $ 25
1.0 oz  $ 67
1.7  oz $ 90
3.0 oz $ 115

YSL Black Opium is exclusive to Sephora , and YSLbeauty.com

YSL Volupte Tint In Oil

The New Year brings loads of new launches , some hit right at Christmas . Definitely my favorite new item so far is  YSL's new Volupte Tint In Oil.

Volupte Tint In Oil is just what it says,  color in a mix of oils for moisture, comfort, gloss and tint . These type of lip oils look to be a trend this year.

This functions as both a balm and lipcolor .The tint is  good. It's sheer but not a light wash, there is definite color to the lips, at least with my shade Peach Me Love. There are lighter shades that may be less colored.

Then there is the feel. This glides on lips , is super smooth and very moisturizing. While it has some sheen it's not sticky or tacky. For Winter and dry lips it's such a winner.

Something to note, the color tints also react with your lips so the color you get may be different than the wand  , or from another wearing. Peach Me Love usually looks peach coral on me, but today it looked a little pinker .

The color lasts well , leaving a stain behind,  as the does the moisture.


There is new technology here acc. to YSL.
"Colour Link Infuser  is an ultra-stabilizing technology developed by YSL Beauté for its ability to disperse and homogeneously solubilize colour particles in oil to create a hybrid formula. The colour pigments are captured within the oils to dispense an ever-evolving
burst of liquid lip colour.The oils slowly disappear but the pop of colour stays true."

Ingredients include five oils- Apricot, Macadamia, Coriander, Jojoba and Passion Flower.

YSL Volupte Tint In Oil comes in 8 shades and is $ 32 at  Sephora  

YSL Rouge Volupte Shine- Holiday 2014

 Winter means we try to coordinate color with moisture on our lips.  Tinted balms are always a favorite but YSL's Rouge Volupte Shine takes it up a notch with  lipstick like color and plenty of moisture.

Four new Rouge Volupte Shine  colors  make their debut in YSL's Holiday collection., Wildly Gold.    Each provides a boost of color  in the pink-red family for pretty holiday lips.  All winter they'll keep lips happy with their melt on  balm like feel , fruity scent and shiny finish.

Pink In Jungle, Red Indocile, Coral Intrepid, Violet Insurgent

I think I'll keep one of these in my purse at all times for a quick moisture and color on the go touch up.  Chic, luxe and useful- check.


Shades shown are Pink In Jungle, Red Indocile, Coral Intrepid, Violet Insurgent.

YSL Rouge Volupte Shine are $ 35 and the Wildly Gold Holiday collection is available now.

YSL Paris Rebel Collector

YSL Paris goes in  a new direction  with Rebel Collector .

Rebel takes the  rose of the original and builds on that with the addition of tomato leaf accord. It changes the fragrance a lot as you would imagine.  Gone is the powdery violet rose  of Paris.

Rebel Collector  begins with a blast of pink  pepper and bergamot , with some rose in there right off as well. It's a sharp beginning but quickly  softens and gives way to more rose  with  a whiff  of powder. Then the tomato comes in , although not strongly , and there is a dryness from the iris. Rose is still weaving along in there as well.

The drydown is very musk and amber  with the iris  still noticeable along with a little rose  to soften it.

Just as the fragrance is a different take on Paris, so is the bottle, Same shape but in a reflective silver with a hot pink top. The box opens from the top  and  like a flower,  for a fun presentation

Paris Rebel Collector  is  $ 105 for 2.5 oz EDP and is LE  . Available now at Nordstrom.

YSL Fusion Ink Foundation

YSL's Fusion  Ink Foundation has been generating a lot of buzz  for some time, pre -release. Now it's finally here . Being as it's  billed as a lightweight ,  long wear matte,  that's  right in my wheelhouse  . Needless to  say it's  been at the top of my to test list .  It even claims to control  the humidity of your skin. My skin's humidity will put the dewpoint to shame, so......

Does it live up ? Absolutely.

Fusion Ink is a very thin liquid. We're seeing a few new foundations like this lately and more will be coming.  It  feels like waterlight silk going on your skin. Quite lovely , really and not what you expect from a foundation.


Once on it  it's very perfecting with a soft focus matte look. The matte is not flat nor dry and gives more dimension than you might expect with a matte. The coverage is light to medium and a little buildable. If you have acne  blotches or dark spots, you'll probably want concealer , or if you like a little more coverage , then layering your favorite BB or CC under  does really well.

The long wear claim holds up as well. I had oil breakthrough on my nose after a couple hours, but there isn't a foundation that stops that during Summer. But overall wear  was very good , with it still looking good after all day into  late evening. With my makeup melt, for me this was excellent. Potential wear time is up to 24 hours.

There is some technology at work here, the formula which is both mattifying and lightly hydrating  "contains a combination of sensorial and volatile oils which, upon contact with the skin, prompt the transformation from liquid to pigments in a matter of seconds. These oils also facilitate the sensorial experience of application as they swiftly evaporate, leaving behind only pigments and the actives perfectly melded with the skin."

The brand also has exclusively developed 2 actives to better connect the foundation with the skin:

- Lipophilic active: it can absorb 4 times its weight in sebum
and remains active for longer, thereby contributing to a natural,
matte skin texture.
- Hydrophilic agent: a clay-like active formed of a blend of
minerals, carefully chosen for its ability to control the skin’s
humidity over time.

There are 16 shades  and the  glam gold bottle has a wand applicator inside . I'm not terribly into the applicator, called a Plume, but it's meant to take the perfect amount of product  to drop onto hands or touched onto face.

YSL Fusion Ink Foundation is $ 60

Shade shown is BD10 Warm Porcelain

YSL Volupte Sheer Candy

YSL Volupte Sheer Candy may be the silkiest , smoothest lippie you will ever try. It's really more of a balm, a glossy balm,  and the sheerness of color reflects that. I haven't tried all the shades but have N. 3 Juicy Grapefruit and it's a super sheer, barely there pink  with tiny shimmer. 

These are highly moisturizing with 35 %  of ingredients being for lip care including hyaluronic acid.  They are said to moisturize , plump and smooth. All I know is they feel wonderful and smell delicious . The mango scent is practically aromatherapeutic.

There are 6 new shades in all , coming in a stunning silver  case .

Shade list :

N°1 - Lush Coconut, a touch of golden freshness

N°2 - Dewy Papaya, a discreet orange pink pleasure

N°3 - Juicy Grapefruit, a candy pink

N°4 - Succulent Pomegranate

N°5 - Mouthwatering Berry

N°6 - Luscious Cherry

Available for $ 30.00 at  Sephora for May and all YSL locations in June.

YSL Beauty Holiday 2010

YSL Holiday is here. Loaded with lots of gold and shimmer including some metallic looking nail shades . You may have noted by now my love for metallics, so the nail shades especially look like a must.  The nail shades as well as the palette and Touche D'Or are all LE.  Available in November.

The star product is the Palette Metallic Colorama.

Per YSL :

Inspired by the new Belle de Jour “Metallic Colorama”limited edition collection of accessories, the Palette Metallic Colorama also features, both inside and out, the metallic effect and the embossed Cassandra logo.

The Palette nestles within a gold leatherette, rectangular case and comes with its own mirror.

The powder is  subtly flecked with iridescent pigments, and adds sparkle

to all complexions with its pink-champagne shimmer. Its optical highlighters catch the light and blend away imperfections.

The full  holiday line list:

-Palette Metallic Colorama - Face Highlighter - Pearly Finish $ 65.00 ( LE)

-Touche d’or - Face Highlighter - Gold $ 40.00 ( LE)

-Mascara Volume Effet Faux Cils-  N° 9 - Plum $ 30.00

-Ombres Duolumieres -N° 33 - Silver Gray / Golden Plum $ 41.00

-Rouge Pure Shine- $ 30.00

N° 34 - Metallic Gold

N° 35 - Metallic Pink

-Golden Gloss- $ 30.00

N° 35 - Golden Carat

N° 36 - Golden Chocolate

N° 37 - Golden Red

N° 38 - Golden Champagne

 

La Laque - $20.00 ( LE)

No 139 - Gold

No 140 - Pink Gold

No 141 - White Gold