YSL Vernis a Levres (Glossy Stains): Lip Swatches

Yves Saint Laurent’s new Rouge Pur Couture Vernis a Levres (a.k.a. “glossy stains”) are so new and noteworthy and so different, I wanted to give you as much information as possible to guide your purchasing decisions.

I mentioned that the glossy stains deepen and “develop” on the lips. The change can be quite substantial from the color as it comes out of the tube. When contemplating my own online order, I had worried that some of the lighter colors might be too light… actually, the lightest colors (by and large) actually turned out to be my favorites.

Some of the shades I thought I would like (spoiler alert: 9 Rouge Laque) pulled surprisingly cool on me. So I wanted to give you a couple of lip swatches (in addition to the arm swatches) to illustrate those discoveries. Some of the photos may look a little similar; forgive the photo conditions. I’ll describe each color for accuracy.

I think I’d better post these in the order I photographed them (generally from lighter shades to darker), so you can make sense of the changing light. These were photographed on a cloudy day.

I tried on 19 Beige Aquarelle because I was curious how the two lightest colors (18 and 19) would look on the lips… and warm Beige Aquarelle seemed like a better choice for me than cool Rose Pastelle.

Beige Aquarelle provided pretty good coverage, and — while pale pink lips aren’t usually in my wheelhouse — I quite liked this one. I’d say it’s more “Kristin Chenoweth light pink” than “Kim Kardashian nude,” and I put it on my “buy someday” list.

7 Corail Aquatique turned out to be one of my two favorite shades. It looks like a light, warm pink on the arm, and deepens into a warm rose pink on the lips.

6 Camel Croisiere is my other favorite shade. It doesn’t necessarily look amazing in an arm-swatch; its “dirty” orange probably means folks will think they can pass it by. But it’s incredible on the lips. So many of my favorite lip colors are some version of a sheer orange (which builds into the perfect warm pink/warm red on the lips). I love Camel Croisiere’s tomato-persimmon-coral.

5 Rouge Vintage was another “maybe” shade online that I didn’t love when I finally tried it on. It turned into a surprisingly deep raspberry/cherry color.

12 Corail Fauve is another one I liked. It’s like a deeper version of 7 Corail Aquatique: a warm not-quite-red rose-pink.

I think 8 Orange de Chine is actually my favorite “red.” Its vibrant orange (darker than 6 Camel Croisiere) deepens on my lips to create a perfect warm red.

I had thought I would like 9 Rouge Laque (warm red in an arm swatch). On my lips it pulled surprisingly cool (and surprisingly pink). Not a personal must-have.

Ahh, running out of daylight. 20 Rouge Enamel was an even deeper cool red than 9 Rouge Laque. Not a personal favorite.

I wish I’d had time to also photograph 15 Rose Vinyl. On my lips it was a very blue-rose pink. Not a color I love for myself, but it garnered several compliments.

The glossy stains are available at Nordstrom.com (exclusive provider of shade 13; free shipping at any price), Sephora.com (exclusive provider of shade 20; free shipping at $50), and NeimanMarcus.com (free shipping at any price with code FSMAR).