I’ve been working such a strange schedule lately that I’m not even sure what day it is, and I’m running slightly short on sleep.  All the same, I’m really enjoying my new part-time museum job (as well as my assorted freelance jobs, which continue!), and I always like to celebrate a new project with a new lipstick. My latest pick is Marc Jacobs Sheer Lip Gel in Eat Cake, from the “New Nudes” Collection.

Here it is, in its “nude”-colored plastic tube with its “nude”-and-black box. The term “nude” can be a tricky one—since “nude” actually varies from person to person, race to race, no?—but I think Marc Jacobs Beauty is sticking with the politically incorrect “nude” that’s a sort of beige-y putty tone.

Anyway. The tube is nicely weighted and contoured, and it clicks shut with a hidden magnetic closure..

Eat Cake (#150) is accurately described as a “rosy nude.” It’s one of the darker shades in this collection, and the one that I found most flattering for my cool-to-neutral, light-toned complexion. Like all the New Nudes shades, it has a creme formulation with no shimmer or frost.

I like the echo of Marie Antoinette’s (apocryphal) declaration of “Let them eat cake!”—we know that the Queen didn’t really say this, but it’s the kind of story that sticks because it gets at some essential truth of that historical moment nonetheless.

Oh, and is the Sofia Coppola connection coincidental? Maybe, maybe not.

Did I mention that I’m constantly feeling tired lately? This creeping sense of exhaustion has made me appreciate Eat Cake even more over the past week or so. It applies smoothly, even if your lips are a teensy bit chapped. It provides more coverage than I expected—it gives color payoff that’s more medium, rather than “sheer.” It has a matte/satin finish, and it lasts well for a lip product that’s not specifically long-wear.

Last but not least, Eat Cake really is MLBB (“my lips but better”)—it deepens my lips’ natural hue just a touch and brightens my whole face. It’s a perfect spring lip color, and I found it at just the right moment.

Bon appétit!

Image: top photo via Sephora website; second, third, and fourth product photos by Tinsel Creation.

Product source: I purchased this product at Sephora.