Celine is launching one of the most beautiful red lipsticks ever made, courtesy of its former artistic, creative, and image director Hedi Slimane. Available today, the brand’s first foray into makeup begins with a perfumed cosmetic.
Delicately scented with notes of rice powder and rose, the fragrance strongly recalls scents popular in the 1970s. It also features Celine Haute Parfumerie’s signature powdery note that Slimane has woven through each scent in his previous fragrance collection. The formula is hydrating and long-wearing, and it’s also filled with nourishing ingredients like squalane to condition lips as it adds color.
The lipstick positively gleams, thanks to its rich, creamy, satin-like finish, in a classic red (Rouge Triomphe, with more shades to come). Starting with a versatile shade is perfect for a brand that’s emblematic of Paris, the city where red lipstick is practically a neutral color choice. The bullet is embossed with Celine’s couture monogram, which adds an artistic—and hyper-luxe—flair.
The case itself is something of an objet d’art—the lipstick is housed in a lavish gold tube designed for the most precise application possible. It’s the kind of product you’d want to proudly display, and its refillable nature makes it the perfect forever item to keep in your bag. Turns out, when designing the sleek case, Slimane took inspiration from Louis XVI’s gold jewelry (a hallmark of late 18th century French classicism) and more modern Art Deco elements. It’s just the thing to pair with, say, a Celine Pilates Reformer, for the Pilates girl who has almost everything.
A version of this story appears in the September 2024 issue of ELLE.
Kathleen Hou is ELLE’s Beauty Director. Previously, she held the same title at New York Magazine’s The Cut. She’s appeared in publications such as The New York Times Magazine, Vogue India, Forbes, and Allure. She was also a co-founder of Donate Beauty, a grassroots beauty donation project started during the COVID-19 crisis, which donated over 500,000 products to over 30,000 healthcare workers across 500-plus hospitals.
Katie Berohn is ELLE’s beauty editor. Previously, she held the same title at Who What Wear, where she was promoted from associate beauty editor. She’s written for publications like The Cut, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, and Mashable. Her interests include fragrance, vintage shopping, hot yoga, food, travel, music, books, and attempting to make every NYT Cooking recipe. She’s on the endless hunt to find the perfect shade of red lipstick.