YSL Vernis a Levres 06 - Camel Croisiere

Here it is, my first foray into the legendary 'glossy stains' by YSL (official title Rouge Pur Couture Vernis a Levres). I ended up, by mistake, with the shade 06 Camel Croisiere which is to my eye a kind of tomato orange / red as opposed to anything like camel, if indeed the name is referring to camel as a shade. Croisiere apparently means cruise, so camel cruise? Who knows - maybe they're trying to conjure up some sort of desert adventure. In which case I can see where they were going, kind of..

I digress. Either way its a very nice, wearable colour and despite my initial reservations (the shade I actually requested was 07 Corail Aquatique but the make up lady gave me this one by mistake - must remember to check next time) this is really kind of growing on me. I also love the faintly seventies vibe both of this particular shade and of the finish.

And a slightly startled looking shot to demonstrate the lasting power post dinner and wine!

Everything I've read about these is true - they are super long lasting (see last photo), pigmented and fairly true to the colour in the tubes (though they do darken and deepen in intensity with more than one coat - in the above pictures I'm wearing two). They fade to leave a nice stain on the lips and the consistency is great - not too sticky, not too glossy - a happy medium somewhere in between. They do a fantastic job of plumping the lips. And they smell lovely too.

This product is making me love a glossy lip again and I cannot wait to try more colours.