L’Oreal Color Riche Lipsticks

I think L’Oreal are having a moment, lipstick wise. I used to associate them almost entirely with glossy looking Kim Kardashian-like nudes in shades of taupe and honey and pass them by thinking “Meh…” but now I can barely walk past a stand without being drawn in by the gorgeous jewel tones currently on display. The nudes are very much taking a back seat at the moment it seems.

I’ve already written about their L’Extraordinaire Liquid lipsticks here which I haven’t stopped using, and like an addict looking for another fix I was back salivating over some more gem like shades.

Check out these beauties!

The Color Riche shades this year are something else. Helpfully sorted into different colour families -reds and corals, pinks, nudes and plums, there surely must be something for everyone in this lot. Naturally I went straight for the clear bright shades: 229 -Cliche Mania-, which is a bright Tomatoey orange-red, 132 -Magnolia Irreverent- which is a definite fuschia and 228 -VIP- which is a gorgeous matte coral.

They are very densely pigmented -the tester swatches I tried on the back of my hand were still visible after a few hand washings, and as with any lipstick that has a lot of pigment -the colour does cling to any dry skin so exfoliated, moisturised lips are a must before using these.

L-R Cliche Mania, Magnolia Irreverent, VIP

The Matte shades -228 and 229- have a velvety texture. To me they are not truly matte in a suck-every-ounce-of-moisture-from-your-body way but have the same feel on application as something like Revlon Ultimate Suede (which personally I’m not a fan of). I was suckered in by the colour rather than the formulation, to be honest. With a good slick of lip balm underneath you can up the moisture content of the matte lipsticks by 100%. You can see from the picture below that there isn’t a lot of difference between the consistency of the matte (on either end) and the regular formulation in the middle.

Swatches

Applied and blotted a couple of times and the colour isn’t going anywhere.

Magnolia Irreverent

You can see that this colour (Magnolia Irreverent) has a slightly more glossy finish. It’s a punchy clear fuschia that lifts my wintery colouring brilliantly.

VIP

VIP is a rosy coral shade -very much a springy, daytime, let’s-have-a-picnic-in-a-meadow colour.

Cliche Mania

Cliche Mania is a proper grown-up tomatoey don’t-mess-with-me Boardroom red -on me the nearest colour I have is MAC’s Lady Danger.

I had to go in with a cleansing oil to clean my lips between photos: that’s how much they stain.

For me, L’oreal lipsticks consistently punch above their weight in terms of colour payoff, lipfeel (is that a word?), longevity and value for money. The only thing I hope in vain that they give up is the smelling like Palma Violets thing they have going on. I’m really not keen. On a more expensive lipstick it would be enough to put me off a repurchase, but at £6.99 each (or less if you find a 3-for-2), I’m prepared to put up with it.

L’Oreal Color Riche lipsticks can be found -well, frankly if you can’t find a L’Oreal concession you must live in the back of beyond- and cost £6.99.

Disclaimer: Purchase

L’oreal L’Extraordinaire Liquid Lipstick review

I’ve been dicking about recently and wondering if I needed a YSL Rouge Pur Couture Vernis à Levres, because they look freaking gorgeous and come in about a trillion colours.  I had one of the previous formulations a couple of years ago which was a glossy balm/stain thing and didn’t do much for me (although I did choose a very discreet coral shade, which probably didn’t help). As I understand it they’ve reformulated and amped up the colour range, so I got sucked back in.

But, you know. Twenty six quid. *Oof*.

So I played around with them a bit in John Lewis until I ran out of space on my arm for swatches and the SA was giving me the skunk eye, so I decided against it. There were too many gorgeous colours and I was indecisive and would probably end up either with a too-safe shade which I would resent, or a Whatever happened to Baby Jane nightmare, so, as I often do under these circumstances, I went to Boots.

Where I saw these babies:

Shiny tubes of wonder

Somewhat similar packaging to the YSL, wouldn’t you agree? And with an equally daft name: L’Oreal L’Extraordinaire Liquid Lipstick by Color Riche.

Well, I have to say- they are amazing. Amazing. They cost £8.99 each (they were on 3 for 2) meaning that they worked out at £6 each. Theoretically I could have 5 for just over the price of one YSL gloss.

Yes please.

L-R Red Ruby Opera (304), Fuschia Drama (401), Rose Symphony (201)

The pigment (just like in the YSL) is held in oil, and they apply in one hyper-pigmented swipe. They feel like an oily balm going on -the doe foot applicator (which is flatter and a bit wider than a normal lipgloss wand) just about gets the right amount on in one go. The colour payoff is great -I chose a true orangey-red, a fuschia and a soft raspberry for variation:

swatched in natural light

 You can see from the image just how glossy they are, and this does translate to the lips in a certain amount of stickyness. When on, the colour has a certain amount of dimension, so that your natural lip colour shows through a little, which I like, as it means I don’t feel like I have shouty plastic looking lips (always a worry for me with lipgloss). The amazing thing is just how much they stain -when I reapply I can see that the colour has already settled into my lips, but without drying or flaking.

wiped off -natural light

I can’t detect a flavour of any kind, but they do have quite a strong scent. Somewhat lemony and rosy at the same time, which I find quite pleasant. Thankfully it’s not the Palma Violet smell that puts me off so many L’Oreal lipsticks –why do they do that? I can’t be the only person who doesn’t buy their products because I don’t want my face smelling like an old woman’s underwear drawer. Far better to not have a scent at all. But in this case, it’s all to the good.

Here’s the colours on my lips in natural light and no other make up (but some smudging!):

Rose Symphony

Red Ruby Opera

Fuschia Drama

I can definitely see myself loading up on some other colours while they’re on offer…

Available here ( or at Superdrug, if you can bear wrestling 17 layers of sellotape and security tags off them)

Disclaimer: Bought with cold, hard Cash