I've long been a fan of glossy lip tint, but they've proven to be even more useful now that masks are a part of our daily lives. I'm lucky to be able to work from home so I don't venture out much (and even when I do, I'm often not wearing any lip color at all). Nonetheless, sometimes you want to have a bit of color on your lips for a meal outdoors without having to worry about smearing lipstick or gloss all over your mask and the rest of your face.
Most of my lip tints are from Korean beauty brands but today I wanted to talk about the YSL Water Stain. It's a pricey lip product at $38 but one that I really enjoy and recommend. With all the holiday sales starting up already, you'll likely be able to get this at a nice discount (at the time of this post, Saks has these for 40% off!). I purchased mine last year from Barneys for about 30% off when they were having their going-out-of-business sale.
I remember when YSL first introduced their OG Glossy Stain formula and seemingly every beauty YouTuber was in love with them. Back then I couldn't justify paying that much for a single lip product and to this day I've actually never owned another lip stain from the brand. Over the years YSL has released so many different types of lip tints; I see eight different lip stain formulas on their site right now. YSL describes the Water Stain formula as "a water-enriched lip stain that drenches lips in brilliant, high-shine color."
The first thing I notice when I open up the tube is the scent - it's pretty heavily fragranced with what YSL describes as a mango scent. The smell reminds me a lot of the now-discontinued L'oreal Colour Caresse Wet Stains, which is neither good nor bad. The scent doesn't bother me but it does linger.
The applicator is tapered at the tip which I appreciate because it allows me to control where I deposit color. I like to focus the product only on the inner part of my lips instead of slathering this on like lipgloss because I like a more diffused lip look.
I have this in the shade 608 Flot de Fuchsia, a bright cool toned pink in the tube. In real life, the color is a bit more cool-toned than in my photos but I promise it's not as intimidating on the lips. Above you can see how the color looks on my lips after a light application. The formula is very light (like water) but there's a very subtle balminess that gives the lips a healthy sheen. The stain sets into the lips and looks super natural. That's the beauty of a good lip tint - no pigment flaking, pilling or gooping up.
I'd love to see more Western brands release long-wearing, comfortable lip products like the YSL Water Stain. Have you tried any of the YSL lip tints? Are you still wearing or buying lip colors during this time?