YSL Rouge Pur Couture THE MATS: Review & Test

If you don't own at least one YSL lipstick, you're probably missing out. It's a cult, a staple, necessity in any women's bag. It's not about the formula itself but rather having a feeling of power and sophistication. You can conquer anything.
Yves Saint Laurent Beaute, synonym for luxury lipstick and leading company for beauty trends, released oh-so needed line of comfortable matte lipsticks. Five colours in total, only four in Slovenia, puzzle up unique line of Rouge Pur Couture The Mats. YSL claims the line to be modern with a twist of rock style and leather finish, which undoubtedly suits front face Cara Delevingne.

Perfected Lips for Spring

Ever wondered what's your best solution to hide and perfect your chapped lips? I'm not talking about treatments nor potions or lotions that could help with chapped lips. I'm talking about sunny days or special occasions where you can't pull off a bright lipstick due to painful situation, but you still don't want to look like a mess. Yes, I've tested them all on my chronically dry lips and they've passed the test. Now, the main thing I need to point out is, that flaky or chapped lips won't feel nourished after certain mentioned products are gone away.

Clarins Instant Light Lip Comfort Oil Raspberry (Limited Edition, 16€, Clarins counters) is one of the best innovations I've come across for Spring. Not only it feels luxuriously rich and balmy, but also makes your lips look nourished. Fun, chubby cushion applicator just makes the whole thing really enjoyable. I was never attached to my lipgloss stash but this is a whole another story. Scent is absolutely delicious. like raspberry candy. Comfort Oil doesn't leave any color or stain. If you're more keen to honey, there is also a permanent Comfort Oil in Honey. Clarins Instant Light Lip Perfector (18€, Clarins counters) is a long time staple in my stash. It soothes the lips, leaves a milky nude shade and literally perfects your lips. There's no stickiness, only a pillow soft  texture. Etude House Plumping lip tint (7,60€, Jolse) offers jelly texture with a bright pink tint. This particular product left me speechless with first try. It has a special rubbery scoop as applicator which works wonderfully. Once the jelly is on your lips, it gives a menthol cooling sensation without stinging or plumping. Lips look perfected in terms of seconds. YSL Rouge Volupte Sheer Candy (32€, YSL counters and FeelUnique) is another high-end product. Clearly, innovative and comfortable products have their price. While Sheer Candies are not the most hydrating products on the market, they do make your lips look like melted candy. They are easy to use and apply as a tinted glossy lipbalm. Catrice Beautifying Lip Smoother (3,80€, Catrice counters) is like a nourishing lipgloss. They leave a hint of color, while they are still comfortable. They don't last on your lips longer than an hour but ''on the go'' application is a simple task. I love them as an affordable drugstore option, however, they're not on the same quality level. Still, for a fair price, you shouldn't miss out on them.

What are your picks for this Spring season? Any recommendations?

Beauty Haul - The Body Shop, MAC, Too Faced, YSL, Bourjois, SteamCream

Obviously I need to take a break from buying beauty items but I can always find 100 and 1 reason to shop. I was really sticking to my project pan products and I've finished up over 15 makeup items over last two months. Having a blast with my summer project pan/s I wasn't really buying any stuff through the summer (well, let's pretend London Haul didn't happen). This time around I had 2 reasons to splurge: a) finished up a bunch of makeup and gave a bag of items to my friends and family and b) I was abroad a lot so I got products we can't get here. Oh...makes me feel a bit better to find justifying reasons.

The Body Shop was never one of my favorite stores. I found everything pricey yet I wasn't too keen on whole body skincare and their packaging. After I've finally finished up my Raspberry Lip balm (it took me whole 3 years) I realised you get your money's worth with their products. And trying to be all environmental made me rethink the brand - although not too sure if they're totally cruelty-free and if they sell in China - but it's a start. Nevertheless I had my eye on their Cocoa Body Butter, Brazil Nut Bodyspray, Chocomania Lip butter and Honey Bronzer. Needless to say I got extra bits with my splurge (Beautifying Oil and Chocomania Body Scrub) and a small stroke after seeing total price. Feeling Fall I suppose!

Austria trip always starts with Mac Cosmetics. I was planning to get Velvet Teddy lipstick since I'm craving a bolder, darker brown nude with taupe hues but they were out of stock. Assistant suggested me Viva Glam 2 which is a medium brown nude with mauve undertones. I was afraid it would look too nude on me but it turns out it's a perfect darker brown/taupe lipstick for my pale skintone. And it's a Satin which makes me even happier (hello longevity). I also couldn't resist Up the Amp which is a blue-toned medium purple with hints of mauve and grey. Looks terrifying but it's really wearable as a grape toned-down color.

As always I went into Yves Rocher (Austria) to get my mom's favorite perfume Evidence. My eyes instantly spotted a new collection with supposedly their Holiday Collection. I'm not sure how is this possible but I got a preview for the upcoming holidays. I couldn't find any images nor posts about it so I guess I'm lucky? Only french Yves Rocher has this scent already on their website. It's a mini size of Caramel Pear Eau de Toilette which smells really fruity and sweet. Pear is really strong at the beginning but after a while caramel notes start to shine. If you're expecting a strong caramel scent, you'll be disappointed. I think I also saw candles, body lotion and shower gel.

Okay, I've got a good reason for Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette. I sold over 10 high-end items that I didn't use anymore and treated myself to this beauty. It's currently my favorite palette of all time, beats all my Naked/s and other brands. It's gorgeous inside and outside, smells like chocolate/vanilla and pigmentation is astonishing. No fall-out which is remarkable for me because I '' grew up'' my eyeshadow collection based mostly on Urban Decay. Eyeshadows are extremely wearable and you get 6 matte shadows which is impressive. With each application I can smell chocolate which makes me happy, sadly enough. It's pretty addictive, I must say. So happy to have you, Chocolate Bar! I highly, highly recommend this palette from the bottom of my heart.

Not gonna lie, I love all sorts of lipbalms. They are easy to use up and variety of scents just makes it easier to become a balm hoarder. I'm super happy with my Labello Macadamia&Vanilla and Caramel Cream so why the heck not...I got myself a Blueberry Blush and Coconut. Both smell wonderful and not artificial at all. In Croatia I also spotted Rosal with new coloured lipbalms, similar to Babylips. They are fully pigmented and I could categorise them as half-lipsticks. Coral Candy is definitely worth a try.

My trip to Croatia also got me a new unintentional YSL Glossy Stain #16 Pourpre Preview. Price was reduced over half because of ruined outside packaging. So far I'm not too impressed but it's similar to Dior Fluid Stick with less ''grip''. It's a beautiful vibrant grape purple that's comfortable to wear. Packaging is quite lame for YSL.

Bourjois came out with new Rouge Edition 12 hours lipsticks that are matte in texture but stay on the lips for good 5-6 hours. I definitely wouldn't claim they're extra longlasting, especially not for 12 hours. I got shade 31# Beige Shooting which is my perfect rose nude color. I actually took this color to Mac to find a similar color but with more brown tones for my perfect 90's lipstick. Bourjois Color Edition 24h eyeshadow in 03 Petale de glace was unfortunately not released in Slovenia but it's a beautiful rose-shell cream shadow for every day. 

Etude House Snow White BB Cream is just a repackaged Precious Mineral BB Cream from their permanent line. Since this BB cream is pretty popular I thought I would give it a go in Princess Happy Ending limited edition packaging. It comes in two shades and the lightest N02 matches my skin perfectly. It's not grey but still light enough. Gives medium coverage and has a satin finish. Like!

Daisy Dream by Marc Jacobs was a gift for my birthday. Scent is similar to normal Daisy (my sister's favorite) but has a bit more freshness/clean scent to it. It lacks that almost bitter/sour ending but you can still notice citrus notes. It's definitely more clean and fruity scent at first. You need to bond with Marc Jacobs perfumes - at least in my experience. I'm always on the fence with Marc Jacobs scents but after a month I always fell in love and experience more in depth notes. Is that weird? Marc Jacobs Dot was almost a love-hate relationship at first but now I can't imagine Spring without it. It's my staple. Same with this one, nothing extraordinary after first few sniffs but grows on you after time.

I'm a true believer of SteamCream. Both, me and my sister bought their jar of happiness a while ago and we're not looking back. It's another staple in my stash for my night routine. I use it sparingly on my face and neck. It's so rich and natural you can almost detect every single ingredient. Not to mention it's a sister company of Lush. Truly one and only cream I'm not worried about nasty ingredients and it's also effective. I would highly recommend it for dry, sensitive and mature skin. I've shared my experience with SteamCream team and they kindly offered me a new jar of goodness in a Fall themed can. Review will be up soon.

Uniq One Hair Treatment and The O spiral hair elastics were a gift from a good friend. She knows I like to color my hair a lot but I'm not too worried about the damage. So what better way to treat my hair than with all in one product? I had Uniq One cream before and it's okay for taming frizz, hair ends and add additional treatment. However I do use it sparingly since it can make your hair greasy.

Let me know if you're interested in any of these items! I will do a more indepth review.

YSL Volupte Sheer Candy Glossy Balm #5 Mouthwatering Berry

I was already bragging on Instagram that my sister has a great taste for makeup. I recently received another YSL lipstick only because she knows you can't go any better than YSL. This time she got me Volupte Sheer Candy Glossy Balm which has a balmy texture, wet-looking shine and tints the lips. Smell is slightly different from original Rouge Volupte - still melon but with a peach twist. Now the main star is not the scent but texture and finish on the lips. Oh, and packaging, which is absolutely stunning and glorious in all it's silver plated tube.

Sheer Candy Glossy Balm won't deliver high pigmentation nor creamy texture but they will sure give you shine and comfort. You should definitely reconsider your attachment to your tinted lipbalms before heading out and buying Sheer Candy lipsticks. It's almost translucent but leaves your lips nicely moisturised with a tint. The darker the color, more pigmented it will be. Glossy finish starts disappearing after first 3 hours which is expected longevity time for balmy lip products. Sheer Candy won't coat your lips with intense color but they will just enhance your natural lip color with different undertones. Now it's up to you to decide if it's worth to splurge on a tinted, glossy lipbalm with a luxurious packaging. Truly honest, I would never buy myself such an expensive lip product, especially not a tinted lipbalm, but getting or giving it as a present has quite an impact. In the past I already bought Sheer Candy for friend's birthday and I was thrilled to see her reaction. No girl will stay calm after seeing this beauty. 

Sheer Candy in #5 Mouthwatering Berry seems quite a bold, dark red/purple in the tube but applied comes out as a lovely pink-berry stain. I was actually surprised to see a better, almost photoshopped version of my lips. Mouthwatering Berry made my pretty pale lips more darker, berry color but you could still see through a bit of natural color (and some freckles in my case). What can I say, I'm in love. 

In terms of comparing it to other similar products I could say Fresh Rose lipbalm is a pretty good dupe but with more thick and nourishing texture. Maybelline Babylips in Cherry is pretty darn close too in terms of color. As for the lightweight texture, it's similar to Maybelline Whispers but more jelly-like. 

On the end it's your personal taste that makes a choice. I know I would never buy it for myself but I'm truly happy to get higher end brands as a gift. Although this tube of tinted lipbalm quickly became my favourite and I could consider it repurchasing, it depends on how long it will last me. I noticed it gets used up pretty quickly due to glossy, lipbalm texture. So this is pretty much the only downside I found.

YSL Rouge Volupte 30 Faubourg Peach Review and Dupes

YSL Rouge Volupte are cult beauty lipsticks with a luxurious golden packaging and an ultra creamy lipstick that provides effortless color pay-off and comfort. Let just say YSL lipsticks are statement pieces in beauty world as Louboutin in shoe department. But whether these lipsticks are worth the hefty price tag, we'll consider further in this post. I was lucky enough to receive my first YSL Rouge Volupte from my sister as a birthday present. You can imagine my reaction as a lipstick hoarder I am.

COLOR
YSL Rouge Volupte in 30# Faubourg Peach is actually a perfect mix of light apricot and a small hint of pink just to make it enough wearable even for palest skin tones. It also has a hint of white mixed in which gives this lipstick a 60's feel. Just a perfect pastel apricot. I can imagine it being gorgeous on tanned skin, especially in summer. I would add Faubourg Peach a pinch of pink to make it a perfect apricot for my personal taste and neutral skintone. Fear not, you have plenty more shades to choose from Rouge Volupte - this range has a massive color scheme.

PACKAGING
Lipstick comes in a gorgeous golden tube with some color to match the inside. YSL logo is just stunningly beautiful. Also, lipstick case has a certain weight to it, so you really feel like a million dollar baby when you reach into your bag. I was only a bit disappointed with twist up mechanism since it broke after only several uses. I can still twist the lipstick up but can't twist it back down without pushing the lipstick down. I'm also pretty neutral about the bullet, edges are harsh so it's commonly known your lipstick will always loose a piece on the higher point.

TEXTURE
 I can't think of any creamier lipstick in my stash. It's actually too creamy for my liking. Texture reminds on NYX Round lipsticks which are slippery. Lipstick definitely feels great on the lips but I can't imagine wearing a darker color in this formula. Don't get me wrong, you can easily wear Rouge Volupte in light shades but wines, plums and reds could be potentially hard to keep in their place. I highly suggest a lip liner with these lipsticks. Finish is definitely creamy, not matte or glossy. Lighter colors can enhance dryness so a lip balm is a necessity before applying Rouge Voluptes.

PIGMENTATION
 Pigmentation is out of this world. You get a full opaque color in just one swipe, which can be a good or a bad thing depending on a person's liking. I enjoy opaque lipsticks so I'm pretty much happy with color pay-off. If I'm not mistaken, all Rouge Volupte have a high pigmentation with a creamy formula.

LONGEVITY
 I can't say I've experienced outstanding long lasting finish so they're pretty standard in this department. I could say color obtains for about 2-4 hours tops which is quite frankly expected from a creamy formula. Nothing extraordinary here, unfortunately.

SCENT
Rouge Voluptes have a sickly sweet melon scent which disappears after application. Honestly, I'm not too fond of any melon/watermelon scent because they're too fake for my taste.

DUPES

Searching for dupes was easier than I thought. A perfect dupe would be Barry M 147 lipstick but I got rid off it because of awful texture. Keep in mind Barry M 147 lipstick has a matte finish and is extremely uncomfortable on the lips. In my current lipstick collection, the most similar one is definitely Topshop Ohh La La. It's a tad bit darker with less pastel notes. Etude House Dear My Blooming Lips in OR204 is pretty similar in person but a bit more pink. P2 Copacabana is darker and more vibrant, Maybelline Whisper in Coral Ambition is sheerer and more pink/neon. Bourjois Color Boost Peach on the Beach has definitely a more vibrant color with pink undertones. NYX Black Label in India is way more light and pink than YSL Faubourg Peach. All these colors are definitely more pink or less pastel in person. The closest would be Topshop Ohh La La but it lacks pastel and white notes.

PROS
Creamy and comfortable texture
Non-drying formula
Luxurious packaging
Huge variety of color in Rouge Volupte range

CONS
Price tag is high
Lipstick can enhance lip imperfections
Lip balm is necessary before application
Melon scent (I personally prefer vanilla)