Lipstick stash arm swatches

I should have taken pictures of the lipsticks themselves, but I was too focused on the arm swatches, haha.

Since I always seem to buy the same 3 lipstick colours, I decided to swatch all my lippies and keep the pictures on my phone, so next time I go shopping I can at least try and prevent myself from buying another dupe.

For reference, my face is around NC25 with strong yellow undertones. I wear NARS TM Alaska, Bourjois HM 53, and GA Luminous Silk in 3.5.

First, I did swatches on paper so I knew how to group them for arm swatching. Lipstick bullets are so deceiving! These look more vivid on paper than IRL, though.



Berry / Fuchsia Group


L to R:
Beaute Liqui-Gel Stain Harlot
Fresh Sugar Berry
Lipstick Queen Butterfly Ball Fly
YSL Glossy Stain 5
YSL Glossy Stain 13
YSL Glossy Stain 15
Shiseido Lacquer Rouge RS404 Drama
Maybelline 875 Vivid Rose
Revlon Lip Butter 063 Wild Watermelon
(I forgot to swatch my Annabelle TwistUp Retractable Lipstick Crayon in Cherry, but I think it's close to the Beaute stain)

Pink / Coral / Red Group


L to R:
Maybelline 870 Shocking Coral
Dior Addict Extreme 536 Lucky
YSL Rouge Volupte Shine 4 Rouge in Danger
MAC Viva Glam Cyndi
Guerlain Rouge Automatique 164 Chamade
Guerlain Rouge G 76 Gracy
YSL Glossy Stain 12
Lipstick Queen Red Sinner
Revlon Lip Butter 035 Candy Apple
YSL Glossy Stain 9


MLBB Group


L to R:
Shiseido Lacquer Rouge RD203 Portrait
Shiseido Lacquer Rouge RD311 Rubelite
Shiseido Lacquer Rouge RD305 Nymph
YSL Glossy Stain 7
Revlon Super Lustrous 637 Blushing Nude
Revlon Lip Butter 001 Pink Truffle
Revlon Colorburst 040 Soft Rose
Shiseido Rouge Perfect RD732 Blush
(I'm missing Fresh Sugar Lip Balm in Petal, which is at the office)

A weekend after I took these pictures, I loaded them up on my phone and went lipstick shopping for a bridal lipstick! I wanted to find a colour between Shiseido Lacquer Rouge in Portrait (a bit too nude) and Nymph (which I love, but is a bit dark). The Shiseido Lacquer Rouge formula also transfers very easily, so I wanted the colour in a lipstick formula.

I went to Barney's and tried on Surratt Lipsliques. Thanks to bellyhead's Surratt Lipslique swatch post, I knew I wanted to try on Perfectionniste. I did, and loved it, so I boughts it.

When I got home from shopping, my Ichibankao order also arrived containing Visee Creamy lipstick in RD400.

Here are swatches next to a couple Shiseido Lacquer Rouges and my Guerlain RA in Chamade (all bridal lipstick contenders).

L to R
Shiseido Lacquer Rouge RD203 Portrait
Visee Creamy RD400 (from Ichibankao) - 4g for ~$23 USD
Surratt Lipslique Perfectionniste (from Barneys) ~ 1.5g for $34 USD
Shiseido Lacquer Rouge RD305 Nymph
Guerlain RA 164 Chamade

Top picture is natural (though weak) light, bottom is flash



The Surratt is a tiny bit pinker than Visee (which is a little more orange/beige on my lips), but they look very, very similar, and feel very similar on the lips too. Price per gram, the Visee is a better deal, and also imo the Visee packaging feels more luxe.

I'm feeling addicted to lipstick lately! Especially after my HE lipstick haul last month... I want moreee! :) I should maybe purge my existing stash a bit, though, huh.

Needlessly expensive lipstick haul (Guerlain and YSL)

Under the guise of needing a new lipstick colour for my wedding in May, I went to the mall today to swatch some Guerlain Rouge Automatiques ($35 for 3.5g), Rouge G de Guerlain ($50!!!!!!!! for 3.5g), and YSL Rouge Volupte Shine ($34 for 4.5g). These are my first high-end lipsticks (though I do have quite a few YSL Glossy Stains).

You know you have a growing addiction when you are all like "Phhshhhhh I'll never pay $x for 'y' " and then, 6 months later you totally do. Well... *sideways glance*. I have no excuses.

Here are the lipsticks I came away with: Guerlain Rouge G de Guerlain in 76 Gracy, Rouge Automatique in 164 Chamade, and YSL Rouge Volupte in 4 Rouge in Danger







The packaging is all super-luxe in an over the top way. My favourite is probably the Rouge Automatique because of the sliding action (*zoop, zoop*). The Rouge G packaging is just bonkers. Where bonkers = excessive in every possible dimension.

Ummm why do they all swatch the same?! WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME. On the lips they do look different, though. I promise *sideways glancing again*


The scent of the Guerlain are not appealing to me. They smell like old school lipstick to me. The YSL smells very fruity, which I think I like better, although I prefer all my lippies to be scent free, TBH.

I just got them, but my first impressions are:

• The two Guerlain lipsticks I got are very similar on the lips, but the Rouge G is more creamy and opaque than the RA. It's also more warm and pink on my lips.
• Both the Guerlain lipsticks feel very smooth. I can definitely feel a difference compared to drugstore lipsticks (though I wouldn't necessary value the difference at $20-40 worth!)
• The YSL RV Shine feels very slippery on and is more translucent than the Guerlain lipsticks (but not really less pigmented, if that makes any sense)

In terms of deciding if any of these 3 will perform wedding duty, I will be determining that over the next couple of weeks. And possible 'need' to buy some more lipsticks.

Ok, how about some more pictures?

Slight problem with the Rouge G storage situation:

FATTY.

Also, for fun, I wondered JUST how heavy the Rouge G packaging was compared to the other two:







86 grams?!?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME.

Anyhoo! Do you own any lipsticks from these 3 lines? What are your thoughts on them? Fave colours?