YSL’s latest in lips is the new Volupté Tint-In-Oil ($32 for 0.20 fl oz/6 ml) described as a “revolutionary lip color with a lip tint suspended in a deep conditioning oil.” I waited until I was able to see these in store to test them before buying any of these. I have pigmented lips and any kind of tint or stain for the lips tend to pull very bright or dark on my lips. The YSL Volupté Tint-In-Oils come in a range of light to bright colors. After swatching them on the hand I saw sheer veils of tint and shimmer suspended in oil/gloss. At first swipe they look clear but if you let them set on the hands you’ll see some color appear as they tint the skin. The brighter colors looked very wearable but I’m not a fan of putting store testers on my lips for sanitary reasons so I opted for three lighter shades to see how they would wear on my lips.
Drive Me Copper 1 is a sheer coppery gold shimmer suspended in gloss
Oh My Gold 2 is a lighter gold shimmer suspended in golden tinted gloss
I Rose You 4 is a soft light rose pink shimmer
Swatched below you can see how these have a tiny micro sparkle shimmers suspended in the oil formula which is glossy. They have a very smooth non-gritty texture:
I let the lip oil sit on my arm for about 15-20 minutes and then removed the gloss to show you the stain that remained. With a flash the colors looked washed out, so here are the stains photographed without any flash or sunlight. It was hard to capture the colors accurately, the stain reflects the actual colors of the glosses but without a flash.
My initial thoughts on these would be that these could possibly be a complete mess and that these would slide off my lips. The testers at the store were quite messy and gloss/oil was all over some of the tubes and others looked like they were leaking. Also the word “oil” in a lip product sounds less than appealing. I’ve had good experiences with YSL lip products and I know product testers in stores can go through a lot of rough testing so I decided to give these a try.
The texture is very fluid. I had an open tube tilted at a slight upside-down angle for a few minutes while I was trying to read the bottom label and a little bit of product dripped out. For the most part I don’t see many people holding it upside-down so leaking shouldn’t be an issue. The Volupté Oils are very emollient but they didn’t slide around on the lips like some sheer glosses do. At first swipe they look clear but after you let them sit on the lips the tint melds in with the lip and adds a slight glow with some color.
Lasting power is medium for me, the gloss effect lasts several hours and it will last through bottles of water, not so much coffee or tea, but since there is a slight stain and tint to the color remains on the lips for hours (all day for me). I should have opted for the darker more pigmented colors but after seeing them turn bright on my hands at the store, I was afraid they would turn fluorescent on my lips. After seeing how the three lighter shades I purchased performed, I do think I should have gone with the more pigmented shades.
There is the signature sweet grapefruit YSL scent in these. If you liked the YSL Gloss Voluptés (three reviewed here), I think you will like the Volupté Tint-In-Oil. If you want more pigment or color, skip the colors I got and try for one of the shades that look darker/brighter.
Here are the colors on my lips. Note as usual your mileage may vary depending on your natural lip color and pigment:
I like the formula. They feel smooth and moisturizing on the lips and even though there is visible tiny micro sparkles these are remarkably smooth and non-gritty feeling. I thought these would be an oil slick but for a lip oil they stay put where you apply the product and I found they didn’t slide around. On me these transform from a clear gloss to a healthy natural glow with a hint of color. I’m all for neutral and nude lips but on me the three colors I picked kinda look the same – unfortunately you can’t really tell how they will look on you until you try them. They way they swatch on the hand is different from how they look on the lips. Had I known how they would perform I would have skipped #2 Oh My Gold because it looks really similar to #1 Drive Me Copper and opted for a darker pink or purple shade (like #5, 6 or 8).
Have you checked out the YSL Volupté Tint-In-Oils yet? What did you think? There are 8 shades available for $32 each. All are available now at Sephora, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Saks.
