[unpaid/sample] Give me those glassy polymers any day of the week over a matte finish and thankfully, La Perla’s new lipstick collection has done just that in the form of two balmy textured neutrals alongside the mattes. The collection comprises six new shades in the ‘warm and wearable’ category. To me, they sit firmly in the neutral or ‘nude’ category with warm undertones that start somewhere in the red spectrum with offshoots such as brown and purple. But, mostly, classic reds they are not. Most of the existing La Perla Lipsticks are a something or other ‘red’ so perhaps it’s more of a play on the casing shade. I really do love La Perla textures – I think I mentioned that I did a friend’s wedding make up a few weeks ago – she wore the satin Petal Lips shade and it was truly beautiful and more importantly, made the bride feel utterly lovely. Obviously, I gave it to her to keep. It was the one that, when we sat in my garden for a try on and I had about thirty lipsticks laid out, woke up her complexion and made her lips look plump and pretty. I think it was the third or fourth shade (from a variety of brands) that she tried and we knew as soon as it went onto her lips we didn’t need to look further because it was ‘the one’.

The matte shades, I should say, are not a harsh matte by any means. The brand calls them matte silk – feather light on the lips with a good pigment level and plenty of emollients but I always veer towards anything more balmy so that’s just a personal preference. In the line up from left to right: 203 Espresso Lips, 111 Auburn Red, 110 Cinnamon Red, 112 Tiramisu Nude, 204 Almond Lips, 109 Rosewood Nude.

With lipsticks, I always think if there is a chance to make it more special, you should take it. I love the flower stamping that curls around the bullet in a nod to the brand’s lingerie roots which does indeed give the lipsticks a more special feel than your average. The casings are refillable so once you have found your shade, you can just order refills going forward. I’ve had La Perla lipsticks knocking about in my drawer since at least the beginning of the year and they still look good as new.

In the swatch bottom to top: 203 Espresso Lips (balm), 111 Auburn Red, 110 Cinnamon Red, 112 Tiramisu Nude, 204 Almond Lips (balm), and 109 Rosewood Nude. The balms are £45 and the mattes are £47 HERE. I was expecting to see a different price for refills but I can’t find it anywhere. I’ll try and catch up with the PR to see where we are with that.