Guerlain is a luxury French beauty brand known both for their skincare & makeup. I still remember the first time I got to try Guerlain Beauty products at an event maybe four or five years ago; I tried the Lingerie de Peau foundation & the cult Rouge G lipsticks. The experience was, something else! Definitely one of those memorable beauty moments for me. I did go to a beauty counter a few weeks later to buy my own bottle of foundation but sadly didn’t get a good shade match. Then Guerlain seemed to disappear from India for a while, but now they’re back & bigger than ever.

A few months ago I attended their grand relaunch event where they introduced us to two new products, the Abeille Royale skincare line & KissKiss Matte range of lipsticks. I’ve been trying this lipstick since September & I’m finally ready to talk about it!

Guerlain KissKiss Matte Lipstick Review

About: Guerlain imagines KissKiss Matte, a hydrating and plumping matte lipstick, intense like a lipstick and comfortable like a balm! The subtle spice extract it contains gives the impression of voluminous lips while the precious oils and the hyaluronic acid smooth and hydrate them. KissKiss Matte offers 9 captivating shades for all special occasions. The iconic packaging is adorned with a golden matte veil.

Packaging: This is definitely the first thing that attracts me to a product & it gains even more importance. Do you think people would bother buying Chanel or Jimmy Choo nail polishes if they came in standard bottles? I’ve heard time & again that Guerlain (along with fellow French brand, YSL) does the nicest luxe packaging & I have to agree.

The lipstick tube is shaped like rectangular & shaped like gold bricks, I often find metallic gold makeup packaging can look a little over the top but the muted colour & matte finish of the packaging keeps it understated & classy. The bullet itself is a pretty standard shape but it does have KISS KISS engraved on the side of it.

Shade / Colour Payoff: The 9 shades available in India run from daily wear nudes to reds, plums & even some vampy evening shades. Zesty Orange is a deep orange shade that doesn’t scream ORANGE but it leans pretty red, I’d say it’s better classified as an orange-red shade (one of my all time favorite kind of colours to wear!) Orange reds suit Indians skin tones so well (because of our warm undertones) & would look great with a slightly orange toned blush or even bronzer. I’d classify it as more of a daytime colour but you can easily wear it at night with, say, heavier eye makeup.

You get a lot of coverage with just one swipe but (which you can even wear as a stain after muting with your fingers) but I’d say it takes about two swipes for full coverage.

Formula: Guerlain waxes eloquent about how this is supposed to be a hydrating matte lipstick (which is so rare, as mattes tend to be very drying). It does have a lot of nourishing ingredients & goes on semi creamy. It does even have a little bit of reflective sheen for a while (which helps your lips look plumper), it’s definitely not a flat matte. It was definitely more nourishing & comfortable to wear than a lot of mattes out there & also very light, I wasn’t aware of a layer of paint on my lips, unlike with a lot of other mattes. Like with all matte products though, it helps to have nourishes lips, if you haven’t been regular with lip balm this does have a tendency to start feeling slightly dry a few hours in & it’s also more prone to settle into lines on dry lips.

Wear Time: For how comfortable it is, it’s also really long lasting. You’ll get 6-8 hours of wear easily. It does disappear a bit if you eat a meal, thankfully without leaving a mess.

In Conclusion

I’ve really enjoyed everything about the Guerlain KissKiss Matte lipstick. It’s gorgeous to look at, comfortable to wear & I find myself reaching for it very often. While hydrating matte doesn’t mean it’ll take the place of a lip balm, it is the perfect lipstick for folks who like how most matte lipstick look but not how they feel – I think I’ve made a convert of my mom, who usually yells something on the lines of NO MATTES!! every time I ask her to wear any of my lipsticks. So all in all, no complains really.

Cost & Availability in India

The lipstick costs ₹2,775 in India (for 3.5gms of product) which is quite fair considering the international prices, it’s also in line with products by other luxury brands in India like Estee Lauder.

Availability is still slightly limited, you can purchase from Guerlain counters at Shopper’s Stop Outlets across India. Apparently they should be on everyone’s favorite beauty ecommerce website soon, I’ll update you folks once that happens.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below! x

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Renaissance Mumbai has got to be one of my favorite hotels in the city, one that I’ve been visiting for over four years. Built on a hill, it offers a stunning view of Powai Lake. I’ve blogged / vlogged about them so many times before, but these photos of the Powai skyline taken from the hotel lawns & the feast I had at Emperor’s Court for Chinese New Year are my two favorite (blog posts and memories).

The property is celebrating it’s 15th year in a grand way with the launch of Quan Spa. Inspired by the natural elixir of life – water, the spa borrows the restorative quality of this natural element to provide healing therapies and treatments which are pure, natural and help to repair the natural balance of the body. Quan Spa offers an exotic menu of exquisitely designed treatments that uses organic ingredients to calm and soothe the frayed nerves of weary travelers.

I was invited to experience the Jet Lag Massage Treatment which came at the perfect time!

The waiting / reception area of the spa is really large, soothing & tastefully decorated with fresh flowers. After having a look at the services they offer, I was led in. Little did I know how much bigger it is inside!

The first step is obviously to get out of my stuffy jeans & into some spa appropriate garb! I was given a robe, disposable panties & slippers, while my clothes & belongings were kept in a locker.

Excited about my massage, thought it called for a selfie. I was then taken to these cute little day beds, loved the natural light streaming in here. There were a ton of magazine & I was served a cup of lemon tea. One of the best parts was the view, it looked onto the manicured lawns with a fountain.

After a quick bit of pre-massage relaxation here, I then met with my therapist, Aruna & was taken to the massage room.

It was dimly lit & tastefully decorate with subtle Indian accents. My massage started with a foot rinse in the brass tub by the chair, before heading to the table.

The next hour was basically pure bliss. The Jet Lag massage is a full body treatment said to relax tired muscles & nerves as well as improve circulation. Before we began, Aruna asked if there was any place I wanted special attention paid to, & I requested the upper back, because that’s where I carry a ton of tension, plus spending long hours at the computer has really messed up my posture.

My treatment started with a few minutes of dry massage, followed by a very thorough oil massage, where every part of my body (think neck to toes) was coaxed into a state of extreme relaxation. After the massage, I got a full body steam (my first time!) followed by a quick shower. Didn’t want to leave there, but of course I had to move on to the next part of the evening!

Post my pampering at Quan Spa, it was time for some grub. Mom & I headed to Nawab Saheb, their contemporary Indian restaurant. Though I had been to Emperor’s Court many times, this was my first visit to Nawab Saheb & that was enough to make me seriously anticipate the meal!

Nawab Saheb is headed by Chef Yunus Khan who specializes in Indian gourmet. He was lovely to talk to, asked us if we had any special requests & came around many times to chat with the diners.

Started with some fruity mocktails.

Nawab Saheb has a Kebab Festival (Kahani Kebab Ki) on till the 27th of November, serving a wide array of various vegetarian, meat & seafood kebabs. You have an option of either a la carte dishes or ordering a set menu, which is the best because it lets you sample more dishes.

Under set menu, you could opt for Meat, Vegetarian, Seafood or do what we did & opt for mix – it’s the best of all worlds!

These were every kebab we tried. They were all tender, not too spicy (just as we requested) but bursting with flavor. I’d have to say that the paneer one was my favorite – I was skeptical about the dry fruit stuffing but it works magnificently.

Mom & I aren’t big eaters, so when the time came for mains we were pretty stuffed & hence requested smaller potions to avoid wasting food. These were a few dals & curries.

I’ve mentioned time & again that I’m not much of a biryani person – I always found the dish to be a bit overhyped & I never quite got the fuss surrounding it. Well after trying this Ghosht (mutton) biryani, I’ve now officially a convert. It was moist, fragrant & the best biryani I’ve had in a while, it sort of reminded me of this excellent Lamprais I tried at Mount Lavinia Hotel, Colombo earlier this month (ok Biryani & Lamprais are two different dishes but I do think they’re closely related!)

After dinner, it was time to head to the dessert section – mainly Bengali sweets & a dizzying array of flavored paans!

I’ve eaten petha & I’ve eaten meetha paan, but I’d never eaten Petha Paan (the green triangle, below) – such an innovative dessert.

A good masala (spice mix) is the cornerstone of any Indian dish, & all the masalas used to prepare the dishes at Nawab Saheb are made in house through traditional methods, Chef Yunus very kindly gave us some garam masala, I can’t wait to try it in some of my preparations at home.

I thoroughly enjoyed my evening at the hotel, I’d like to thank the team at Renaissance for putting together this truly wonderful, personalized experience for me.

I also vlogged my highlights of the evening, which you can watch below! x

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