Giorgio Armani Beauty Flash Lacquer Crystal Shine Gloss - Three Shades Swatched

Giorgio Armani Beauty has launched a new lip color called Flash Lacquer Crystal Shine Gloss ($29), a lip gloss that's said to be revolutionary. It offers the highest reflection ever created with a lip gloss. The new elastic shine formula fills in the lips to create an extremely smooth surface. For the first time, light reflects on every point of the lips.

Flash Lacquer provides crystal-like shine. A new generation of select, crafted oils enables the purest transparent ingredients. The base is no longer yellow (the norm), but as pure as crystal. Flash Lacquer also offers a new generation of comfort. The new approach to formulation allows the use of different light emollient oils to optimize comfort and hydration. It's said to have zero stickiness.

A combination of elastic polymers has replaced the shape and shine memory complex used to jellify the oils in a lip gloss. For the first time, the ingredient giving substance to the lip gloss truly fuses with oils, instead of absorbing them like a spongy powder. The ingredients are micro-connected, creating a continuous elastic weave. This revolutionary formula combines two exceptional properties.

• Thanks to a very low viscosity, the lip gloss surface is perfectly smooth.
• The lip veil always reshapes after a movement.

If you aren't dazzled by new technology, the color range will excite you. Flash Lacquer will be available in 36 shades! So far, there are 30 on the Armani Beauty Web site.

I selected three to start. I ordered online, so I had to rely on those little squares and the photo of the tube that displays when you click on a square. I wanted pigmented glosses with shimmer. My technique, it turns out, wasn't foolproof. I got the shimmer, but not much pigmentation -  one for three. I'll keep trying because I love the gloss. Next time, though, I will select in person.

My photo directly above shows my three new glosses in the following order from left to right.

• Brown #202
• Coral #303
• Pink #528

You know I took swatch photos to show you. I was excited when they arrived. My photos were taken in late-afternoon sunshine, and I tried to get a few different angles toward the sun.

As you can see from my swatch photos, these lip glosses are ultra-shiny. I love the shine. Brown #202 is shown at the top of my arm. The color is an exquisite rosy brown. Coral #303 is shown in the middle. It's a beautiful color, but there isn't enough pigment for me to wear it on its own. It looks pretty clear on my lips. The same is true of Pink #528, shown at the bottom in the photos. Pink #528 has even less pigment than Coral #303.

Now I can share a few observations...

• If you want a gloss that you can wear without lipstick underneath, and you plan to order online, select the swatches that appear the darkest. I wanted #608, which I'm sure would have been pigmented, but it was not available when I placed my first order. It still isn't.
• These glosses feel fabulous on my lips and offer excellent hydration. I love the shine too. 
• They have average last on the lips. That's fine with me. Lip glosses advertised as long-lasting usually fall short of their promises - unless you don't eat, talk, or touch your lips to any surface. 
• See my coming attraction feature to learn more about the three finishes offered and the colors.

I am looking forward to purchasing more shades - as long as they provide some color. You can find Armani's Flash Lacquers at the Armani Beauty Web site and, presumably, at Armani counters soon, if not now. I'll be looking this evening at Neiman Marcus to see if they have arrived. I might even be able to purchase a few more.

Photo at top courtesy of Giorgio Armani Beauty; other photos by Best Things in Beauty