Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte Shine

So far, Yves Saint Laurent lippies have been hit-and-miss for me, although admittedly I have only tried a few. The Volupte Plump-in-Colour Plumping Lip Balms didn't leave much of an impression, but  I liked The Slim Sheer Mattes enough to go back for more colors. So when I kept seeing chatters about these Rouge Volupte Shine, I was game to try some. Thanks to Selfridges UK for their enabling promotions, I picked up Collector 76 Golden--Red in the Dark and Collector 80 Golden--Chili Tunique, both LE items, and 83 Rouge Cape, 85 Burgundy Love, 87 Rose Afrique, 129 Carmine Retro, and 131 Chili Morocco from the permanent line-up at the time. I have not gone back for more of these so I don't know if anything has changed since my last purchase. 

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.  

   

 

 

Like the Volupte Plump-in-Colours, these Rouge Volupte Shines are also in chubby and round metal tubes, only they're gold versus the Plump-in-Colours' silver. They feel nice and substantial in my hand, but seven tubes together add some serious weight to my bag so the major down side is that I can't carry these around even if I wanted to--these aren't travel-friendly. 

 

 

The formula itself is thin and applies with lots of slip, very similar to the Volupte Plump-in-Colours but with a little more moisturizing power. These are also scented, a sweet syrupy fragrance mixed with artificial melon, which I can deal with better than the Volupte Plump-in-Colour's fake melon. No minty sensation though, which is too bad. I would have liked that. 

 

The two collector tubes are distinct from the rest, with gold metallic kaleidoscope patterns versus the shiny gold tube from the permanent lineup. The finish is distinct from the rest as well, even though both of these colors are also available in the permanent lineup. In this case, the colors now have fine micro gold shimmers that result in a wet metallic sheen instead of a glossy finish of the permanent line up. Very pretty. 

 

At first, all the shimmers repulsed me a bit--I was worried the colors might apply gritty, but they didn't at all. So these two ended up being my favorite out of the bunch despite being packed with shimmers. 

- Collector 76 Golden--Red in the Dark: the bullet appears a deep warm red, and indeed it applies a translucent and deep warm red with fine gold shimmers that lend it a wet and metallic sheen. But get this--when I wiped it off before lunch, the tissue came away a deep berry. I literally did a double take. Whaaa? See the swatch for yourself--it really is a berry! I think all the fine gold shimmers gave the color a warm red-shift. What a fun surprise! Love it!

 

- Collector 80 Golden--Chili Tunique: another warm red bullet but applies more orange-red, again with fine gold shimmers that give it a wet metallic sheen. Also pretty, but nowhere as fun and interesting as 76 above. 

 

The permanent lineup have shiny gold tubes which look nice, but a touch gaudy for my taste. I much prefer the fun metallic kaleidoscope-patterned Collector tubes.  

Some colors are more translucent than others, but all of them has a glossy finish. Despite being described as "sheer," I think they're plenty pigmented. I only need one layer to achieve blazing colored lips! 

 

- 83 Rouge Cape: warm red with coral undertone and sparse gold shimmers that don't show. 

- 85 Burgundy Love: swatched a raspberry but applies a blood red on my lips. Yowza!

- 87 Rose Afrique: translucent rosy blush, very easy to wear and very flattering. Love this one too.

- 129 Carmine Retro: translucent cherry red, goes on my lips a bit warmer and browner than swatched on the back of my hand. 

- 131 Chili Morocco: translucent orange-red, swatched more orange on the back of my hand but goes on my lips with more red. 

From left to right: LE Collector 76 Golden--Red in the Dark and Collector 80 Golden--Chili Tunique, and 83 Rouge Cape, 85 Burgundy Love, 87 Rose Afrique, 129 Carmine Retro, and 131 Chili Morocco.