After spending time with Dustin Lujan last weekend and purchasing Fraise Crème Lip Crème, I decided I needed more Le Métier de Beauté Lip Crème ($36) colors. To recap, I had never bought a Lip Crème gloss before last weekend! I always selected the company's Sheer Brilliance Lip Glosses, so I was game for something new. That "something new" became an obsession.Kathy Shoreman and Lisa Corsino at Neiman Marcus Tysons Galleria helped me select some colors over the phone. They know what I like. I purchased three more - all rather different - so that I would have a nice sampling of Lip Crème: Café Crème, Papaye Crème, and Framboise Crème.
Lip Crème is hybrid between a gloss and a lipstick. The formula offers a more intense color pay-off and creamier texture than regular lipsticks and more shine and gloss than most lip glosses. It leaves a lacquer-like sheen finish that's amazingly attractive. Lip Crème combines chic color, intense emollients, and antioxidants and vitamins to soothe and nourish the lips.
Here are two swatch photos, taken at the same time, but in different outdoor light. Each Lip Crème was applied heavily with its own doe-foot applicator. In both photos, they are shown in this order: Papaye Crème at top left, Café Crème at top right, Framboise Crème at bottom left, and Fraise Crème at bottom right.
The photo at right was taken in direct sun, and the one below left was taken in strong light. What I hope you can see in both photos is the luminosity and complexity of the shades. They sparkle. Kathy and Lisa talked me into Papaye Crème, which looked very peachy online. I wasn't sure I needed another peach lip color. While it is peachy, they we
re right; it was too pretty to pass up. I had selected Café Crème because it appeared online to be a rose-toned brown, one of my favorite shades. It is a little more brown than rose, but I still love it. Framboise Crème, the darkest of the four, is raspberry red, a color I feel I must use sparingly. I think it's so beautiful, I'll try to get used to having darker lips. You know I love Dustin's selection, Fraise Crème, a warm rose with a hint of coral that lights up my face.Lip Crème is a nicely long-lasting lip color. I have been wearing it without lipstick underneath, and I've been delighted with it. I love what I call full-coverage lip glosses, so I'll be on the prowl for more shades. Please let me know if you have a favorite you think I would like.
You can purchase Le Métier de Beauté at Bergdorf Goodman (where you can usually find Dustin), Neiman Marcus, and some Nordstrom stores. It's also available online too.
Photo at top courtesy of Neiman Marcus