theNotice: a beauty blog

A quick excerpt & photo below (because it’s late, I’m tired, and I’ll be damned if I have to come up with more unnecessary words).

With the 2012 Pantone Color of the Year being the bold, punchy Tangerine Tango, Spring and Summer are the easiest times of the year to wear it. Compared to 2011′s Honeysuckle (a dark, vibrant pink), I’ve been finding the orange hues of Tangerine Tango harder to get away with – it’s a very obvious, stark colour on my complexion, and the saturation makes it difficult to integrate it into the rest of a makeup look.

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The product: L’Occitane Pivoine Délicate Lip Shine in 02 Rose Frémissant

Okay, so I’m maybe having a bit of a Pivoine Délicate “moment” right now. As with the lipstick, I just can’t get over the packaging of these glosses – it’s just so delicate and cute! The entire aesthetic of the line makes me think Paul & Joe Beauté, minus the cat heads and parabens. All in all, it’s pretty damn endearing.

The formula of L’Occitane’s Lip Shines is heavy and thick, but not terribly sticky. The scent is stronger than that of the lipsticks in the line; it’s more strongly floral, though this does fade quickly. There is no added flavour to the gloss (at least, no intentional added flavour, I think), but I can taste the peony if I lick my lips. Which, for the record, is gross and you shouldn’t try it at home.

(It’s the gloss that’s gross, though – not the peony. You’d be surprised just how many fragrance molecules are actually quite tasty without the presence of denatured alcohol.)

L’Occitane Rose Frémissant Lip Shine lip swatch

L’Occitane Rose Frémissant Lip Shine swatch (at right)

Rose Frémissant, the shade of this Pivoine Délicate (the collection) Lip Shine, pairs well with Pivoine Délicate (the lipstick; I know, it’s confusing). On its own, it’s a light pink with plenty of silver shimmer, plus a small amount of gold and fuchsia shimmer. The particle size of the silver shimmer is larger, making it quite obvious both when applied and in the tube.

Like with Pivoine Délicate, I’m not generally a huge fan of colours like this one, but I do think it was executed well. I’d have liked to see less shimmer in the formula, or at the very least less gritty shimmer, but I didn’t find the colour settled into my lip lines or built up in places it shouldn’t be — when worn in moderation, of course. (Put on enough of any light gloss and it’ll go where it shouldn’t, but you should know that by now!)

The verdict?

While I didn’t think this to be a bad product, by any means, I didn’t love it. The Lip Shine doesn’t exude the same kind of elegance as the Pivoine Délicate Lipstick, but I think it can stand alright on its own merits.

If you’re just buying for the gorgeous packaging, I’d recommend the lipsticks in a heartbeat; however, if you’re on the market for a sheer, sparkly, high-shine gloss, this one’s a keeper. The finish & shimmer of Rose Frémissant, as I said, isn’t my cup of tea – but if that’s what you look for in a gloss, then it should probably be noted that L’Occitane does it very well.

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The product: L’Occitane Pivoine Délicate Lipstick in 02 Pivoine Délicate

Pivoine Délicate, one of three lipstick shades in the eponymous collection, is a soft pink with silver reflects. It’s fairly sheer, for a lipstick, and I think I’d group it alongside something like the Rouge Coco Shines – perfect for a really natural, refined lip, but the colour can’t really be built up.

I’m on the fence about the shimmer, though; I almost always prefer creme finishes or (if I must,) micro-shimmer in the same shade as the base colour. Which means that I should hate this one, seeing as the shimmer almost jumps out at you in the bullet – but I don’t. The silver shimmer adds just enough interest to keep the shade interesting, making it something more than just another indiscriminate pink shade.

It’s kind of nice, which is something I didn’t expect to be saying about silver shimmer anytime soon. L’Occitane got the particle size and dispersion amount just right, and it adds a bit of a playful edge to the shade.

L’Occitane Pivoine Délicate Lipstick – lip swatch

L’Occitane Pivoine Délicate Lipstick swatch (left) and Rose Frémissant Lip Shine swatch (right)

This isn’t the kind of lipstick to reach for if you’re looking for something bright and punchy, but I find myself quite fond of it. The formula, despite the sheer colour and rather agressive scent in the tube, feels comfortable on my dry lips and (surprisingly enough), the scent doesn’t give me a headache when I wear it.

Unlike most lipsticks, Pivoine Délicate actually leaves my lips feeling more hydrated when I take it off – quite a feat for a lip balm, much less a lipstick!

The verdict?

At $16 USD/$22 CAD, I would absolutely recommend this. I have to admit, L’Occitane had me at the packaging – the entire Pivoine Délicate collection is just gorgeous; perhaps even moreso than last year’s lovely Pivoine Flora collection. (I don’t know, though. It’s a pretty close call.)

Skip this if you’re looking for a bold, scent-free summer lippie, but give it a try if you want a sheer-but-polished shade. The packaging may have grabbed my attention to begin with, but it’s the comfortable, hydrating formula that really sells the Pivoine Délicate lipsticks.

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I was chatting with my mum and sister the other day about (what else?) lipstick, and we got onto the topic of the painfully expensive ones. So, rather than the usual new-this-week spread, I thought I’d do a small feature on lipstick for this Sunday’s post.

(Because, seriously. Who pays $75 for lipstick, and don’t you think that maybe, just maybe, that’s a little bit insane?)

For me, there are the drugstore lipsticks ($5-$15, and isn’t it lovely when you accidentally fall in love with one of those formulas?), then the midrange ones ($15-$25), and finally the ones in the higher end of the spectrum: anything above $30–or, good lord, above $40. I just… I just try really, really hard not to get hooked on any of those.

It’s going surprisingly okay so far. I just have to put on my blinders when people start talking Rouge Gs and Lip Mists and look the other way. :P

What’s your price limit for lipsticks? Is it “anything goes,” or do you try to put a cap on it?

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P.S. (And then there are all of those skinny little surprise!expensive lipsticks. You know the ones: they look just a little bit costly, but then they turn out to have a third of the usual amount of lipstick in them. Yeah, NARS Pure Matte, I’m looking at you.)

This Spring, L’Occitane introduces the limited-edition Pivoine Délicate fragrance & make-up collections. A tribute to the peony flower, the fragrance collection features top notes of citrus and white peach, heart notes of peony (from the Drôme region of France), rose, and lily of the valley, and base notes of white musks and light woods.

The fragrance collection

The fragrance side of Pivoine Délicate features an Eau de Toilette ($48/75ml), a Hand Cream enriched with shea butter, vitamin E, and peony extract ($23/75ml), a peachy Lip Gloss/Eau de Toilette Duo ($24/10ml), and a Shimmering Powder for the hair and body ($38 CAD/8ml).

Listed also in the release that I received is a 50ml Brume Tendre, but I’ve been unable to locate it online – my advice would be to check in with your local L’Occitane shop if you’re interested; it may vary by location. (The English name for the product should be the Pivoine Flora Fresh Mist.)

The makeup collection

On the makeup side of things, the Pivoine Délicate collection features two round-tin Lip Balms in Rose Pivoine and Pourpre Émouvant ($16/9ml), three Lip Glosses in Rose Pastel, Rose Fémissant, and Beige Gracieux ($18/8ml), and three Lipsticks in Brun Discret, Pivoine Délicate, and Charmant Corail ($22/4g).

Listed also in the release (but not on the English Canadian L’Occitane site) is a third Lip Balm – Pêche Subtile. We’ll just be covering two products from this launch on theNotice, though; keep an eye out for reviews of the Rose Fémissant Lip Gloss and Pivoine Délicate Lipstick (the two shades in the photographs here.)

And yes, before you ask: they really are just as pretty (if not even more lovely) in person! ;)

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