Hello beautiful strangers, as promised, today I'm going to review and swatch the (relatively new) YSL Kiss & Blush in the shade #5 Rouge Effrontée. These are a new soft matte colour designed to be used on both lips and cheek. Rouge Effrontée is a pink-based coral red, the kind of colour I would categorise as “strawberry red”. Most of the time dual-purpose products work better as one thing than the other, but this isn't the case here. Kiss & Blush wears equally beautiful on both cheek and lip.
The texture is like an air-whipped mousse and feels light on the skin. It has a velvety finish rather than being a true matte like other matte lipsticks. On the lips it doesn't dry down completely and so it can feel a little slippery at first. Overtime the subtle sheen wear dies down and the colour becomes more matte. It isn't drying like typical matte formulas, nor does it provide much moisture. Though it’s very silky so it doesn't make your lips shrivel up like prunes, like some matte lipsticks do (yes, you MAC retro mattes).
I would say the formula is semi-sheer, making it perfect for transitioning from day to night. During the day, I tend to dab a little on my lips and blend it out for a light tint. This gives the illusion of healthy full lips that suggest “kiss me, I'm pretty”. Alternatively you can layer for full impact, achieving a bold statement lip that screams, “hey boys, I'm fabulous”. The mousse-like texture feels very light on the lips and is really comfortable to wear. As it doesn't completely dry down, it will transfer to cups and such when you eat or drink. But it fades evenly and leaves behind a lovely stain on the lips.
As a blush, it isn't completely matte either, it gives a healthy flush with a slight dewy finish. I tend to dot three dots on to my cheek with the applicator and blend it out with my fingers. It’s very easy to blend and sits well on the skin.
The applicator isn’t a flat pointy spatula as you would expect with a formula like this, but rather a firm tear drop shaped sponge tip. It’s quite the oddball with a bauble in the centre forming a kind of well distributing the right amount of product, as the protrusion in the centre scrapes off excess product when you take it out of the bottle.
The Kiss & Blush retail for $325hkd, which I thought was really expensive when I made my purchase. But now that I think about it, a blush from YSL is $400 and a lipstick is around $260 (so that adds up to $660), so really with the Kiss & Blush you’re getting a 2-in-1 product for half the price. These come in 12 shades, with #1 Fuchsia Desinvolte and #4 Orange Fougueux being their best-sellers. These are the two colours the models are wearing in the campaign, with alternating colours on the lips and cheeks.
Have you tried the new Kiss & Blush yet? What shades have you got your eyes on?
Hope you liked this little post, thanks for reading,
Linzi x
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