YSL New Blacks False Lash Effect Cream Eyeliners: Review, Pictures and Swatches

I absolutely love this mid-season collection from YSL which will arrive on counter on September 21st (it's already previewed at Brown Thomas). It's the New Blacks - or if you want to be really fancy about it, Noirs Couleurs, and oh boy, it's a good'un. It's all about jewel-shot blacks and more specifically, it's mostly about eyes: check six False Lash Effect Shocking mascaras, €31, a matching complement of new cream liners, one False Lash Effect Shocking Felt-tip Eyeliner, €30, three nail shades and a liner brush, €28.

I've really got to admire YSL's ability to package beauty bits up into bijoux packages that are teeny weeny, put scary price tags on them and still make us all squee with delight and clap our hands together with glee and longing. Right before we rush out the door to the shops, credit card in hand, naturellment mon cheries.

While this launch is primarily about the six coloured False Lash Effect Shocking mascaras (which are Faux Cils amped up, as far as I am aware, and which are deadly, but sure we knew that, it's Faux Cils, duh), it's the cream liners I'm most taken with, so we're gonna be looking at them today.

N° 3 – Bronze Black, N° 1 – Deep Black, N° 5 – Cherry Black, N° 2 – Ashy Black, N° 6 – Jade Black, N° 4 – Sea Black. The False Lash Effect Shocking mascaras come in matching shades.

I'm writing this with a wry smile on my face, y'see - the False Lash Effect Cream Eyeliners in this collection are a pretty wee 2.8g and are a pricey €28, but sweet divine they're quite the nicest I've seen, and I know loads of you will be in The Love with them too. Lets take a look. Above are the six shades to launch; I was sent three - deep black, jade black and sea black.

Packaging: I give you 10/10 Mr YSL. You win at gold. Your goodness at glass pots makes me nearly forget this costs €4 more than a Bobbi Brown gel liner and contains .2g less product. Nearly.

Deep Black's a fairly standard black cream/gel liner with no shimmer or standoutness in particular, so we're gonna take a closer look at the blue and green because they're so ready for their closeup. Packed with shimmer, the green is beautiful. I missed out on that gorgeous jade shade from Mac's Mickey Contractor launch and while this is less blue, it's a really nice substitute for it, so I'm delighted with it.  If you've been after a good green, check this out. The shimmer really lifts it out of the ordinary, and the same goes for the blue.

Jade black, sea black and deep black

Here are swatches of my trio: texture is super-smooth and creamy, there's tons of pigment, consistency is Goldilocks (just right) and they're a dream to work with. Which, of course, you absolutely expect and demand from a product at this price. But these are really excellent - they glide on in one swoop, are opaque in a single coat so no layering required; they're just hassle-free and a cinch to use with no dragging or clagging.

In short, False Lash Effect Cream Eyeliners are superb. Yes, you can now get absolutely brilliant gel liners at budget prices, and for that I am very glad, but if you'd like a posh purchase then these have the Beaut.ie seal of approval.

Nails are also standouts in this collection with three limited edition La Laques in  N° 126 (bronze), 127 (purple) and 128 (Prussian blue), €20 each.

126 (bronze) and 127 (purple)

Deliciously shimmery in the bottle, on the nails they transform and become a lot blacker which you can see from the model shot and my own nails directly above. The model's wearing 128 and I've got 127 on. They're delicious, perfect in two coats and gorgeously glossy with a high shine top coat. Again, my wry smile comes out - these bottles only contain 6ml and they're €20 - yeah, I think they saw us coming.  And do I mind. Erm, no ... it's YSL ...

So, like the look of anything?