Enter, Serge Lutens.
When it comes to minimal, discreet luxury you can't go past the superlative Serge Lutens.
Renowned for his fragrances, he has also curated a cosmetics line, which is a roundup of beauty essentials kept exclusive not just by its eye watering prices, but by its restrictive range of products and palettes.
The range is deliberately small, but far from boring. Each product is painstakingly considered, right down to its black-lacquered packaging. There is no need for every shade of red lipstick when the perfect, select few have already been born. This humility around the brand's diversity is not for the fickle minded, or easily bored.
It's for the woman who commits to a single lip pencil for the rest of her life.
Distraction is the very antithesis of luxury, and as such, the packaging of Serge Lutens cosmetics are as quiet as they come; completely bare and free from branding and logos.
For the minimalist at heart, every ounce of the cosmetic line adheres to the aesthetic; from the geometry of the products, that marry up perfectly beside one another, to the discretion of the no- fuss, black exteriors.
They are uniform in their elegance, and encourage an almost ritualistic use.
Serge Lutens is almost puritanical in execution; which means his nude shades are so believable that when worn on the face they are almost imperceptible. His vibrant shades are, conversely, brutally honest in their contrast to what is found in nature, with an unapologetic leaning towards the macabre, whilst still being beautiful.
If the hushed reverence of quiet aesthetics are the building blocks of luxury, then functionality and ease is at the core of its DNA. Sturdy compacts, that reassuringly snap closed with finality; and textures that are completely seamless with the skin.
The Cils Cellophane mascara is the gateway drug to the class A cosmetic line; with it's ability to envelope individual lashes, with a whisper-light dexterity, and attach to each the finest, most imperceptible fibers.
Everything is sheer. Nothing is invisible.
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