They had made a shy appearance last year as ‘lip blushes’: they were available in nude shades mainly intended to awaken the rosiness of the mouth and the radiance of the smile. This spring, shades are much more pigmented and varied, deep, or resolutely flashy.
Certain lip powders have ‘cushion’ foam tips (Artdeco, Nocibé), which lightly touch the mouth, but do tint it.
Others are presented as a duo (Dior) or in cases (Tom Ford) for the experts among you willing to experience lip contouring.
But you do not have to listen to brands. You can also let your creativity speak, although there is a constant: pigments feel much lighter than ‘real’ lipsticks and seem to become one with your lips’ colour. They have no ‘weight’ on the mouth, so we can definitely talk about a ‘zero material’ effect.

The most comfortable is Nocibé’s, with its liquid cream texture rich in powders and its velvety finish (Heaven Lipstick, €12.95).
By contrast, the most powdery is Artdeco’s, in the Spring/Summer Collection Hypnotic Blossom (Mat Lip Powder, €15.99, six shades).

Rouge Gradient by Dior (€36) is presented as the first ‘lip shadow’ duo of the House. It creates subtle shaded colours. The brand recommends using the double foam tip to ‘apply the brightest shade as a base all over the lips, and then add a touch of the more intense colour in the heart of the lips, as the superimposition brings life to a cross fading whose intensity can be modulated over and over again.’ This way, you create a diffuse line on your mouth, and that is also trendy this season.

As from April, Tom Ford will offer a limited edition of the Shade and Illuminate Lips Duos (€58, six duos of shades). Again, this formula with a velvety matte finish contains emollient oils and a mixture of polymers for a rich colour and intense dimension. The shades range from nude, mauve, and pink to red and burgundy. They are the only ones to be featured in a compact case with a mahogany finish and magnetic lock (yet another one to be added to our Focus on Magnetic locks in cosmetics !), which shelters a double applicator. Now, that is quite enough for lipsticks to make a comeback, as young generations have been reluctant to purchase them: they are considered too present and ‘involving’? The question remains to be answered…

Ariane Le Febvre