Giorgio Armani Ecstacy Lip Lacquer Shade 502 Boudoir Review

Hi Everyone!
Hope you all are well :)

Yesterday marked the launch of the Ecstacy Lip Lacquer range from Giorgio Armani. I received this product prior to the release date and have been putting it through its paces over the last week or there about. First off the press imagery that accompanied the product, simply stunning. I've tucked it away in a drawer that contains my makeup books and other clippings that I have collected over the years. If I am ever feeling stuck in a rut or uninspired its the first drawer I reach for. That aside, lets get on to the actual product itself!

For me, the packaging alone gets a solid 10/10. I like how subtle the design is, the brand name isn't largely printed on the packaging instead the Armani logo is situated at the opening of the tube. I love the sleekness of the tube also. Each tube is black but the black fades gradually into the colour of the product that is contained inside. 

There are an impressive eighteen shades in the collection in total. Ten intense lacquered/varnish shades and eight shades that have a metallic finish to them. I own shade '502 Boudoir' which is one of the metallic shades in the line. I'm not a huge fan of lip products that contain tonnes of shimmer or that have the wet look finish to them so I wasn't sure if this was going to be my cup of tea.

I swatched it on my hand before I applied it to my lips and I was blown away by the pigmentation alone. This pink/rose toned shade is so vibrant and gives off such a lovely sheen.

As I'm tilting my hand towards the light now, you can see the glittery particles a little better. I don't think my photos do the product justice, the shine is extreme and there are lots of different tones running throughout the glitter, mainly gold though.

After I had taken my product shots for this blog post I went to remove the lip lacquer off of my hand. I used a makeup wipe and the above photo was the end result, it didn't budge. The lip lacquer is a gloss-stain hybrid, as a result to remove the product you will need an oil based makeup remover. After I had swatched it on my hand I felt this product could be promising so I tested it on my lips next!

This product is buildable due to its formula, most of the times that I wore this lip lacquer I just applied two layers and that was enough for me. If you apply one layer it will give you a light stain, the more layers you apply the more glossy the lips will appear. The doe foot applicator has a slight curve to it making the product a little easier to apply which is always a good thing. Even though its a glossy product its not really sticky, it just has an ever so slight tacky texture but it isn't uncomfortable. In fact quite the opposite really, its very comfortable on the lips and isn't drying in the slightest. Another thing I noted was that it doesn't have a scent, which will be a big plus for some of you out there.

I'm not keen on the metallic finish. I find the particles separate and clump together on the lips. If you click on the above photo and enlarge it you might be able to see where the lacquer has clumped on the top lip. The particles stick together and I just find that this gives the lips a bit of a patchy appearance. I do love the formula though, the lip lacquer is extremely long lasting and it doesn't suck the moisture out of your lips. The lips stay nice and glossy throughout the day lasting a solid 7 hours with eating and drinking. 

As this is a Giorgio Armani product it does come at a price, the Ecstacy Lip Lacquers retail at €31.50 each. Really the only thing I don't like about this product is the fact that its a metallic finish, I'm just not keen on the glitter particles in the lacquer. I'd absolutely love if this came in a matte finish because the formulation of the product is fantastic, even the varnish/lacquer shades sound a bit more promising! But unfortunately, I'm not a fan of their metallic range.

The Ecstacy Lip Lacquer range is exclusively available from Brown Thomas Dublin, Cork or Limerick or from www.brownthomas.com, which you can find a direct link to here.

Chat soon!

Eimear x