Lips

These are those kinds of lip glosses that a friend or your mom gushes over (“OMIGOSH, SO GREAT!), hands you a tube, and at first you think, “Hmm, if you say so,” before plopping it in your purse where you promptly forget about it for a day or two.

Only then, you give it a try, and find yourself reaching into your purse for it over and over again. Next thing you know, you’re addicted! — to the colors, and the gooey caramel flavor and scent, and the soft, smooth, non-sticky texture.

The next day you’re at the Clarins counter, making friends with a complete stranger, nodding emphatically, and trying to convince her that she needs all three of the new spring shades in her life. ASAP! 🙂

Pink Petal Shimmer, rosy pink Candy Shimmer and rosy brown Rosewood Shimmer are straight up swipe-and-go sheer purse glosses that have just been leveled up. They shine like pretty baubles, quench my dry lips like glossy Gatorade and just feel so soft and comfy that I could wear them nonstop (I would have to reapply every two hours or so, but such is life).

These three new shades join three existing colors in the permanent collection (Rose Shimmer, Apricot Shimmer and Nude Shimmer) at Clarins counters next month.

Whatever you do, don’t lose your flux capacitor!!

Because when you slip one of Clarins’ new Rouge Éclat Lipsticks on your lips, and blast back to the past in your time-traveling makeup DeLorean…

…you’ll probably want to return to the present at some point to check your iPhone texts and watch cat videos on YouTube.

With these, Clarins aims to turn back time! — on the lip aging process, making them appear more youthful.

So do they work? Do they flip the flux capacitor and send lips back to the kinder, gentler land of ingenue lips? A time when folks clipped pagers to their right front pockets and strangers addressed me as “miss” instead of “ma’am”?

Well, maybe… In a way.

But, in case you were wondering, they aren’t powered by a flux capacitor. Nope, these are actually plant wax powered.

Clarins combined mimosa, jojoba and sunflower waxes to create a formula designed to boost collagen synthesis and fight the appearance of fine lines.

Whether my collagen’s been boosted, I couldn’t tell, but I do feel a little more like my 20-something self than my 30-something self when I wear one of the three shades I’ve tried (there are 15 available) — Tropical Pink, Coral Pink or Rosewood.

But I think that’s more because of the colors Clarins created, playful shades that remind me of the blissful, carefree days when my biggest concern was worrying about the stoner who lived downstairs returning my Beastie Boys tape…

One layer dresses my lips in a slow-jam of opaque coverage, and the smooth finish refuses to cross into the Evil Forbidden Land of Flakes and Fine Lip Lines!