Holiday Treat to Myself: Guerlain Rouge G Lipstick in Georgia

Happy December! Since it's the first today, I thought it'd be alright to mention the dreaded 'H' word now; are you guys already feeling festive? Me, not so much - December kinda snuck up on me this year, and with our tropical getaway over Thanksgiving, I'm not ready to talk about gifts, Christmas trees, Winter Wonderland and all that. But I AM ready to talk about some georgious lipstick! (See what I did there? Couldn't help myself, sorry.)

Guerlain Rouge G de Guerlain Jewel Lipstick Compact in Georgia ($51 for 0.12 oz) is by far the most expensive lipstick in my collection. I feel that I can't really dive right into my usual ponderings on the shade and texture without mentioning the price point first. Even though I got Georgia during the Sephora VIB 20% sale, Rouge Gs are still ridiculously spendy, and I'm not feeling too proud of myself that I succumbed to the temptation and bought it.

 

Given the completely over the top 'space tampon' packaging of Rouge Gs,  I can't help but wonder whether I'm in fact paying for the luxurious tube or the lipstick within. This is not to say that I don't enjoy high-end, well-designed packaging (hello Givenchy Le Rouge!) and that I don't in fact expect it of more expensive products (cue my disappointment over the Rouge Bunny Rouge Chronos palette), but I realized that I don't want to be paying extra $15 over the already high price of premium lipstick just for the excessive Parisian jeweler-designed compact. I'm not collecting lipsticks for posterity - this is an utilitarian product, for Pete's sake. Couldn't we reign in the price and the design just a little bit, Guerlain? 

With that necessary rant out of the way, let's oooh and aaah over my new Rouge G. Isn't this line just a perfect decadent thing to treat yourself to for the Holidays, or any time of the year for that matter? What surprised me in the Rouge G formula at my first swipe is the thin and gel-like texture. The brand claims Rouge Gs contain 'a ruby-powder formula that interacts with the light and creates a jaw-dropping pout of perfection'. While that particular detail sounds like a bunch of marketing crap to me, Guerlain also pens these as lip smoothing, plumping and hydrating, and I hate to agree.

I've been recently experiencing a lot more dryness on my lips and many lipstick formulas that used to feel comfortable are no longer very pleasant or attractive. By contrast, the Rouge G glides on the lips easily without catching on flakes and achieves full opacity with two swipes. The formula smoothes over vertical liplines without pooling and gives a beautiful, plump, cushiony look to my normally puckered mouth. There is a faint smell of violets (but nowhere near as bad as Burberry Lip Covers) but absolutely no taste.

No. 62 Georgia is a prime example of how I'm always drawn to the same shades over and over again. Sephora describes it as a rosy pink, but on me it's a warm rose with more red than pink tones. I'm still debating which one of my other rosy lipsticks, Givenchy Le Rouge in Rose Taffetas 201 or MAC Viva Glam Cyndi, is the closest dupe to Georgia. MAC's Cyndi, which is a Luster finish, is closer to Georgia in finish but a touch more watermelon red, while Givenchy Rose Taffetas is similarly lighter in depth, but a matte texture with a more muted white base. YSL Rouge Pur in Pink Grenadine is deeper, more red and thicker/ more opaque, and I threw in NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in New Lover just to show you how un-pink Georgia reads on my cool skintone. If you're curious, Burberry Lip Cover in Primrose Hill Pink would be very close to Georgia as well.

L-R, same order as the above photo: YSL Rouge Pur in Pink Grenadine, d/c, Guerlain Rouge G in Georgia no. 62, MAC Viva Glam Cyndi d/c, Givenchy Le Rouge in Rose Taffetas, NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in New Lover

Here's another one of my boring daytime looks, using Guerlain Rouge G in Georgia on the lips. I applied it on bare, unexfoliated lips (no lip balm!), without a lip liner. If you look really closely, it isn't as even near the flakes as on the rest of the lips but it somehow softens the appearance of dry skin. There was no bleeding or feathering when I wore it, and it retained a comfortable, creamy feel on my lips despite below freezing temperatures outside. It didn't unfortunately survive a meal, but I wasn't really expecting it to. The rest of my face is Face Atelier Ultra foundation (back from its summer exile, I finally found a way to make it work by applying over primer with a damp beautyblender and substantial powdering over the top), Canmake Cream Cheeks in Clear Pink Joy CL04 and dodgy dried out eyeliner pen on the eyes.

On my cool, fair winter skin, Georgia pulls almost coral - not that I'm complaining, just definitely not pink. Have you ever tried the Guerlain Rouge G formula and if so, what are your favorite shades? Or do you think $51 is entirely too much to spend on one lipstick?