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).

You paint the first coat, and let it sit for a minute. Then you paint a second coat for more gloss, more coverage, and a deeper color. Resist the temptation to press your lips together. Nothing terrible will happen if you do, but for the first few minutes, the product is sticky. And then, magically, the consistency changes. Imagine you took the thinnest possible slice of a gummi bear, and put that on your lips. The final texture is gummy, but not at all sticky.

After the five minutes, you can press your lips together, lick them, drink water — the product is no longer the slightest bit sticky. If you drink coffee, you will transfer product to the mug, but these are totally unlike other lipglosses (which thin and disappear over time). Four hours later, they still look freshly applied, and they do not move or migrate.

YSL says you can eat with these on, and I guess you can. I tried eating (a salad), but I didn’t like the sensation of eating the gummy product, so I wiped it off and reapplied after lunch. On a separate occasion I tried eating a cookie, but something about getting crumbs in my gloss and then licking my lips made the product sticky again, so I wiped off and reapplied.

The glossy stains have a hexagon doe’s foot applicator. This is important because you can paint the product very precisely onto your cupid’s bow. They should be applied directly to bare lips, not on top of lipstick, lipliner, or primer.

I also mentioned that these aren’t as staining as a stain. When I swatched these on my arm (which is more prone to staining than lips), I used Shiseido cleanse-off oil, followed by water and sometimes soap (I painted these on so many times, on days that turned out to be completely cloudy). Some colors did leave a stain, but that stain faded in minutes. (Never seen a product do that before, either.)

The colors also deepen (a lot) on the lips. The “bottle” color is not the final lip color. It’s a bit like developing film by hand: the color develops (in those first minutes, as the consistency changes). So how to swatch these? One coat? (Because it’s a bit easier to tell the differences between the colors?) Two coats? (To show how they deepen, and to give a more accurate portrayal of how they look on my lips?)

I wanted — want — to swatch them both ways. And I wanted to swatch the reds together so you can better compare them. Crummy weather in Dallas has kept me from getting good-enough photos, but I didn’t want to wait any longer to start talking about these. Accept these photos as my first submission; I intend to keep playing with them.

1 Violet Edition is a plum purple. 2 Brun Glace is a rosy raisin brown. 3 Brun Cachemire is also red brown, but much less red (more brown) than Brun Glace. 4 Mauve Pigmente is a red-purple wine. 5 Rouge Vintage is red-rose. 6 Camel Croisiere is a muted, slightly dirty orange (persimmon). 7 Corail Aquatique is warm pink. 8 Orange de Chine is blazing, saturated orange. 9 Rouge Laque is warm red. 10 Rouge Philtre first goes on as a pink-red/fuchsia, but develops into a deeper red than Rouge Laque.

11 Rouge Gouache is pink-red/rose red. 12 Corail Fauve is a warm, very saturated coral-pink. 13 Rose Tempera (for now at least, a Nordstrom-exclusive) is a red-violet fuchsia-pink. 14 Fuchsia Dore is red-plum. 15 Rose Vinyl is a medium rose pink. 16 Pourpre Preview is an orchid pink-purple (an artificial grape color). 17 Encre Rose is a lilac pink purple (lighter than Pourpre Preview). 18 Rose Pastelle is a cool white-pink. 19 Beige Aquarelle is a pale warm pink. 20 Rouge Enamel (for now, a Sephora exclusive) is a warm red with subtle sparkles. It actually looks quite similar to 10 Rouge Philtre.

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).

The summer collection also highlights #4 (Audacious Orange) of YSL’s Creme de Blush potted cream blushes. The product felt siliconey, but it was nicely blendable and nicely buildable (and of course I love the color). Creme de Blush are $38 each.

Then there are two nail polishes, each $20, both limited for summer. 137 Utopian Turquoise is a bright turquoise creme. 138 Surreal Yellow is a Big Bird yellow with shimmer.

I mentioned there are two summer Pure Chromatics wet/dry eyeshadow quads — I don’t think they’re limited edition though. 19 includes a shimmery mauve rose with silver sparkles, a white-pink shimmer, a shimmery brown taupe (slightly purple?), and a very dark brown with subtle multicolored shimmer.

20 offers a sparkly copper, a sparkly white, a sparkly pale gold, and a dark purplish brown shimmer. Like the other Chromatic palettes, I swatched these dry, with sponge-tipped applicators (to use them wet, just wet your brush with water). They are $48 each.

YSL summer also expands on the shade range of Rouge Pur Couture lipstick ($30 each, click here to see swatches from the original Rouge Pur Couture launch). Unlike most YSL lip products, Rouge Pur Couture lipsticks don’t smell like mango. They smell like roses + some sweet fruit, like maybe apricot.

Corail Poetique is coral pink. Blond Ingenu is a muted, whitened warm pink. Taupe Raphael is a rose-mauve. Rose Libertin is a very cool pink. Fuchsia Innocent is Barbie-fuchsia. Rose Boheme is a bruisey-grape mauvey purple. And don’t forget that Rouge Pur Couture lipsticks are meant to be modified by layering with either 12 Blanc or 18 Noir Laque.

And though they’re not new, three shades of Gloss Pur (like Golden Glosses, minus the sparkle) are repromoted with this collection. Pure Sorbet is milky pink. Pure Watermelon is a lovely coral. Pure Hibiscus is cool violet pink. All three are fairly sheer; click here to see Gloss Pur shades 1 – 6.

I swatched the eyeshadow quads dry, with sponge-tipped applicators. Even in a dry swatch I found them pretty dramatic, but for a more intense effect on the eyes, just wet your brush with water. The testers I swatched had obviously been used wet, but it didn’t seem to affect their dry performance at all.

Quad 1 features an aqua blue shimmer with silver sparkle, white with tiny lavender sparkles (so it’s kind of duochromey), a big-shimmer iced violet, and black with tiny shimmers.

Palette 2 includes a periwinkle/country kitchen blue shimmer, a sparkly white, a sparkly pale gold, and a dark red-purple-brown shimmer (all of the fourth/bottom-right shades are so lovely).

Quad 3 includes a denim blue shimmer, an ice blue shimmer, a purple-brown taupe with silver shimmer, and a dark warm brown with very fine shimmer.

Quad 4 includes a fabulous sea green shimmer, a sparkly white, an orchid shimmer with red and blue sparkles, and a dark fine-shimmer purple.

Palette 5 features a bubblegum pink shimmer with silver sparkles, a white-pink shimmer, a shimmery/sparkly/frosty grey taupe, and a dark, complex blue-black with tiny multicolored shimmers.

Palette 6 offers a yellowed green shimmer,  a gold-copper shimmer with silver sparkles, pink shimmer with silver sparkles, and a dark, rich blue-purple shimmer. Each palette is $48.

The eyeliners are incredible. One YSL sales associate (who formerly worked for Shu Uemura) likened them to Shu’s Drawing Pencils. I’ve never tried those, but these remind me of Armani’s limited edition eyeliners. The product is incredibly soft; they go on like a glossy liquid — then dry down. I absolutely cannot wait to get one (or six!) and see how they wear on the eyes.

The shade names are hopelessly misleading. Black Ink is matte black. Patent Leather (a shiny, usually black, leather — what mens tuxedo shoes are frequently made of) is matte dark brown. Ultramarine is breathtaking, incredibly dark sapphire/indigo/ultramarine blue. Shimmering Burgundy is a red-purple with a sheen (not at all burgundy). Amazon Green is a sheeny teal green. Absinthe Green is bright seafoam-teal matte. Yowsers. These pencils are $25 each.

I believe Volupte Sheer Candy is set to replace YSL’s other sheer lipstick formula, skinny-tube Gloss Volupte. Sheer Candy comes in a wider, silver lipstick tube (the same size as Rouge Volupte). The new formula feels just slightly heavier and more balm-y than Gloss Volupte. (Both have YSL’s signature mango scent.)

The colors are quite sheer (especially invisible numbers 2 and 3) — maybe more balm than lipstick. The product promises 8 hours “of hydration,” which isn’t the same as 8-hour wear. The display in Sephora also suggests that you can wear these alone or under other lipstick. If you’re going to wear one under your lipstick, I’d wait a few minutes for Candy’s “drydown.”  Otherwise I’d be a little worried that the initial amount of slip could make your lipstick move.

Lush Coconut is a warm nude with some tiny gold sparkles. Dewy Papaya is ultra sheer warm pink (clear on the lips). Juicy Grapefruit is clear with tiny gold and multicolored sparkles. Succulent Pomegranate is cool pink. Mouthwatering Berry is berry pink. Luscious Cherry (my favorite) is red-pink with tiny multicolored sparkles.

Volupte Sheer Candy lipsticks are $30 each, and for now, Sephora has the (short-term) exclusive. Soon (in a few weeks, I think), they’ll be for sale everywhere YSL is sold.

The star of the collection is the limited edition pressed powder highlighter: Palette Metallic Colorama ($65) — and Sabrina over at Beauty Look Book and Amy of Cafe Makeup are both head-over-heels for it. Colorama is a very shimmery pink highlighter with no visible glitter or sparkle.

There’s a new eyeshadow duo (Ombres Duolumieres, $41): #33. Though the shade names are Silver Gray/Golden Plum, I’d describe the duo as a sheer, shimmery grey ice-blue and a matte burgundy brown with sparkles.

This collection also sees the return of Touche d’Or, a pale, ballerina pink-gold highlighter for face. I believe this click-pen was last released as a limited edition item with the 2008 holiday collection — and my YSL sales associate has been pining for it ever since. It’s $40, and limited edition again.

There are two new Rouge Pur Shine lipsticks (slightly surprising, since — as far as I know — the formula is going away). #34 Metallic Gold is a shimmery, sheer toffee with iridescent sparkle. #35 Metallic Pink is an unusual mix, a sort of warm, mauvey pink with tons of tiny blue sparkles. The lipsticks are $30 each.

There are also four Golden Glosses. The holiday shades should be numbers 35-38, but my counter had shades 36-39.  Doh.  At least I got three of them right.

#36 Golden Chocolate is a coffee/chocolate with gold sparkles. It’s a bit more sheer on the lips than it looks. #37 Golden Red is a classic red with gold sparkles. #38 Golden Champagne is a sheer warm pink with gold and pink sparkles. #39 (in case you were wondering) is Golden Chestnut, a sheer soft apricot with gold sparkles.

My counter was missing the three limited edition holiday nail polishes (in 139 Gold, 140 Pink Gold, and 141 White Gold, each $20). There’s also a new shade of Faux Cils mascara: #9 Plum.

YSL describes Rouge Volupte Perle as “sophisticated,” “shimmering,” with a “subtle satin shine.” They go on to say that “micro-pearls … create a moiré shimmer, like taffeta.”

I’m sure there’s some kind of fancy technology at work in the Rouge Volupte Perles, but YSL is curiously mum on the specifics. On tentative first swipe, it looked like the RVPs had irregular (“flakie”) sparkles. As I layered the swatch, the glitter actually seemed smaller. The final result is a delicate frost.

Lina (of Beauty Look Book) is a fan, and she said found the formula “slightly textured, but not gritty.”

Beige Caress is pink beige. Coral Sun is peach. Sparkling Pink is a cool, mauvey pink. Stellar Pink is peach-rose with violet shimmer. Insolent Beige is red-brown with magenta shimmer. Blackened plum Mesmerizing Purple is the only limited edition shade.

Like the “regular” Rouge Volupte lipsticks, these are $34 each.

The new cases were designed by YSL creative director Stefano Pilati, and for the first time in my memory, the lipsticks don’t smell like mango. DUN DUN! To me the new lipsticks smell like sweet (fruit? apricot?) + rose.

These lipsticks are really pigmented, and sort of staining, so they’re quite long-wearing. They’re $30, and Sephora gets its own exclusive color, #20 Rouge Flamme.  My local store doesn’t have theirs in yet, but I’ll definitely swatch it as soon as the opportunity presents itself.

I was really happy with the new eyeliners. I’d tried a few of the old ones, and found them to be hard and not very pigmented (with the exception of black, which was very pigmented, but didn’t stay put). The new ones are a marked improvement… and almost seem color coordinated to the new single shadows?

Now, before I go out swatching, I apply a bunch of suncreen — face, shoulders, arms.  It’s hard to keep the sunscreen on my forearms, though; I think it washes off with the first set of swatches.

If, however, eyeshadow is the first thing I swatch that day, the sunscreen acts as a primer… it’s not usually an issue, but that’s exactly what happened with these YSL eyeshadows. So the colors turned out REALLY vibrant.

As it happens, this was my second attempt at swatching these shadows. I’d done them on a previous trip, but hadn’t realized that #8 was missing ’til I was halfway through my picture taking.

So for comparison purposes, here are those same swatches, different day, no sunscreen.