Archived Post

Laura Mercier Heartbreaker Gel Lip Color Review, Photos, Swatches

Laura Mercier Heartbreaker Gel Lip Color
Laura Mercier Heartbreaker Gel Lip Color

Laura Mercier Heartbreaker Gel Lip Color ($23.00 for 0.11 oz.) it’s a light-medium, rosy pink with subtle warm undertones and a luminous sheen. MAC Pinkfringe (LE, $16.00) is more frosted, lighter, cooler-toned. Bobbi Brown Pink Flush (LE, $25.00) is similar. YSL Opera Rose (29) (P, $34.00) is more opaque. YSL Caress Pink (9) (P, $34.00) is darker, more opaque. Buxom Mistress (LE, $21.00) is slightly darker. NYX Paparazzi (P, $4.00) is less glossy. See comparison swatches / view dupes.

For summer, Laura Mercier released four limited edition shades in a new formula, Gel Lip Colour, which is described as “comforting, sheer colour with a shine finish and subtle vanilla flavor,” and unsurprisingly, it’s also supposed to be hydrating. I’ve only tried one shade, so perhaps the others are better, but I didn’t love Heartbreaker. While the consistency was gel-like, felt smooth, and glided on easily, the resulting finish looked uneven, and it seemed to catch on every single imperfection on my lips. I would apply this, and it wouldn’t look right, so I’d apply something else, and that something else looked just fine. This just seemed to accentuate the texture of my lips, and it possibly also “balled” up on itself. It had semi-sheer color coverage, where it provided noticeable color but had a fair amount of translucency so the natural lip color would come through. If you pressed your lips together, it would create unevenness/lines. It had a very subtle vanilla scent that jockeyed with its waxy base, and it had a sweet taste. The color lasted two hours on me, and it was somewhat hydrating while worn.

Laura Mercier Heartbreaker Gel Lip Color
Laura Mercier Heartbreaker Gel Lip Color

Laura Mercier Heartbreaker Gel Lip Color
Laura Mercier Heartbreaker Gel Lip Color

Laura Mercier Heartbreaker Gel Lip Color
Laura Mercier Heartbreaker Gel Lip Color

Laura Mercier Heartbreaker Gel Lip Color
Laura Mercier Heartbreaker Gel Lip Color

Laura Mercier Heartbreaker Gel Lip Color
Laura Mercier Heartbreaker Gel Lip Color

Laura Mercier Heartbreaker Gel Lip Color
Laura Mercier Heartbreaker Gel Lip Color

Makeup Look
On face:
  • Guerlain Parure de Lumiere Foundation
  • Guerlain Les Voilettes Loose Powder
  • Josie Maran Illuminator
  • Laura Mercier Golden Pink
On eyes:
  • Urban Decay Scorch Eyeliner

42 Comments

Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!

Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).

We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!

Comments on this post are closed.
Sunny Avatar

I have this and I am not a fan, either. For me the wear time is just too short. If I drink something, basically the color will be gone. I drink continuously throughout the day, but I can’t reapply my lip color that often. I wonder if the bolder shades will wear better though.

Rigor_Mortis Avatar

Actually, I think it looks lovely on you, and didn’t accentuate any imperfections at all… maybe you can only see them in person?

Mariella Avatar

Just testing and trying to figure out why and at what sights my keyboardès wonky (and it seems it is at all the sites and I canèt seem to change the keyboard back to English….it appears to be set at English but itès still giving me FRENCH accents!)

Mariella Avatar

Nope, nothing to do with the control panel (I’d checked). I must have hit some weird sequence of keys while putting the batteries back in. I shut down and restarted and all is fixed now, thank heavens (because I didn’t know what I’d done and so didn’t know how to “undone” it)

meganlisa Avatar

I just tried all four of these on yesterday at Spake NK. I really didn’t like this color and totally agree with your review. It didn’t work on me at all. I loved Clementine and just ordered it this morning (the Space NK $20 off your order going on now). It was a color I usually have mixed feelings about…bright orange red (too bold or not?). I love it. The nude was shockingly pretty and the last plum I was pretty indifferent about. So glad to see your review on this product!!!

Denise Avatar

What a shame about the unevenness as the colour is so pretty on you!
This question is going off topic I know, but I’ve been going over your earlier reviews on Guerlain parure gold liquid foundation and I’m really quite tempted to get one of them. Trouble is, I’m not sure which shade out of #2 or#3 I should get. I have a similar skin tone to yours and the SA told me over the phone (I live out in the country,miles from the nearest stockist) to go with the #2 as you can put bronzer over it if its too pale. Is this something you would go along with? Would you still rate this foundation highly?
Thanks so much Christine

Christine Avatar

Hi Denise!

Still love Parure Gold, though I don’t use it too often – it is a more medium to full coverage foundation, so for me it’s more “special occasion” than every day, though I really love it (but it is discontinued!). I agree that if you can only get one shade, go lighter and use a slightly darker pressed or loose powder to get it to match. My skin is a lot better shape today than years ago, so I don’t need that level of coverage on a daily basis and usually use Parure Lumiere these days!

Denise Avatar

Thank you so much Christine; Your help is as always, invaluable!
Bit odd how its discontinued where you are but its still being sold in shop (and I do mean shop!) here in NZ!

Anna Avatar

On the photos it looks just ok, and that color makes your face glow, Christine. But maybe in person you can see what I can’t see in the pictures. I’m having the same problem with light pink lipsticks, especially with Chanel Radieuse. But it’s mostly because my lips are quite pigmented.

We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!