Sparkled Beauty

We are switching to high-end makeup for the day with Marc Jacobs (LE) The Sofia 5 piece petite Le Marc lip creme collection, named after Sofia Coppola, the film maker.

I originally bought Marc Jacobs Style Eye-con No 20 palette for the holiday but Sephora cancelled my order (inventory issue, they said), so I decided on this lip collection to try out this lipstick line that I heard a lot about.

Marc Jacobs' standard luxury packaging - a velvety tray to hold the lipsticks, kept inside a glossy patent leather pouch and a glittery printed box. The mini tubes look decent size until you remove the cap to see that the bullet is a lot smaller than the base it sits on.

Here are Infamous, Dashing, So Sofia, Boy Gorgeous and Blow, some of the bestselling reds in the line. I can appreciate a bold lip set (not the often seen nude ones), with shades named after iconic women that have inspired Marc Jacobs himself.

These Le Marc lip creme lipsticks are formulated with concentrated color-boost pigments that are triple-milled and enriched with hydrating ingredients - powerful peptides, antioxidant-rich seaberry, and natural humectants (including meranti and cocoa butter).

Knowing all that, I was still surprised to find the lipsticks very creamy and pigmented. I hardly needed to layer them at all. For the 10 hour wear claim, I did not get that far but 5-6 hours were fine with me and I didn't mind to reapply.

Swatches below were done with just one swipe each. Infamous, described as a soft peony is the most easy-to-wear non-nude shade, I can wear it everyday. Dashing, a cherry red, and its darker partner Blow (dark berry velvet, far right) are in the opposite colour spectrum and glam up your night looks in an instant.

A shade I don't see very often in lip sets but enjoy quite a bit: a watermelon pink called So Sofia (middle). And Boy Gorgeous, a berry pink (second from right), is gorgeous, pun intended :)

The deluxe size in the set is 0.05oz, a bit less than half size, so 5 shades together equal about 2 full sized lipsticks (0.12oz, reg. $38). The $54 price tag is worth it if you want to treat yourself to something nice.