I found out about Le Métier de Beauté one fine day, perusing Temptalia, but it wasn’t until I encountered Xiao’s love for the brand that I even considered purchasing anything from them. As a “test,” I decided to pick up a kaleidoscope eye kit in Northern Lights, as I’m a big fan of eye palettes, and a pretty nudey gloss called Bondi Beach, as I was looking into gloss at the time of purchase. Today, I’ll be talking about the gloss.

First off, the Sheer Brilliance Lip Gloss has a good non-sticky formula and really, really fine glitters that cast a sheen instead of a shiny, chunky mess. In the bottle, Bondi Beach looks like it’s going to give me glitter trouble, but the effect on the lips, as you will see later, is quite nice.

From the swatches, it doesn’t look too nude. It’s a beautiful rosy brown color, with a smattering of gold shimmers. Unblended, it registers quite opaquely and looks extremely pigmented.

Bondi Beach comes with a pretty standard gloss applicator–a doe-foot–and is tasteless and pretty scent-free. I appreciate the beautiful, simple packaging. I love having this in my bag.

On the lips, though, it just gives a pretty shine that doesn’t look like I just wiped a fried pork chop across my lips. It’s a beautiful, understated shine, and it adds the same finish on top of other lip products. On the left is Bondi Beach worn alone, which yields a pretty nude “color” that doesn’t wash me out. On the left is Bondi Beach on top of Guerlain Rouge G L’Extrait in Avarice.

If I didn’t have that many gloss shades, I would definitely pick up a tube of Bondi Beach and apply it over lipstick or a lip liner and call it a day. It’s easy to dismiss a product that looks like it doesn’t do very much but when you think about its versatility, then you really have yourself a winner. Think of it as a beauty staple you can use to add a bit of pop and shine to your lip looks.

VERDICT: Bondi Beach is a beautiful mute nude that works great for layering lip color and also when worn alone.
Will I repurchase? When the need for glosses strike!
How much? $32 for 0.22 fl. oz. or 6.5 ml.
Where to purchase in Manila? Online. I got mine from Nordstrom.