So I was browsing Luxola and stumbled upon this intriguing brand - Julie Hewett. I have ever heard of this brand, much less seen their lipsticks anywhere. There was this whole array of reds for me to choose from and my heart was literally palpitating. However, I didn't want to get another really red lipstick since I already have MAC's Russian Red, but I still wanted something from the same color family, so I chose Gem, which is a sheer red. I was thinking that it would be pretty versatile for layering and everyday wear and such.

The website described Gem as to give the same shade as 'rosy cheeks in the snow' and suits 'light to medium skin tones'. I really liked that the website provided swatches and described the colors. Very helpful!

The packaging is a beautiful gold tube. Not heavy like YSL's. I think it's made of lighter metal so it doesn't feel REALLY expensive, but still pretty! The lipstick in the tube looks really opaque, though, but it is really sheer. It is a neutral red when swatched on my skin and on my lips, looks a TEENSY bit coral. Barely noticeable. It glided on really nicely and on top of lip balm, it gave me lips a really nice, healthy tinge of colour. Without lip balm, it was darker, but still really sheer. The color payoff was not very good, even for a sheer lipstick. I was quite disappointed as I had to keep layering and layering on, with slow color buildup.