TATCHA A Plum Blossom 23-Karat Gold Illuminated Lipstick - Revisited

My beautiful, limited-edition A Plum Blossom 23-Karat Gold Illuminated Lipstick ($55), a gift from TATCHA, finally arrived. Perhaps FedEx took it to Alaska on its way. It certainly looked like Alaska here on Monday. Anyone could have been confused.

I already had a high level of anticipation from TATCHA's publicity, Eileen's photos here in Best Things in Beauty, and The Beauty Look Book's gorgeous photos, but nothing could have prepared me for its arrival and the sensory treat of opening the gift-wrapped box to find the presentation I had received. TATCHA has such class!

Look at the box photos above. I'm already picturing the beautiful box on my bureau, holding my earrings. Inside, it's just as pretty. Unwrapping this lipstick was a total delight for my senses. Removing the magnetic top from the tube was as elegant as it gets in lipstick land, and then gazing at the chiseled lipstick bullet was an extra-added benefit. Imagine me hyperventilating, and you have a good image of what it was like here a bit earlier.

I had a small window of full sunshine immediately after it arrived, so I hopped right outside to take a few photos. Like Eileen, I made one pass on my arm with the lipstick. I could have layered it to achieve a richer color, but I chose the one I saw on my arm with one pass. It's gorgeous. It has color and shine. What you can't see here is how hydrating it feels on my lips.

By now, you should know that lipsticks look lighter on my pale arm than they do on my lips, which carry their own color. The best approximation I can normally give you is a finger pad, where I always test lipsticks in stores. The pad of your finger is darker than your wrist, so it's a good place to test lipstick shades.

Unfortunately, today it was cold outside, stripping my fingers of the color I see on them right now, as I write - even making them puffy. That's why I photographed two finger pads to show you how little color they carried today. Still, A Plum Blossom was shining with the energy of the sun and an unparalleled radiance.

I would describe A Plum Blosson much the way Eileen did. It's a mauve-tinged pink, semi-sheer, and glowing. My lips bring out the mauve in the shade, and the light dances on A Plum Blossom, giving it as many facets as a rare cut gem. TATCHA says it was inspired by the iconic pink Japanese Plum Blossom peeking through a snowy Kyoto morning wrapped in golden light. Its texture? Plum fruit and silk extracts richly hydrate lips for for a creamy, lustrous finish to flatter any complexion, day or night.

Now for the bad news. It's sold out at TATCHA's Web site. I hope they order more. I knew it would sell quickly. Half of their stock sold the first day it was offered. The good news is that you can pre-order it at Barneys New York for delivery in March, only a few weeks away. That's currently your best bet for purchasing this exquisite lipstick.

Of course, it's available on eBay. One just sold there for $45.99. Some greedy individuals bought it for resale and raised the price to a usurious level ($99.99, for example). I mention eBay just in case you passed it on my first mention, but are now painfully regretting your decision and want it right now. Ordinarily, I do not promote eBay as a source for new beauty products.

I love TATCHA's A Plum Blossom 23-Karat Gold Illuminated Lipstick. I'm going to go do a happy dance.

Update 2/18: The box, I realized, was a gift to me from TATCHA. They used it to send my lipstick.

Photos by Best Things in Beauty