Since the beginning of this year I’ve been in a lipstick phase, my lip colour holy grail has been a truly orange orange – not coral, not apricot – orange! So when I called for suggestions on Twitter last week, Shiseido Perfect Rouge ‘Day Lily’ came up. I looked up some swatches online, and of all the orange/corals out there, this one seemed the most promising in delivering a truly vivid orange. I immediately went in search of this lip colour, and found it, for $24.45 at Cleopatra’s Choice.

This is my first Shiseido product, but based on the price tag, I was expecting great things! So here’s a look at the product.

Shiseido Perfect Rouge comes in an elegant round edge ‘square’ tube. It’s difficult to represent this in photos, but the tube isn’t actually black, but an iridescent deep wine.

Day Lily is actually a shimmery orange, with fine glitter particles throughout.

The colour itself is semi-translucent, and glides on for saturated colour in one application. It is also quite buildable on extra applications. The finish is very glossy, eliminating the need for gloss over the top. It also has a level of light reflectivity, but is not overtly shimmery, despite its appearance in the tube.

Disappointingly, Day Lily has quite a red undertone, and on swatching it, it appeared to be more of an orangy red than a true orange.

But once applied to lips, I was actually really happy with the wearability of this colour! Where as a true orange may have been quite striking, Day Lily is natural looking but still totally pops. However I have the feeling that this colour probably doesn’t mesh well with my new hair colour!

As another plus, Shiseido Perfect Rogue Day Lily feels so smooth on the lips, and is not drying at all.

In direct white light, Day Lily is clearly more red than it is orange.

So if you’re looking for a truly vivid orange lip colour, Shiseido Perfect Rouge ‘Day Lily’ ticks most of the boxes, and is a very wearable, rather than head turning orange. However, the price tag of around $25 does somewhat sour the deal!

Other suggestions for orange lipsticks form friends on Twitter!

Lime Crime: Cosmopop
MAC: Morange
NYX: Slim Lip Pencil in Orange

Don’t forget to enter my Beauty’s in the bag Giveaway too!