Since my review of Shu Uemura’s Baby Flame lipstick got such a lovely response – my #FOTD selfie had over 40 likes on Instagram… you guys like me more than cookies! (Well pictures of cookies… but I’ll take it) – I decided it was high time I showed you another beauty from Shu Uemura’s Sweet Red Collection.
Front: Dolly Red Lucid; Back, left to right: Mon Shu Red, Baby Flame, Lacquer Red
The Dolly Red Lucid Rouge Unlimited Lipstick is the lightest shade of the bunch; however, it’s actually not much of a red at all! Instead, it’s a sweet pink-leaning coral that’s much softer than the comparably orange-leaning colour pop of Baby Flame. If Baby Flame was the bright and bubbly geranium in the Sweet Red bouquet, then Dolly Red is the romantic carnation playing peekaboo and fluttering her eyelashes coyly at the back!
Swatched on my hand together, they both looked so similar that I couldn’t actually tell the difference between them anymore so I’ve just used the pic of Dolly Red Lucid on its own (ooops, sorry guys – bad beauty blogger!) but once they’re on, Dolly Red definitely pulls lighter and pinker on me.
As the ‘Lucid’ part of the name suggests, Dolly Red Lucid definitely has a fair bit of shine going on too – like all of the lipsticks in the Sweet Red Collection, and indeed the Rouge Unlimited range in general, it boasts that same sweet, jelly-like, translucent quality that makes it such an easy, accessible lipstick to wear for the everyday. As with Baby Flame, it looks much lighter and softer on than it does in the tube – so don’t be scared by that vivid bullet of colour!
Texture-wise, I really don’t have much to add to my assessment in the Baby Flame review. Shu are onto a clear winner with their Rouge Unlimited formula – soft, moisturising, applies easily, wears well… what’s the catch here, folks?! Despite being less pigmented than the other shades (usually an excuse for lipsticks to be too sheer or apply patchily), Dolly Red Lucid still goes on like a charm – smoothly, evenly, a total people-pleaser. If it had a tail, it would be wagging it frantically because it really is such a good girl!
I’ve now tried enough of the Rouge Unlimited lipsticks to be fairly certain this is the case for the whole range and would heartily recommend this line to lippie lovers everywhere. “Crystal core technology” keep doing what you’re doing, ‘cos I bloody love it!
Back onto Dolly Red Lucid itself, and it really is a very pretty colour. Admittedly it wouldn’t be my first choice from the collection (then again, I do get easily distracted by bright shiny things…), but it’s the kind of rosy-pink that goes with most outfits and looks very winsome and lovely while doing so. If your lips are already very pigmented, I can see it getting a bit lost on you; it offers an almost “my lips but better” look and since I verge on the cadaverous most days, a warm flush of “my lips but better” to prove I’m alive and well rarely goes amiss! However, if you are blessed with looking like real flesh and blood all the time (jealous!), it’s probably a bit of a wasted effect. I did like how it softened up my usual look, but still looked fresh and youthful enough to not verge on that dreaded ‘dusty rose from Aunt Judith’s decaying make-up drawer’ quality.
Dolly Red Lucid’s lighter colour does mean that it doesn’t last too long on the lips; you’d be lucky to get much more than a couple of hours out it, especially if you expected those hours to involve a lot of eating, drinking and other mouth-based activities (ooooerrrr!).
So if you like your lipsticks to look fairly au naturel or are in the market for a pink with a bit more plush to it, Dolly Red Lucid might be the colour for you. I can see this being a shade that tempts a lot of people – it’s sweet, approachable and accessible… All great ingredients for any lasting relationship! And yes, us girls definitely do have relationships with our make-up… right?!
Read my reviews of the rest of Shu Uemura’s Sweet Red Collection:
• Mon Shu Red
• Baby Flame
Shu Uemura Dolly Red Lucid Rouge Unlimited Lipstick, Fall 2013 Sweet Red Collection, $210; see all Shu Uemura locations in Hong Kong here
Note: Product provided for my consideration
Through The Looking Glass 