Our beauty editor reviews the Sofia Coppola x Augustinus Bader tinted lip balms
Ask a Red reader how she’d like to dress – I mean, really like to dress – if real life were no obstacle, and she might reference at least one Sofia Coppola film… maybe the backlit 1970s florals of The Virgin Suicides, or the macaron-inspired pastels of Marie Antoinette’s shoe collection. Probably Priscilla’s blowsy nightgown, too.
Back in the real world, Coppola’s own ballet flats and demure blouses are more our speed, albeit often from Chanel. But for a piece of ‘Coppola-core’ that’s as pretty as it is practical and relatively affordable, the Oscar-winning director has created a trio of dreamy tinted lip balms with the high-end skincare brand Augustinus Bader.
But this wouldn’t be Coppola-core if there weren’t an equally cute narrative attached: see Shade 1, a deep raspberry inspired by a long-lost lipstick Coppola used to buy in a Parisian pharmacy and had never managed to find anywhere again. "I’m always searching for the perfect one that you can put on like a chapstick and gives a hint of colour that’s easy, and a little lift that doesn’t look makeup-y," she says. And so she called up her favourite skincare company and asked them to collaborate on the perfect formulation... and Augustinus Bader (naturally) said yes.
Shade 2 is the kind of coral Coppola likes to wear on a day at the beach while Shade 3 is a deep plum that’s one or two stops darker than your own lips. And, honestly, they're all lovely. Being made by Augustinus Bader, they share the brand's proprietary blend of amino acids, peptides and vitamins known as TFC8®. This wouldn't mean much if they didn't step up to nourishing a notoriously hard-to-hydrate area of the body, but they do – and I say that as someone who has only ever fully approved of one or two other lip balms, in a long career in beauty.
The shades – which are sheer but still punchy enough to show up – are subtle and flattering, and when you apply them without a mirror it really doesn't matter if you colour slightly over the lines, because all you get is that prettily kissed-off effect makeup artists spend ages deliberately perfecting.
Augustinus Bader x Sofia Coppola Lip Balm review
The finish is glossy but not gloopy, with a transparent ice lolly kind of shine, and the colour stays put. And if a lip balm can claim to sum up a film maker's back catalogue, then the look of these captures Coppola's soft and hazy aesthetic pretty well. I'd find it hard to choose a favourite; they're all equally gorgeous. But if the darker Shade 3 isn't one you'd usually reach for, know that this tawny plum hue is excellent at picking up the almost-blue tones in your natural lip colour, for the most natural look of all three. (I just went on a two-day work trip with multiple meetings, dinners and lunches and these were the only lip products I took with me – though number 3 was the shade that got the biggest work-out.)
Importantly they're also sleek and lovely to handle, as they should be, because while they're cheaper than a pair of Chanel ballet flats, they're still a treat. Buy one, buy two or buy all three... I couldn't recommend them more highly.
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