Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Le Métier de Beauté La Belle Sheer Brilliance Lip Gloss for Fall 2010

The newest Le Métier de Beauté Sheer Brilliance Lip Gloss ($32) to hit the counters is called La Belle. "Beautiful" in French is a beautiful lip gloss in any language.

I would describe this luscious shade as sparkling grape with a hint of red. Others might call it plum or more simply red-purple. Although it might look brown in the tube, it's not. That's the magic of Le Métier de Beauté's lip glosses. You have to try them or see swatches to select the shades. Looking at the tube could lead you to dismiss a shade you might love!

It's hard to show in a photo taken on a cloudy day how exuberant the color is. It's rich without being opaque and sparkling without being glittery. It's darker than one of my favorite Dior glosses #877, Lurex Plum (now discontinued), but very much in the same color family.

La Belle is darker than Uma Paro, another recent Sheer Brilliance favorite of mine, and it has more red in it than Uma Paro. If you click on the Uma Paro link here, you will also see Monaco, a shade that is actually brown. There's no comparison. I am mentioning this because I had read several "sneak peek" descriptions that called La Belle brown. It's not.

This gloss is gorgeous without any lipstick underneath, and it has a wonderful quality: the color lasts a long time. When I first swatched it on my arm, I noticed that it didn't wipe off. In the store, we used makeup remover to tidy my arm. At home, where I put even more on my arm, I couldn't remove it completely with soap and water. It took long-wear makeup remover to take off every last trace. It has the same wonderful quality on the lips.

I was recently introduced to Sheer Brilliance and quickly became a convert. Every word Le Métier de Beauté says about Sheer Brilliance's features is true.
  • Elegant, semi-translucent, glossy color
  • Universal shades
  • Vitamin E and lanolin for soft supple lips
  • Silky texture and easy-glide formula
  • Never heavy or sticky
On the lips? Scrumptious! This gloss has no flavor or fragrance, which puts it in my "most-loved" category. Others have described a barely there scent. I don't detect it in the tubes I purchased, and there is no fragrance listed in the ingredients. I think it's perfect.

You can purchase La Belle Sheer Brilliance Lip Gloss at Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. Nordstrom is now offering Le Métier de Beauté from its online site only. None of the sites have La Belle available online as I write this, but it should be available online soon. You can always call Lisa Lingis at Neiman Marcus Mazza Gallerie to order at (202) 966-9700, extension 2240, or visit your favorite Neiman Marcus.

P.S. Sooner or later, I'm going to get all the accent marks straight!

Photos by BTiB

6 comments:

Clarisse said...

I totally agree with you Charlestongirl: this is a number 1 to get at all costs this fall: it is absolutely GORGEOUS

Charlestongirl said...

Clarisse, look for it. You will love it. So rich, so pretty, so glam!

Allison said...

These glosses look amazing! This color is stunning. How would you compare these glosses in terms of feel and consistency to the Chantecaille Brilliant and Edward Bess glosses? Thanks for your wonderful reviews and comments!

MarciaF (Beauty Info Zone) said...

It's a beautiful fall color. The MA applied it on my friend today and it turned into a softer shade on her. I think your skintone and chemistry will make a difference in how this looks on you. I love the sparkle in it, it doesn't appear over the top when it's on.

Julia said...

Wow, this one looks like it has the opacity of one of the Lip Cremes! Are you a fan of those? I have stuck to the Sheer Brilliance...

Charlestongirl said...

Hi Allison, Marcia, and Julia!

Allison, I am going to do a simultaneous application test (one side of my lips with Le Métier de Beauté, and the other side with Chantecaille and then Edward Bess to give you an exact answer. I'll be back over the weekend.

Marcia, I agree about the sparkle. To me, it works for the office. Definitely not over the top.

Julia, I think it's different from the Cremes. They are more opaque. That said, La Belle has a lot of pigment in it. It can be applied lightly, though, for that Sheer Brilliance look. I tapped a fairly dense swatch onto my arm.