Beauty Bible Loves... Violette Lip Nectar Hydrating Lip Stain
Late night Instagram purchase, incoming.
Had to be done.
We’d raved about the bitten-lip, just-got-kissed effect of Violette Bisou Balm – thoughts here – and were immediately keen to try out what promised to be an innovative addition to the super-cool French make-up artist’s range.
NB Violette Serrat isn’t just super-cool – she’s super-lovely. We met when she came over for a Guerlain launch, a couple of years back (she is Creative Director of their make-up line), and were très smitten, having previously assumed that someone so Parisienne and chic would be rather standoffish. Pas du tout.
Well, this is as genius as it appeared, when we saw it demo-ed in that late night Insta post. It’s a gloss – lightweight, non-sticky, actually nourishing – which can be built up from a sheen to full-on lacquered look (we tend to stick with the subtler effect). The cleverness is that when it wears off, as the name suggests, this leaves behind a subtle and becoming stain. You can see the results in the main pic, above. Normally, when a product anything like this wears off, it’s gone-gone-gone. Not in this case. It’s described as a ‘hydrating lip stain’ – and certainly doesn’t leave lips feeling like they’re too small for your face, which again, some stains do. (VIOLETTE_FR Lip Nectar is great for desk days when you’ve got Zooms, we’re finding.)
There are four shades, currently – we went for Bêtise, a jammy red, but have our eyes on Dahlia Noir, a deep rouge-noir-y shade in the tube, but less scary on lips. (Check out the website for a demo.) Probably bag it next time we’re scrolling in bed, late at night.
Meanwhile, mwah, mwah, Violette! C’est un génie!
£30 – buy here
