L'Oreal x Balmain Color Riche Lip Collection

L'Oreal Paris has launched the very edgy special-edition Balmain Color Riche Lip Collection, available first on Zalora.sg. The collection of 12 matte couture shades was designed by Olivier Rousteing, themed to embody the 3 facets of the Balmain woman (or man): Glamazone, Rock, and Couture.

These lipsticks are available in singles at S$28 or in themed sets of 4 at $99.

The Rock series features blue marbled tubes trimmed in gold, and the colors are muted Winter tones. Perhaps the most outstanding shade here is the royal blue, 901 Rebellion, which is exactly the color of the outer tube.

Like many other blue lipsticks, the color will go on more translucent and not as dark as it looks in the tube, but I'm happy to report that it wears quite evenly on the lips, and is actually a touch more wearable than you might think!

L'Oreal x Balmain 901 Rebellion lip swatch

The Glamazone collection features muted Autumn tones of pumpkin, beige, greige and khaki green. I have a complexion more suited towards Winter tones, so I'm more partial to the two other lip color series naturally. But I'm drawn to 648 Glamazone just because the sludgy shade is almost a perfect match to my grey Proenza Schouler satchel.

The last series is Couture, and arguably the most wearable of the 3. If I had to pick a set of 4 to buy, this would be it, because I can see myself wearing all of the colors.

246 Confession is a beautiful soft peachy nude shade, and 355 Domination is a classic deep ruby red that would look good on most complexions.

Even 356 Confidence, which I expected would be odd-looking, turned out to be a pretty interesting alternative to a boring nude. The collection is matte, but I would call these comfortable low-sheen satins more than matte-mattes. Which makes 356 Confidence interesting because it's a non-glossy veil of pearlescent gold flecks that mute your lip color and add a gossamer "stardust" effect without looking shiny or feeling sticky.

I would suggest girls with pigmented lips try this out with a smoky eye. You can also layer this over other lipsticks or liner if you use a brush for application.

L'Oreal x Balmain 356 Confidence

 One happy note I will add is these lipsticks are very nicely-made and none of the 12 I received smooshed against their tubes during application. It's a pet peeve of mine when you get a gorgeous lipstick and there's this ribbed dent on the back when it pushes against the inside of the tube.

A couple of the deeper shades go on slightly patchier, which is understandable (Power and Liberation especially) but they do even out quite well.

I am just excited that a drugstore line is collaborating with a couture brand to come up with daring trendy colors, because this is something that we typically see only from the edgier brands like MAC. There's a bit of a move to make trendy, couture shades more affordable and accessible for consumers without having to fork out $30-50 for similar colors from MAC, MAKE UP FOR EVER, or Dior.