YSL Baby Doll Kiss & Blush is a Matte Multi-Tasker For Lips and Cheeks

Based on the name alone—Baby Doll Kiss & Blush (!!)—I knew I would love YSL's latest makeup launch. Whoever is coming up with the product names over there is a genius and knows exactly how to make women pull out their wallets.

The concept is really cool, too: A mousse-like matte cream that can be used on both lips AND cheeks. So it's not only super-convenient, but exactly the texture I want. You guys have read enough red carpet round-ups to know how I feel about shimmer and glossiness…. Matte is everything right now. And I've always loved cream blushes over powders.

Here are a few shots of the chic square bottles:

When you pull out the pretty doe foot applicators, the bottles look like little ink pots. Do you die?? So, so cute.

I was sent two shades to try out of the 12 that are available:

They are: 2 Rose Frivole, which is a true baby pink, and 10 Nude Insolent, a brownish rose. This is how they look unblended:

This is important: they are not stains and they are not glossy at all (that's just the lighting in the photo). They're creamy, moussey, flat colours—like if you were to put the YSL creme de Blush in liquid lip colour form.

Speaking of which, I found out at a L'Oréal event the other night (where my friend and I spent a good 15 minutes boring the YSL PR about how much we love the Kiss & Blush) that they may just be replacing the creme de Blush altogether with these new Kiss & Blushes. So that means the two products are REALLY similar—just in a more convenient, multi-purpose format now. (But if you still love the creme de Blush, I suggest to stock up now while you still can! I've used that blush on a weekly basis for more than five years, so I'm a little sad it's going away.)

Anyway, let's see how the colours look! Here is 2 Rose Frivole, the one I was initially the most drawn to, on lips and cheeks (just blended with fingers):

When you first dab it on your cheeks, you think it's going to be too dark and overdone, but once you start blending, it's not at all. I like this colour for those days when you want a girly pink flush. On the lips, it's an understated matte pink that would be great paired with bolder eye makeup.

Note that on the lips, these are not drying at all, like other matte lipsticks. They feel creamy and moisturizing.

Left to my own devices, I probably never would have chosen 10 Nude Insolent for myself. But you know what, I actually don't mind it:

On the lips, it's more brown than I'm usually comfortable with, but I actually think it's a nice step out of the comfort zone—a brownish berry that's surprisingly flattering. I did a heavier application of this one on the lips, and the light picks up a bit of a satiny finish. I also really love this colour for the cheeks. It's more subtle and tone-on-tone than the pink one, so it makes a great go-with-everything blush colour. It would suit every skin tone.

Needless to say, one of these has been in my handbag pretty much non-stop for all of May.

The other colours in the collection that I've got my eye on include 1 Fuchsia Desinvolte, a hot pink, and 5 Rouge Effrontee, a cherry red. Plus I think 7 Corail Affranchi would be a close match to my favourite peach shade of the soon-to-be-extinct creme de Blush.

Thoughts? Are you dying to try these now??

Where to Buy

Find Yves Saint Laurent Baby Doll Kiss & Blush online at the following retailers:

• Canada: Sephora, Hudson's Bay
• USA: Sephora, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, YSLBeautyUS.com

Have Your Say

Have you checked out Kiss & Blush yet?

What do you think of this makeup concept?

Which colour would be your pick?