Byredo’s Dramatic New Makeup Line
Byredo’s clean, and a little edgy aesthetic has always appealed to me and given their popularity, I’m not the only one. Known best for their beautiful fragrance line, Byredo’s entrance into the world of color is exciting. From a brand that has successfully carved out a niche for itself in the ever-more saturated universe of beauty, one expects big things. Does Byredo deliver? That, is the question of the day. My short answer is - yes. My longer answer is yes, but maybe a bit differently than what I expected from the brand (which was maybe their point?!). The first thing, is that I don’t have the full collection. I bought a few pieces based on my preferences and as far as my review on the quality and payoff of these products is concerned, it is based entirely on these pieces. However, since everyone got a glimpse of the full collection in Byredo’s own promotional material, I think it is safe to say that I can discuss the overall aesthetic of the line even without owning every single piece in it.
With regards to the overall design of this line - the selection of products, the packaging, the overall aesthetic - I thought that there were elements that screamed Byredo and elements that were more of a surprise. The packaging, to me anyway, has Byredo stamped all over it - but this is Byredo 2.0 - from a future age. It feels contemporary, edgy, futuristic, and unlike the curves of its fragrance bottles, there is nothing soft here. This line is heavy, luxurious, and sure of itself and it’s aesthic - something very much from the future. The lipsticks are curved but you won’t find any of the softness associated with curved surfaces here - these are sharp curves and hard, heavy, metallic tubes - sometimes reminiscent of Jeff Koon’s metal balloon sculptures and sometimes resembling a piece of brass hardware taken from my bathroom (no, really). The color sticks are slim, silver tubes that you’d think are heavy, but are in fact quite lightweight - like aluminium (remember the Jetsons?:). There is an ergonomic satisfaction to holding these lipsticks and color sticks and I think that was probably a very intentional part of the design. I havn’t yet had the opportunity to hold the mascara and the eyeshadow palettes but based on all the visuals and a litany of reviews online, I think they look like they would fit a similar description. The eyeliner, with it’s seafoam/mint-green packaging seems like a bit of an afterthought to me because it doesn’t quite go with everything else - but the rest of the collection fits together like a glove - a glove that belongs very much to Byredo’s contemporary aesthetic with a bit of an added futuristic, outer-space-like twist. Like I said, Byredo 2.0. Now, on to a review of the specific pieces I picked up!
Where I do feel that this collection is a bit of a surprise - or should I say, surprisingly unsurprising - is the actual product in these tubes. Don’t get me wrong - the quality, the pigment, the color payoff, all of it is excellent as a general makeup product. However, I don’t see a clear color story and where I may not have expected such a color story from other brands, I did here. This is because I feel that Byredo has an enviable cohesiveness to its brand - it’s fragrances, its hand soaps, its hand creams - you name it. And there is definitely the same cohesiveness here in terms of the packaging and overall design. It’s just that I can’t tell if there is a theme that pulls together all the colors chosen for this collection. Again, the colors in of themselves are beautiful - I was somehow just expecting some relationship between them. However, the colors themselves are more than just a nice set of colors individually - each of the colors is complex and nuanced in a way that is interesting and surprising. I purchased four colour sticks (Mesolithic, Flower Play, Sick Pink, and Chin of Gold) and one lipstick (Red Armchair). One of the more interesting aspects of the color sticks that I observed was for some of the sticks, there was a lot of visible variation in color when seen under different light situations. The good news though is that that doesn’t translate too much when swatched which means you don’t have to worry about the color looing radically different indoors vs outdoors for example.
Byredo Lipstick (Matte) 226 Red Armchair
As a self-proclaimed greatest lover of red lipstick, I can state with confidence that this is one of the best luxury red lipsticks I own. The swatches and promo pics of this lipstick definitely make it look less matte than it really is. This is a matte formula through and through with only the barest hint of shine. It is highly, and I mean - highly, pigmented. It goes on very smoothly and almost like a cream on the lips - delivering full opacity at first swipe. This lipstick performs. It delivers on every promise that the extremely heavy, extremely futuristic packaging points towards. This is a product that is beautiful both inside and outside. Comfortable to wear - and lasts and lasts. The color - Red Armchair - is a a cool-toned true red, swatched below.
Byredo Color Stick Mesolithic
The Mesolithic color stick is violet and dark pink with just a hint of something shimmery mixed in there which gives the color quite a bit of complexity. The pigment is high, color payoff and longevity is great, and the texture is super creamy and blendable. I loved wearing this one on my cheeks as a cool-toned blush. I would almost go as far as to say that if you want to buy just one color stick, get this one. The closest comparison I can make to this color and how it looks on my cheeks is the pale-pink/lilac shade in Burberry’s new face palette (light-medium) that is pretty much sold out everywhere and is a lot more expensive. This is a close dupe in terms of the effect it has on my cheeks. (swatched below)
Byredo Color Stick Sick Pink
This is a bright, hot pink. There is no detectable shimmer in this colour stick but it somehow looks luminous when I wear it on my cheeks as a blush. On my lips and eyes, this leans more matte. This is another extremely blendable pink that you can sheer out to nothing whereever you put it. It blends, and it lasts. There is nothing I can improve on in this formula. First-rate.
Byredo Color Stick Flower Play
Flower Play is a very sheer, very pale peachy-pink balm that applies a bit like a balm-y highlighter with just a touch of the peachy-pink coming through. It reminds me a lot of the new Chanel Baume Essentiel in Rosee except that Flower Play is more pigmented and a touch more shiny though there are no visible shimmers anywhere. In fact, in terms of the color, instead of the Chanel baume, I would have named this stick after a cold glass of rosé because that is exactly it’s color. The texture is very creamy and balm-like, again, comparable to the Chanel baume but a tad bit thicker than the Chanel formula. This looks beautiful applied as a highlighter and has a glass-like appearance on my skin.
Byredo Colour Stick Chin of Gold
Chin of Gold was the color I was most excited about. This is a warm, slightly copper-y gold that looks great on both my eyes and my cheeks (as a highlight). The complexity of shimmer in this formula is really something to see - and something that doesn’t quite show up to do justice in swatches. The shimmers are a mix of pink, green, gold, and silver sparkles all sitting snugly in a copper-gold base - you won’t see these immediately but when the light shines on them, they come alive, and this color comes alive with them. The texture is slightly more “gritty” owing to these sparkles but I promise you - the effect is worth it.
Swatches
Indoors, under a lamp - LtoR: Byredo Lipstick in Red Armchair, Byredo Color Sticks in Sick Pink, Mesolithic, Flower Play, Chin of Gold
In natural light (indirect sunlight), facing a window- LtoR: Byredo Lipstick in Red Armchair, Byredo Color Sticks in Sick Pink, Mesolithic, Flower Play, Chin of Gold
In direct sunlight- LtoR: Byredo Lipstick in Red Armchair, Byredo Color Sticks in Sick Pink, Mesolithic, Flower Play, Chin of Gold
So this is it - my take on Byredo’s new entry into the world of makeup. I will continue to try a few more pieces from the line and hopefully update this review (or write a new one), but in general, I am a fan. Beautiful inside and out - quite literally, this line delivers. What did you think?
