Oh God, another French beauty product? I beg of you, let me make my case.
Imagine wanting to apply any bit of pigment below your mask before going out anywhere these days—for me at least, Yolaine’s La Mousse de Rouge is the motivation for extending the effort. Camille Yolaine, Yolaine’s founder, told me that the fluffy, light-as-air lipsticks were inspired by the soft texture of mousse au chocolat. You have about 60 seconds to give the cloud-like formula your own amount of smudging for a perfectly messy look. (I like applying the lipstick with a lip brush, and then firing off a few purpseful smacks so it looks just south of neat.) Then, it dries to a comfortable powder finish that doesn’t feel, well, dry. Matte, but not stiff. And totally smudge-proof.
But the lipstick’s output is just one part of the story—can we pause for a moment to discuss the packaging? Taking cues from paint tubes, they’re as pretty in a bag as the formula inside. The same goes for the brand’s lip scrub and balm. In their toile-wrapped metal oval cases that are practically candy tin-like, these dainty little lip complements are absurdly cute. They’re the kind of thing you want to whip out of your bag and conspicuously apply just to show it off.
Back to La Mousse de Rouge, I’m partial to the shade Daphne, which Yolaine describes as a “nude red.” I think it’s a red for wimps like me, who are intrigued by the idea of a rich red, but are too intimidated to pull the trigger. It’s more like a watermelon, just bitten kind of hue. Like a lot of lip colors these days, it’s also formulated to work on cheeks, although I haven’t tried that yet. A part of me worries that I’ll go through the tube too fast if I use it both ways. For now, I’m just trying to savor this one small tube of joy for as long as I can.
—Ashley Weatherford
Photos via Yolaine