Last year, the French luxury brand, Hermes, announced that they were entering the beauty space and fans of the brand and luxury beauty collectors waited patiently for the first release. Finally, in March 2020, the first products were released; Rouge Hermes Lipstick, a collection of Satin and Matte lipsticks, lip balm, and a lip brush popped up on various high-end department store websites and Hermes.com.
Now, I’ll admit that I haven’t purchased a bullet-style lipstick in years and I’ve been focusing heavily on my skincare routine due to quarantine but I knew that I had to pick up something from the first makeup collection by this iconic luxury brand to not only have in my collection but also to review for you! After a couple of months of completely ignoring the launch, followed by a few weeks of trying to hunt down the lipsticks and watching a handful of reviews, I decided to bite the lipstick bullet and order one of the products from Hermes.com.
Price & Availability
The Hermès Rouge Lipstick retails for $67 each and available on Hermes.com, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s, Bergdorf Goodman, Nordstrom, and Neiman Marcus. The price is comparable to a Cle De Peau Lipstick which is also on the higher end at $65, however, it’s not as extreme as Christian Louboutin Beauty, which retails for $85-$90.
The lipstick refills are more affordable at $42, so essentially, you’re paying for the super luxe packaging.
The Team Behind Hermès Rouge Lipstick
According to Editorialist.com, “the lipstick line has been in the works for two years, led by Jérôme Touron… who has developed cosmetics for both Chanel and Christian Dior.” Hermès’ perfumer, Christine Nagel, created a custom scent for the lipsticks, and Pierre Hardy, creative director of footwear and jewelry, designed the beautiful packaging.
Packaging
If there’s one thing that Hermès did perfectly for their first beauty launch, it’s the packaging. The actual lipstick bullet, as well as the box they are packaged in, are both stunning and luxurious, which is to be expected from the brand that brought us the Birkin Bag. The first thing you notice when removing the outer carton is the signature Hermès orange box.
Inside the orange box, there is the Hermès lipstick, clothed in a burlap sleeve. The lipstick is underneath layers and layers of packaging but I’m not mad about it. Y’all know I live for luxurious packaging and Hermès has set the bar really high with their first launch. The chic tube of lipstick is made up of 3 color blocks of white, black, and gold which all of the shades in the core collection are packaged in. The limited editions are packaged in tubes featuring different colors.
The brand’s name is also embossed on the inner lip of the tube as well as on the actual lipstick shade.
There was so much thought put into the design of these lipsticks which really contributed to my decision to buy one. The unboxing experience was unlike any other and I can’t wait to see what’s to come with future releases.
The Color, Texture & Scent
As I mentioned before, I haven’t purchased a bullet lipstick in a long time because I usually wear glosses or liquid lipstick but when I do wear a classic lipstick, it’s normally in a nude color. Sticking to what I know and love, I chose to order a matte pink-nude shade called 11 Beige Naturel, which was the closest to my favorite tone of lipstick. Unfortunately, this shade leaned way more pink than nude, which I’m not a fan of, however, with the right lip liner, I was able to achieve the color I wanted.
The texture of the matte lipstick didn’t dry down as much as I prefer for a matte finish but I know that a lot of people actually like a more nourishing “matte” finish. I’m used to drier formulas like the Nars Lip Pencil, which I love because I know it won’t move around on my lips and if I want it to be more nourishing, I can add a touch of lip balm underneath. I also found the color payoff in this finish to be sheerer than I’d expect from a high-end matte lipstick. I’m not sure if this formula was targeted towards a more mature customer but it seems like it.
Luckily, both of these points can easily be fixed with the right lip pencil. I paired the Hermès Rouge Lipstick with a nude lip liner, which helped me get the color I wanted as well as the texture and opacity. As I mentioned above, there is fragrance added to this lipstick but I honestly don’t detect it.
See How Beige Naturel Looks on My Complexion
Overall Thoughts
Aside from the fact that the shade wasn’t a good choice on my part, the finish and opacity weren’t what I expected from a $67 Hermes lipstick. For that price, I would have liked to have seen a highly pigmented, matte lipstick but what I got was a sheer (but buildable) and moisturizing lipstick. There are a lot of great matte lipsticks available that are half the price of this one or maybe cheaper. However, what you won’t find anywhere else is this level of luxurious packaging. So to answer the question posed in the title of this post, no, the new Rouge Hermès Lipstick isn’t the best I’ve ever tried but it does come in the best packaging. For that reason, I have no regrets about buying this lipstick from Hermès but this is not my favorite formula, so I wouldn’t purchase any other matte lipsticks from the brand. I may buy a refill for my tube in the satin finish to see if I like that formula better. I will keep you all updated if I do.
I am looking forward to seeing what else the brand comes out with and I’m hoping whatever it is, that it’s as innovative as the packaging. The brand is said to have plans to launch a new category every six months starting in September, so I’m excited to see what’s next; I’m hoping it’s blush.
Let me know if you’d spend $67 on a lipstick or if you’ve tried this formula from Hermès and your thoughts on it.
Try out the lipsticks for yourself
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