It’s nothing but a good sign when I get different shades from a lipstick line. With all the rage of liquid matte lipsticks storming into the beauty world, I’m still sticking to this one. After the success of all the other three shades, adding two new shades into the collection sounds like a well-reasoned idea.

In this post, I’ll be talking about one of them first, Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet 09 Happy Nude Year.

I had mentioned in my previous review that I was interested in the lighter shade Nude-ist. But, after seeing it in real life, I think the rose shade will not suit me. Then, came a chance where I could get the two newer shades, Grand Cru and Happy Nude Year. Despite there’s a “nude” in the name, from the swatches I’ve seen, Happy Nude Year is definitely NOT nude. But that’s okay, I’m more interested in the peachy tone it seems to have.

Believe it or not, when they came, I tried Happy Nude Year first over Grand Cru. There’s something in it that excites me more. Perhaps, because I don’t often play with lighter shades.

Looking promising..

As far as the formula goes, Happy Nude Year has similar consistency to the rest of Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvets that I have. I urge you to read my initial review to get a better idea of how I feel about the formula. It still offers that mousse-y, creamy consistency while remain lightweight. It coats my lips beautifully. The slanted doe foot applicator helps to line the lips, including the cupid’s bow, thus ensuring a neat application. I feel this one takes a smidgen bit longer to transform into that coveted velvety matte finish, but not as papery-like as the others. Again, I have no issues applying a lip balm before or after Happy Nude Year without it crumbling apart.

The differences are the staying power and how it wears off. As I have guessed, it doesn’t stay put as long as its siblings. The color will dissipate if I drink a lot or after a mere meal, especially in the center and inner rim of my lips. But that’s understandable though, not a big deal, considering Happy Nude Year is a light shade after all.

When it wears off, it’s not the prettiest thing. But it’s totally fixable, easy and actually opens up different possibilities on how to wear this. After eating, the formula will separate and look patchy. I remedy that with applying a little bit of Jack Black Lip Balm over the lips and use my ring finger to smudge the color around, basically just using whatever is left on the lips to create a softer look. I might add a dot of color to intensify the pigmentation a little. If I were to reapply, after lip balm + smudging, I will blot my lips with a tissue before administering a fresh new swipe of Happy Nude Year *that sounds oddly fitting*

It is quite love at a first sight with Happy Nude Year. I really, really like the color. I thought to myself, “Hey, I can actually wear this often!”

On me, it’s a light medium warm pink, with a peach undertone. It has just the right amount of peach to cancel out the blueness in my natural lip color, especially around the edges. To my surprise, it is quite bright yet remains a soft shade, if that makes any sense. I love how Happy Nude Year picks up the complexion nicely. It’s very cheery, full of bubblegum happiness.

I do have to mention, because it is a light color with a velvety matte finish, this shade emphasizes my vertical lip lines and any dry bits, if any. To counter that, I like wearing this with slightly blotted lip balm so that the final look won’t look too “dry” and “prune-y”. Applying a lip balm, of course, will help providing extra moisture on my lips, because Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet lipsticks are on the drying side.

Aaaand, here’s how it looks on me, 2-3 coats:

In the photo, I was wearing PIXI Endless Silky Eye Pen in True Teal on my eyes. I think it gives a nice contrast and a pop of color. In any event, I feel I can pair Happy Nude Year with all sorts of different eye shadows and liners. It’s pretty damn versatile! You can also see another photo of me wearing it: here.

Happy Nude Year has become my go-to, no-brainer shade on the days where I’m not wearing any makeup but I need to look alive. Sunday Mass is probably when I wear this shade the most often. To sum it up, this liquid lipstick with its compact and small size has earned a permanent residence in my bag.

Because I lack ‘normal’ shades and Happy Nude Year fits the bill perfectly ;)