A red lip can be summarized into two words: iconic and timeless. Legend has it that the first known painted lip in a sumptuous shade of red was created over 5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia by mixing crushed gemstones, insects, and natural pigments–yet the bullet lipstick in a tube that we’ve come to know and love wouldn’t be made until the early 1920s. Over a century later, women of a new era have adopted red lipstick in their own way and have made it a permanent beauty staple—from Marilyn Monroe to Taylor Swift to perhaps your own mother who may have an old lippie lying around the bottom of her purse. And of course, we can’t forget French girls, for whom lipstick has become part of their beauty standards: fresh skin, groomed brows, a slick of mascara (1 to 2 coats, no more, no less), and a healthy amount of red lipstick glided across the lips for a certain je ne sais quoi.

Lipstick CELINE BEAUTÉ by Hedi Slimane
Le Rouge Celine lipstick in shade Rouge Triomphe
($75, available in select Celine boutiques and celine.com)

Keeping on this trend, CELINE is throwing their hat into the ring as the French fashion house is finally launching a proper beauty range called CELINE BEAUTÉ, starting with the Le Rouge Celine lipstick (and an even more expansive collection at the top of next year). Kicking off the line in a bold way—with only one singular red shade available this fall called 01 Rouge Triomphe—the lipstick echos the house’s design codes, set in place by Hedi Slimane. With the gold metal-faced case itself drawing inspiration from late 18th-century French-style classicism (think Louis XVI gold jewelry), with notes of the Art Deco era. With striking (and refillable) packaging, the satin-finish formula of the lipstick is comprised of 89% natural origin ingredients, delivering the promise of clean beauty while offering a radiant and hydrating look for the lips. Topped off with delicate rose accord and rice powder, for a powdery soft note that echos the scents of the house’s Haute Parfumerie fragrance collection, Le Rouge Celine will be the perfect accessory for your boudoir or tucked away neatly in your CELINE Teen Nino bag.

This story appears in the pages of V150: now available for purchase!

Photography Charles Billot

Photo assistant Thom Sanchez

Location Porter Studio

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