Guerlain Rouge Automatique Swatches, Photos, Review (Champs Elysees 165)

Christine — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:59:01 +0000

Guerlain Champs-Elysees (165) Rouge Automatique Lipstick

Guerlain Rouge Automatique

Guerlain Champs-Elysees (165) Rouge Automatique Lipstick ($35.00 for 0.12 oz.) is a raspberry pink-red with a naturally semi-glossy finish and soft fuchsia micro-shimmer. Rouge Automatique is a new lipstick range slated for an April release with 25 shades (all permanent), and each shade is named after various Guerlain creations and places.

I wanted to try a deeper/darker shade first to test out the wear (and also to get started off on the right foot–with a more decadent color). I put Champs-Elysees through an all-day test that included drinking Starbucks and an Italian dinner of calamari fritti and fettuccine alfredo (oil + cream = known enemies of long-wearing lip color). It held up spectacularly! By the time I got home from dinner, I had been wearing it for six hours and didn’t feel the need to reapply. Some of the glossiness wore off, but there was still some reflective sheen, and the color was semi-opaque around the inner area of the lower lip, but overall, it looked remarkably well.

It does not have any of the usual hallmarks of a long-wearing lip color–it’s not clingy, drying, or matte. Instead, it is creamy (but thin, not thick at all), and feels a bit like lip balm when initially applied. It’s moisturizing, too, which is something one wouldn’t expect from a long-wearing lip color. It is amazing how lip color technology has improved so much in the past few years that clingy, drying, and painful-to-wear long-wearing products are being phased out. Deeper/richer shades like Champs-Elysees last six to eight hours, while lighter shades last four to five hours.

Rouge Automatique is really comfortable to wear, and the color range is definitely reminiscent (will be reviewing more shades soon) of the higher priced Rouge G line-up. The Rouge Gs wear a touch better and are slightly more moisturizing than the four shades I’ve tried from the Rouge Automatique line, but the formulas are certainly similar. Guerlain lipsticks are violet-scented but I found the scent rather subtle with these.

To open Rouge Automatique, one slides down a square pull, and the lid pulls down and the lipstick pushes out. I beat up mine quite a bit, probably sliding it down fifty times or more, to test the durability of the mechanism. It didn’t show any signs of catching or wear. It’s solid enough that it shouldn’t slide down on its own–it requires enough pressure and push from a third party that I wouldn’t expect it to open up in your bag. The slider also needs to pushed own about a quarter of the way before the lid pulls downwards enough to reveal the lipstick, and it’s quite difficult to exert enough pressure to push the lid (without pushing the slider) to open the lipstick.

If you’ve had issues with lipstick caps coming off and exposing tubes in your bag, these might remedy that problem! After opening and closing the tube so often, I feel good saying that I also don’t see the lipstick catching on the lid accidentally or smooshing on the lid if you closed it too quickly. I did this many, many times and the lipstick stayed in perfect condition.

The only downsides to the packaging are the lack of the product name (just number) on the tube itself and lack of heft. It is lighter than the KissKiss Lipsticks (by about 5-7 grams), and the tube feels like plastic (and sounds like it). I tried to catch a magnet on the Rouge Automatique casing, but I had no luck–but I was able to feel the magnetic pull when I slid it against both the KissKiss and Rouge G lipstick cases.

It launches later this April at select Saks, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and Bergdorf Goodman stores.

The Glossover

	Champs-Elysees A
	It’s an excellent alternative to the luxury Rouge G lipstick–the formulas are comparable (and certainly so with a $11 price difference!), while the packaging gives up the luxury heft of Rouge G, it makes up for in the practicality. It’s a creamy, moisturizing, long-wearing formula with the subtle nuances and finishes I expect from Guerlain.
	Product 9/10 Pigmentation 10/10 Texture 9/10 Longevity 10/10 Application 5/5

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Guerlain Champs-Elysees (165) Rouge Automatique Lipstick

Guerlain Champs-Elysees (165) Rouge Automatique Lipstick after 6 hours + Italian meal

Temptalia

Guerlain Rouge Automatique Swatches, Photos, Review (Champs Elysees 165)