Le Rouge Parfum is the first make-up collection from luxury, niche fragrance brand By Kilian. Described as a “wardrobe“ of iconic reds in six shades, all are available in matte or satin finishes. But the star feature of the lipstick line-up is the incredible scent, of course. Here, the man behind By Kilian, Kilian Hennessy, talks about the new additions.
On The Timing
“What I’d been doing for over 12 years with fragrance was creating weapons of seduction, and so scented lipsticks are in fact not so different. In the same way that we adapt the fragrances to translate them into body lotions, or for the candles, this is translating them into lipstick.”
On Why They’re All Red
“Really because it’s the colour that I like, aesthetically. SO often I hear of women searching for the perfect red lipstick. And I’m not crazy about pink frankly. So I thought, let’s only do reds. And we’ll expand the range so there are actually 12 more to come, more reds. Reds with a strawberry touch, reds with brown…”
On The Scent
“The scent of the lipsticks is based on one of our top sellers, Love, Don’t Be Shy, from 2007. It’s a floral gourmand with orange blossom and marshmallow. So that was the base, but the challenge was that the raw materials allowed in perfume are not allowed in lipstick. So it has a quality of that scent, but is not exactly the same, and is softer, of course.”
“I didn’t want something too complex, but the thing is lipstick does have a scent. I remember when MAC launched their first lipsticks and they had a scent: vanilla. So I’m kind of jumping on the shoulders of MAC and taking it even further with these lipsticks. I knew that nobody was waiting for a new lipstick brand, there are so many, and so we had to create something new. I’m so lucky to be part of Estée Lauder as I have access to their labs, and so I really asked them to push the boundaries. That’s how we got this really advanced matte finish that is comfortable to wear.”
Le Rouge Parfum Scented Lip Colour, £42 each and available at Harrods.
