Guerlain

Did I have to try very hard to feel fancy with shimmery pink Rouge Automatique in Ballarde and creamy berry Shine Automatique in Flirt, two of four $35 full-coverage Guerlain Automatique Lipsticks for spring 2013, in my makeup bag last weekend?

Nope, not at all. Actually, it was Automatique. 🙂

Good thing, too, because $35 is a lot for a single tube! Heck, for $35, these better be like little lipstick versions of extra tall, diamond-studded tiaras.

So, just how do these elevate your day (and your lipstick game) to make you feel fancy? Let me count the ways…

1. The Transformers-style gold tube

Whenever I slide the little “G” button on side of the tube, and the lipstick emerges from the trapdoor top like a rabbit from a magician’s hat, wow! — that’s makeup magic.

From top to bottom, these are dressed to the nines, and I also love the little details, like the scripty Guerlain font at the top of the cap and the base of the bullet.

2. The tea rose flavor and scent

Light and fresh, like fragrant petals strewn across a satin pillow, the fragrance and flavor are just little touches, but they enhance the whole, “You’re being pampered,” experience.

3. The moisturizing, long-lasting formula

I’m hesitant to use these in a sentence with “stretchy pants,” since Guerlain positions itself several steps above that, but dang if these don’t feel that comfortable to me. My dry winter lips love the moisturizing formula.

And I almost can’t believe that non-matte lipsticks as slick, smooth and lightweight as these can last as long as they do — from 3-5 hours. That’s kind of epic.

4. They make me feel like a straight-up lipstick ninja!

I’ve been sneaking around with two of these Automatiques for days, stealthily slicking my lips on the sly, and no one’s been the wiser.

You know how sometimes when you go out to dinner and want a touch-up after the meal but don’t want to make a big production out of it? I’ll pull one of these from my purse, flick the switch on the side with my thumb to engage the lipstick bullet, slide a single layer on my bottom lip, rub my lips together, and check my reflection in the reflection on the side of the golden tube. Ninja style. Takes all of about five seconds.

Three things I realized this morning while shuffling on the treadmill…

1. You know you’re watching too much late-night television when most of the products on your Christmas list have a red label with the words, “As Seen on TV,” on the packaging.

2. You know you’re a cat lady when you’re watching Days of Our Lives (remember when Marlena was possessed?!), and you swear that instead of Bo calling Hope by her nickname, “Fancy Face,” you hear him say, “Fancy Feast.”

“I love you, Fancy Feast…”

LOL!

3. You know you’ve seen too many spy films when the first thought you have after seeing the new $35 Guerlain Shine Automatique Hydrating Lip Shine Lipsticks in Lou-Ling and Altoum is, “Wow! These lipsticks could double as weapons…or remote controls for tricked-out cars that can fly.”

Yeah.

Both are from Guerlain’s new limited edition Liu holiday collection, and NOT the secret Q branch of MI6, despite appearances.

The Guerlain Shine Automatique Hydrating Lip Shines are some of the most espionage-appropriate lipsticks around. Caught behind enemy lines without your travel makeup kit? Surrounded by covert agents closing in on your location? No problem. Just slide the little button up on the side of the gilded tube with you thumb, and the lipstick bullet pops up from the top.

BAM! — instant beauty switchblade.

Take that, forces of evil. 🙂

And these don’t just have practical, good-looking tubes. I also love how they look and feel on my perennially parched lips — sheer and shiny, with glitter to spare, and a featherweight, moisturizing formula.