Duty free shopping has never really been my thing, here, I said it. I think most of the items aren’t that much cheaper than in regular stores, and I think regular stores that sell high end make up (like the ICI paris XL or Douglas in the Netherlands) over better service. However, I recently spent time in China and still had money on my WeChat account when I was in Beijing Airport; I was too lazy to find out how to get my money out, so I decided to spend it! Since I bought items that I never tried before, I wanted to share my experiences with you guys, so you have an idea what to buy (or not!).

The first item I bought was this YSL tatouage couture matte stain in the colour 8, black red code. Even though I am a big fan of Dior liquid lipsticks (you can check out my review HERE), I didn’t see a new colour that I fancied, so I decided to try a liquid lip product for a different brand. The colour on this YSL lip stain immediately caught my attention; it is a lovely deep red colour, that I think is a perfect staple for autumn and winter. But enough chatter for now, let’s review this product step by step.

The price of this lipstick was 244 RMB, which is 31.10 euro or 35.41 dollars (American) when you convert it. The price in regular stores here in Holland is 39.27 euro’s, so it is around 20% cheaper, which is actually more than I expected! However, regular stores do sometimes have offers, like 25% or 30% off all make-up, so I would maybe wait around for something like that.

To start off with, of course the packaging is very flashy and gold, but I think it is beautiful. The front is simple but elegant, only stating the product name, brand and colour number on a gold shiny background. It also tells us the lip stain contains 6 mL of product. On the side of the outer gold packaging it tells you the promises of this lip product, the back has the ingredients. The promises are as follows:

• High pigmentation
• Matte colour
• Tattoos the lips for up to 8 hours
• Comfortable naked lip feel
• Full coverage
• High precision
• No colour bleeding

When you get the lipstick out, I think the packaging is sophisticated. The gold top is quite in-your-face, but the matt lipstick container does balance that out a bit. I like that you can see the product inside, even though the colour is a bit distorted by the matt packaging. Of course, the logo is very well visible – not a very subtle brand, YSL.

Upon opening the lipstain I was a bit confused about the applicator, seeing that I expected it to be more of a rounded shape, like the Dior lipsticks. This applicator is a lot more square, and I expected difficulties in applying the lipstick, seeing that my lips are not square (nor are yours, I assume).

However, the corners of this applicator make it possible to get quite sharp looking lips, which I actually really enjoy.

Now onto the colour, below you can see the difference before and after applying this lipstick, in one coat. I think the colour has a very high coverage, the applicator makes it possible to get a precise lip (even though I did think the first couple of times it was a bit awkward to work with, because it is an unusual applicator shape) and the colour is matte as promised. After applying it there is no colour bleeding, as promised. I think this colour is absolutely stunning, but I would also like to hear what you think.

NOTE: I might have gotten a better looking lip if I had used a lipscrub before, as can be the case with matte lipsticks in general.

I also have to say here that this lipstick is super comfortable, and the “naked lip feel” is really accurate. It feels like you are not wearing any lipstick, which is a positive, but also a danger, because whatever they promise, it is not smudge proof. Just for you, I took a picture after having coffee, cake and  lunch (left bottom and right) without touch ups, which you can compare to the original on the top left. You can tell there is clearly some product missing from the center of my lips, and the corners of my lips are a bit smudged.

Pros:

• The feel: this absolutely is incredibly comfortable, you don’t feel it at all
• The colour: it is lovely and rich
• The finish: the finish is nice and matte

Cons:

• The application: it can take a bit of getting used to with this applicator
• The durability: this is not smudge proof
• The price: almost 40 euro’s is not something I can spend on lipstick too often

Let me know if you think this lipstick is worth it!

If you like high end make-up, you will also like my Dior liquid lipstick review.