Dior Addict Lip Maximizer 6ml

Two ways to use it. First, as the finish on a full face: one pass over lipstick, concentrated at the centre of the lower lip, which adds dimension for photographs at a wedding or an evening event where a flat matte reads thin under flash. Second, as the whole look: bare skin, groomed brows, two passes of gloss and nothing else, which is the fastest route to looking put together for a class or a coffee. Do not layer it over a peeling lip; exfoliate first or the wet finish exaggerates texture. Store below thirty degrees, keep the wand out of dust, and never share the applicator.

Dior beauty inherits its authority from a couture house whose clients included Jacqueline Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor, Rita Hayworth, Princess Margaret and Marlene Dietrich, and which made Rihanna the first Black woman to be a Dior spokeswoman in 2015. The Addict line is where that heritage translates into something a student can own. In India this is the category through which the house has actually built retail: the first Parfums Christian Dior boutique opened at Select Citywalk in Saket, New Delhi, with the beauty footprint extending to DLF Promenade in Vasant Kunj and Ambience Mall in Gurugram. Lip Maximizer is the product most likely to be the first Dior anyone in this market buys.

This is a gloss with a plumping action rather than a pigment product, so the finish and the cushion are the deliverables and colour is secondary. The wand is oversized on purpose, designed to cover the lip in two passes rather than four, and the formula sits wet on application before settling into a softer film. Expect a mild tingle on contact: that is the plumping mechanism working, not an irritation, and it fades within minutes. Apply to clean lips or over a lipstick. It will not survive a meal and is not built to. Cap it firmly, keep it out of direct heat, and replace it rather than nursing it once the texture thickens.