Lipstick is an enduring staple. Add a splash of carmine to any look and you’re pretty much good to go. Byredo’s creative image and makeup partner Lucia Pica knows this. Having cut her teeth as the former head of Chanel Beauty and with years of primping famed faces already under her belt before she joined the Swedish label, makeup is her game and lipstick? well that’s her passion. Born from the Italian cosmetic specialist’s whimsical imagination, the brand’s new Liquid Lipstick Matte line-up delivers beauty in abundance.

Conceived to enhance the inner-identity of the person who wears it – without a “mask of artifice” – Liquid Lipstick Matte is a reformulated range of the brand’s premier Vinyl Liquid Lipsticks which were released in 2022, and each new product is endlessly refillable for everyday wear, time and time again.

Featuring a self-assured selection of effervescent hues with a creamy vegan formula and a velvety, mattifying finish that feels moist – not dry or powdery, but more like a layer of lip balm infused with vivid pigments – texture is the focal point. Touch, the haptic sense, was Pica’s point of departure. She imagined the product as a “sensorial second skin” and the results speak for themselves.

There are ten confident colours to choose from, hitting every high-pigment hue from deep, seductive reds to mysterious browns and light, inviting pinks, each full-bodied and round and given poignant names like Muted Cry, Red Coma, Space In Between, Calmer, Marriage, Fire Grace, etc.

The collection is intended to make a mark, and not just on your partner’s cheek when you give them a kiss, but on the world and those around you every time you wear it. It’s about making a statement and blatantly unveiling the inner ‘you’. Ben Gorham, the founder and creative director of Byredo said in a statement, “We conceived of Liquid Lipstick as going back to gut emotions, something extremely authentic and elemental.” Throughout the day, Liquid Lipstick Matte becomes part of the person who wears it, like a purposely blurred second skin, lightly worn.

Due to the lightly flocked wand contained within the packaging, application is a deed of ease with precision in its pocket, delivering dramatic colour saturation in a single stroke. This offers agency to the wearer, amplifying pre-existing features, even when worn alone without any other makeup, completely redefining the no-makeup, makeup look.

Here, we sat down with Pica – the makeup maestro – at Byredo’s Lexington Street store to discuss the lush new release. Pica talks us through the extensive range of colours, the formula and its primal packaging. She suggests methods of wear and imagines her future with the multifaceted beauty brand, setting her sights on a rouge revolution. Liquid Lipstick Matte is just the start.

THE SHADES OF LIQUID LIPSTICK MATTE

Pica: “Lips are taking centre stage this year. The launch of Liquid Lipstick Matte which follows the Vinyl Liquid Lipsticks that came out [in] September 2022 – that was when I first started. [Now] I’m in my third year at Byredo. Creating a liquid matte expands [the] texture to a wider audience.

“There is a confidence in the choice of colour that represents you, that has an impact and leaves a memory of you. It becomes part of you. These colours have a roundness and mutability that adapts to you. They express and amplify who you are. There is an intimacy between texture and emotion. There is the expression and amplification of who you are and how you make a mark.

“I wanted to create colours that went from light to dark [with] accents of brightness, but for each colour to be defined as a star within the range. So, Marriage is a really dark burgundy and [super] intense, and then Red Coma, a heightened version of a red, is bright, bold and wonderful. Fire Grace is so beautiful it’s a blue [toned] red, it’s [much] darker and deeper. [There’s also] Calmer, it’s like that ‘90s brown, [which] was me playing a little bit with my youth, and [finally,] Space In-Between, which represents something in-between a pink, beige and brown. [There’s] this [evident] exploration of colour within the range.

“The colours are meant to have the quality of wearability, so I [looked] for undertones that make them so; not flat and primary. I did a brown, orange and yellow [underneath], anything that made [the lipstick] look better on the skin.That’s something I think about a lot – strength and wearability at the same time, I’m happy to make a statement but I want it to feel like it could be a part of you.

“Karma is my [ultimate] favourite! Marriage which is the darkest one is another favourite, and Space In Between as well. I’m a lipstick girl, I wear it bold, and every day. I feel happy and fresh with a little bit of colour on.”

THE FORMULA

Pica: “Matte texture is [often] seen as niche because it’s considered a bold statement. Generally speaking matte textures [are] quite heavy, drying or powdery which is what I wanted to stay away from. The choice of texture was important to me; to modernise this texture and make it more wearable. In fact, I’d say this texture is so thin and qualitative it melts into your skin to a point where you forget about it. [This is] important as it [may attract a] young teenager, [influencing them] to experiment, or an older [individual] who wants to [find a level of] trust [within] the product [knowing] that it’s going to stay on and not [sink] into the lines of the lips. I really thought through the process behind the texture and colours.

“I’ve tried my hardest to find that [desired] thin texture that feels [comfortable] for a long [period of] time. [Understanding that] the preparation of the lips is important, if you start with dry lips you can’t really blame the lipstick. When people say ‘oh it’s dried out’ I’m like okay but did you prep the lips? Use lip balms! If [we only] consider healthy, [well-prepped] lips, [then no] this does not dry the lips.”

PACKAGING AND DESIGN

Pica: “[The packaging] really has that sort of organic and natural landscape element to it. There’s something very naturalistic about it. When creating an image, I’m always trying to combine class and subversion so you get those elements of surprise and freshness and newness that you can’t quite put your finger on but it’s balanced and it’s attractive; subversive and beautiful at the same time.”

HOW TO WEAR IT

Pica: “Liquid Lipstick Matte is interesting because it’s really precise, even if you aren’t an expert it makes life much easier. It guides you in a way [where] you can follow the applicator and have a [perfectly] defined bold lip. [Alternatively] If you want to use it as a stain, put a little bit in the middle of the lip and either blend it with your fingertip or with a small blending brush (which you’d normally use for your eye) and blur around the edges of the mouth so it gives a smudged effect. For a more transparent look, apply a lip balm underneath the matte.

“[Personally] I start my makeup with lipstick first, then I put a little on my cheeks, [after that] I go over it with concealer, and conceal wherever it’s needed, which is usually only a tiny bit as I don’t like to use too much. I always wear lipstick, I don’t necessarily have to as I don’t do it for anybody else, but I do it for myself!”

THE FUTURE OF BYREDO BEAUTY

Pica: “We want to make the lipsticks a signature of Byredo, along with the fragrances. Lipsticks are that perfect addition that represents you in the same way that a scent can represent you. You can enter the room and then leave, leaving a scent in the same way you can leave a memory with the colour of your lipstick, catching someone’s eye in a more instantaneous way.

“We are also working on a lip balm, a reproduction of the one that we already have so it can be even more nourishing, moisturising and easy to use. Hopefully we will be exploring other areas of the face too. I’m working on something exciting!

“It’s about creating the fundamentals of makeup – building that trust with our community and focusing on quality within the details and our research into [both] the colour-making and the inspiration. To be really profound about everything and build a bridge between makeup and perfume. Combining luxury with something modern, and creating a real staple which will be remembered.”

Photography courtesy of Byredo.

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