Guerlain Rouge G Legendary Reds Collection

 

I adore Guerlain perfumes - me and the rest of the world. They've created so many iconic fragrances and reference points over their years that you can't really be a lover of perfume and not hold Guerlain's work in the industry in the highest of regards. However, I'm also a massive fan of their lipsticks, which I don't feel are maybe quite as lauded.

The Rouge G system is a refillable lipstick system, where you purchase your case of choice and your shade of choice separately. This system is becoming more common, but I think it's worth mentioning Guerlain have had this system for years, well before Charlotte Tilbury, Fenty, Dior and Chanel - amongst many, many others - launched refillable lipsticks. That's not me trying to be disparaging towards those brands by any means, but I don't always feel Guerlain get the praise and recognition they deserve outside of fragrance and this really has been something they were ahead of the curve on. So ahead of the curve, in fact, that they actually designed the first ever bullet lipstick in 1870 - called Ne M'Oubiez Pas - and, even then, had designed it to be refillable. In the way Guerlain have basically invented categories of perfume over the years, they also invented modern lipstick. Regardless of your choice of bullet, you have Guerlain to thank for it. 

The collection I am posting about today is inspired by Guerlain's heritage with lipstick - the Legendary Reds Rouge G collection. 

There are three reds in the collection, each a reproduction of an archive shade and named for the year it originally came from. As you can imagine, I basically squealed when I saw the promotional materials for this collection start to drip through. Part of what I love about fragrance is that, whilst ingredient regulations have caused changes, houses such as Guerlain and Chanel have been incredibly careful to accommodate those changes without affecting their juices, meaning if I smell Shalimar now in 2022, I'm connecting with women from the 1920s onwards who have worn that fragrance. I love that idea, of wearing living history, and this collection feels like it's the lipstick equivalent of that.  

Chronologically we have:

1830 - Rouge Du Tigre

On their video promoting this collection, Guerlain described this as 'A tribute to the very first red shade of the original Guerlain lip and cheek colour... a brick red inspired the deep brownish undertones of red lacquered Chinese pieces of art.' It's my favourite every day type of lipstick - a rusty red that I feel plays well with my hair and eye colour. Although it's inspired by a shade from 1830, I feel this has a very 1940s feel to it, which has always been my personal favourite decade for make up.

1870 - Rouge Imperial 

This shade is a reproduction of - 'The star shade of Ne M'Oubiez Pas, the very first lip colour in a stick.' The best seller in the 1870s and inspired by the muse of the house of Guerlain - Empress Eugenie, who had appointed Guerlain 'Her Majesty’s Patened Perfumer’. The deep berry shade was inspired by the clothing worn by those at court in 1870. 

1925 - Roi Des Rouges

Originally created in the 20s, 'to please women's appeal for freedom and inventive beauty in the roaring 20s. A pure red drawing all attentions and illuminating theatre beauty icons.' This is the brightest of the three shades - a touch too bright perhaps to be called a classic red, it does have that classic blue undertone that makes teeth look whiter.  

To compliment the new lipsticks, Guerlain have released three new cases - Luxurious Garnet, Royal Burgundy and Majestic Ruby.

I have photographed here Luxurious Garnet, Royal Burgundy and Red Velvet. Red Velvet was released just before Christmas when the new finish of Guerlain Rouge G's - the velvet - was launched. I did take it in and compare it on counter to the Majestic Ruby case and whilst they are not exactly the same, they were just too similar for me to be able to justify having both. I am a collector of the Rouge G cases but they are weighty, beautiful heirloom worthy cases - not flimsy lipstick cases and therefore the price is not a flimsy one. 

Although I didn't purchase all three cases I purchased the three lipstick shades in the velvet finish - a powdery soft, non drying matte formula I find very forgiving on the lips. You can see in the soft edges of the swatches below that these lipsticks have almost a soft, blurry finish to them - meaning they can be dabbed on and blended with a finger for a soft, muted look, or swiped with the bullet for full coverage.

Again I have swatched these chronologically - 1830 - 1870 - 1925.

Guerlain did actually release each of these shades in two finishes - the velvets, which I have here and in their satin formula. Being a fan of matte lipsticks, I went velvet but if you're more comfortable in a satin formula it's worth knowing that's an option.