Explore the Story Behind the Shades
What exactly goes into the creation of our beloved Henné lip tints? I revealed the creative process behind Blissful a few months back, and today I'm going to share the backstory and inspo behind each of our beloved lip tint colors.
So come join me and follow along while we explore the unique story behind each shade. If you own any of our eight lip tints, I really think you'll enjoy this read!
Fun fact: Azalea was the very first lip tint color we created! I remember how pleasantly surprised my husband (and Henné co-owner) Axel and I were with how seamless the process was to make a petal pink hue that was bright on the tube but soft on the lips. One such way to accomplish this balance was to make sure that Azalea was a bit more on the sheer side so that the pink wouldn’t be overpowering. Azalea also has a natural shimmer to it, which helps give it a softer appearance on the lips and makes the lips look luminescent and youthful.
Coming up with the name was also effortless. As soon as we finalized the color, the word “Azalea” came to me immediately, as it reminded me of my favorite kind of azalea flowers.
When we launched Azalea along with three other lip tint colors, we were living in Las Vegas, Nevada. Interestingly enough, we’re now based in the beautiful coastal beach city of Wilmington, North Carolina, a city where the azalea flower is a widely recognized symbol of the city. Wilmington even has an Azalea Festival each year dedicated to this gorgeous flower. It seems like our Azalea lip tint provided a bit of foreshadowing into some big plans and changes in our future!
Bare
Bare was part of the initial launch of four lip tints, along with Azalea, Coral and Intrigue. Out of these four colors, Bare was by far the most difficult color to formulate. As with all of our lip tints, I wanted to make sure it was a color that looks good on all skin tones. However, even I had my doubts whether we could invent a nude color that looked good on every skin tone, especially for Asians, as most of us tend to avoid wearing nudes. I personally never wore nude lip colors before Bare, as most of them were too white or yellow in color and made me look washed out, almost like a sick patient.
After hundreds (yes, hundreds) and hundreds of different formulations and tweaks, we created a rosy nude that looked flattering on all of our willing human test bunnies. I thought the name “Bare” was fitting, as it provides a subtle ‘barely there’ flush of color that moisturizes and enhances your natural lips but allows for you to draw more attention to the rest of your face, perhaps with a stronger eye makeup or cheek makeup instead.
And after all these years, I finally have a nude lip color that I actually love!
Coral
When we decided to add lip tints to our Henné line, I had initially planned on only having four colors: one pink, one nude, one orange, and one red. I knew that many women would be hesitant to wear an orange shade if it was too strong (nobody wants to have clown colored lips :P), so our orange color needed to be more sheer. Just like Azalea, Coral is very bright on the tube but actually provides just the right of warmth to the lips. It’s a color that brightens up your whole face when you wear it. Color adds a touch of shimmery playfulness in the spring and summer months, and it provides warmth and brightness your face needs during the colder, darker months.
When it came to the name “Coral”, I played around with a handful of names, but the more intricate names just didn’t feel right. In the end, “Coral” just felt right. It describes the color perfectly and evokes images of water and the ocean, which were things I started to miss terribly when we lived in the Vegas desert. In a way, Coral was a lip tint that provided a sense of escapism every time I put it on, whisking me away from the desert and off to the coast of Malibu or the beautiful beaches in Saint Martin.
Intrigue
During the formulation process for our first and only red at that time, I knew it was important to launch a shade that wasn’t too bright or too dark. A red that works just as well for a quick trip to the grocery store as it does for a night out on the town. We decided to make it a bit more pigmented than the other three lip tints. That way, you can wear one or two layers and get a good amount of color payoff but add additional layers for a more opaque look for evening wear. The result was Intrigue, a color that is both classic and also holds a bit of mystery to it.
To this day, Intrigue is still one of my go-to shades. I always have a tube in my handbag wherever I go. As much as I love Intrigue, there’s someone who might love it even more than I do: the woman who brought me into this world. When I was growing up, my mom never wore much makeup, but whenever she did, she always went with red lipstick. It was kind of her signature look. Sadly she had to stop wearing lipstick by the time she entered her 50s, as her lips were getting dryer with age, and all the lipsticks she tried were drying out her lips and causing a lot of discomfort. When my mom tried Intrigue for the first time, she got so excited because she felt like we had just launched her holy grail lip product. I’m proud to say that she’s been wearing our lip tints ever since and finally gets to enjoy wearing a signature lippie again. That reason alone is why Intrigue will always be a staple in our lip tint collection.
But alas, I knew we weren’t finished.
Desire
I’ll be honest. I personally wanted to launch a brighter red, but we decided to wait until we felt like there was a clear demand for it from our customers. Thankfully there was, and I got to launch a second red shade that I absolutely fell in love with. Since it’s a brighter red - more of a true red - I knew Desire couldn’t have the same color strength as Intrigue, as it would’t be universally flattering. Despite looking much brighter on the tube compared to Intrigue, Desire is very wearable, and it’s also the tint I use the most as a blush on my cheeks.
When it came to the name, I wanted a sultry one that represents fire and passion but without sounding too risqué. We came up with a list of names and discussed with the Henné team, and Desire was the clearcut winner.
Muse
Another shade I felt was missing from our assortment was a berry shade. Since we were launching Desire at the same time and with fall approaching in a few months, it seemed like the right time for a berry addition.
It took quite awhile to perfect the shade. This berry tint needed to be the right balance of red and purple. Not too light, not too dark. More pigmented than Desire but less than Intrigue. It was soon getting crunch time, and I started to wonder if we’d be able to launch in time. Anyone who knows me well is aware that I’m a perfectionist, and I won’t launch anything unless I’m 100% happy with it. Fortunately we did finish in time (after a few dozen more tiny adjustments; sorry, I couldn’t help myself) and were able to launch both colors in the fall of 2020.
Muse was a natural choice for the name: sensual, regal and mystifying.
Blissful
Wilmington was a huge inspiration behind Blissful, but there were a few other components that also played a role in the creation of this delightful, raspberry hued tint. Blissful evokes the best summer memories in my mind. Those long nights that turned into early mornings filled with laughter, intimate and vulnerable moments and conversations that I’ll never forget. Lazy Sunday afternoon picnics in the park in Stockholm with cheese, fresh bread from the bakery next door to where I worked and a cold bottle of rosé. That first bite of a creamy gelato or sweet and tart sorbet on a hot, humid day. Pure bliss.
Sunlit
Sunlit is a combination of both demand and inspiration. The demand part came from our lovely Henné customers. Over the past years, we received more and more requests for a peach shade. The timing in 2021 couldn’t be more perfect, as we’d received enough demand for the color so I knew it would be a hit, and I felt so inspired to launch Sunlit along with Blissful.
The inspiration came from the endless beaches here in Wilmington, Wrightsville Beach in particular as it’s my favorite. This lovely peach hue embodies the marvelous array of colors the sun paints in the morning and evening. Sunlit is also inspired by the slow mornings spent basking in the warm (but not too warm) sunlight. Sunlit and Blissful are truly an homage to this amazing city that I’m grateful to call home, and it’s also where Axel and I plan to create many wonderful memories with our daughter Stella and the rest of our family.
EXPLORE ALL TINTS
So come join me and follow along while we explore the unique story behind each shade. If you own any of our eight lip tints, I really think you'll enjoy this read!
The first four
Azalea Fun fact: Azalea was the very first lip tint color we created! I remember how pleasantly surprised my husband (and Henné co-owner) Axel and I were with how seamless the process was to make a petal pink hue that was bright on the tube but soft on the lips. One such way to accomplish this balance was to make sure that Azalea was a bit more on the sheer side so that the pink wouldn’t be overpowering. Azalea also has a natural shimmer to it, which helps give it a softer appearance on the lips and makes the lips look luminescent and youthful.
Coming up with the name was also effortless. As soon as we finalized the color, the word “Azalea” came to me immediately, as it reminded me of my favorite kind of azalea flowers.
When we launched Azalea along with three other lip tint colors, we were living in Las Vegas, Nevada. Interestingly enough, we’re now based in the beautiful coastal beach city of Wilmington, North Carolina, a city where the azalea flower is a widely recognized symbol of the city. Wilmington even has an Azalea Festival each year dedicated to this gorgeous flower. It seems like our Azalea lip tint provided a bit of foreshadowing into some big plans and changes in our future!
Bare
Bare was part of the initial launch of four lip tints, along with Azalea, Coral and Intrigue. Out of these four colors, Bare was by far the most difficult color to formulate. As with all of our lip tints, I wanted to make sure it was a color that looks good on all skin tones. However, even I had my doubts whether we could invent a nude color that looked good on every skin tone, especially for Asians, as most of us tend to avoid wearing nudes. I personally never wore nude lip colors before Bare, as most of them were too white or yellow in color and made me look washed out, almost like a sick patient.
After hundreds (yes, hundreds) and hundreds of different formulations and tweaks, we created a rosy nude that looked flattering on all of our willing human test bunnies. I thought the name “Bare” was fitting, as it provides a subtle ‘barely there’ flush of color that moisturizes and enhances your natural lips but allows for you to draw more attention to the rest of your face, perhaps with a stronger eye makeup or cheek makeup instead.
And after all these years, I finally have a nude lip color that I actually love!
Coral
When we decided to add lip tints to our Henné line, I had initially planned on only having four colors: one pink, one nude, one orange, and one red. I knew that many women would be hesitant to wear an orange shade if it was too strong (nobody wants to have clown colored lips :P), so our orange color needed to be more sheer. Just like Azalea, Coral is very bright on the tube but actually provides just the right of warmth to the lips. It’s a color that brightens up your whole face when you wear it. Color adds a touch of shimmery playfulness in the spring and summer months, and it provides warmth and brightness your face needs during the colder, darker months.
When it came to the name “Coral”, I played around with a handful of names, but the more intricate names just didn’t feel right. In the end, “Coral” just felt right. It describes the color perfectly and evokes images of water and the ocean, which were things I started to miss terribly when we lived in the Vegas desert. In a way, Coral was a lip tint that provided a sense of escapism every time I put it on, whisking me away from the desert and off to the coast of Malibu or the beautiful beaches in Saint Martin.
Intrigue
During the formulation process for our first and only red at that time, I knew it was important to launch a shade that wasn’t too bright or too dark. A red that works just as well for a quick trip to the grocery store as it does for a night out on the town. We decided to make it a bit more pigmented than the other three lip tints. That way, you can wear one or two layers and get a good amount of color payoff but add additional layers for a more opaque look for evening wear. The result was Intrigue, a color that is both classic and also holds a bit of mystery to it.
To this day, Intrigue is still one of my go-to shades. I always have a tube in my handbag wherever I go. As much as I love Intrigue, there’s someone who might love it even more than I do: the woman who brought me into this world. When I was growing up, my mom never wore much makeup, but whenever she did, she always went with red lipstick. It was kind of her signature look. Sadly she had to stop wearing lipstick by the time she entered her 50s, as her lips were getting dryer with age, and all the lipsticks she tried were drying out her lips and causing a lot of discomfort. When my mom tried Intrigue for the first time, she got so excited because she felt like we had just launched her holy grail lip product. I’m proud to say that she’s been wearing our lip tints ever since and finally gets to enjoy wearing a signature lippie again. That reason alone is why Intrigue will always be a staple in our lip tint collection.
And then there were six...
For awhile, it felt like four lip tint colors might be enough. We focused our attention to launching two incredible hero products, the Lip Serum and Lip Mask.But alas, I knew we weren’t finished.
Desire
I’ll be honest. I personally wanted to launch a brighter red, but we decided to wait until we felt like there was a clear demand for it from our customers. Thankfully there was, and I got to launch a second red shade that I absolutely fell in love with. Since it’s a brighter red - more of a true red - I knew Desire couldn’t have the same color strength as Intrigue, as it would’t be universally flattering. Despite looking much brighter on the tube compared to Intrigue, Desire is very wearable, and it’s also the tint I use the most as a blush on my cheeks.
When it came to the name, I wanted a sultry one that represents fire and passion but without sounding too risqué. We came up with a list of names and discussed with the Henné team, and Desire was the clearcut winner.
Muse
Another shade I felt was missing from our assortment was a berry shade. Since we were launching Desire at the same time and with fall approaching in a few months, it seemed like the right time for a berry addition.
It took quite awhile to perfect the shade. This berry tint needed to be the right balance of red and purple. Not too light, not too dark. More pigmented than Desire but less than Intrigue. It was soon getting crunch time, and I started to wonder if we’d be able to launch in time. Anyone who knows me well is aware that I’m a perfectionist, and I won’t launch anything unless I’m 100% happy with it. Fortunately we did finish in time (after a few dozen more tiny adjustments; sorry, I couldn’t help myself) and were able to launch both colors in the fall of 2020.
Muse was a natural choice for the name: sensual, regal and mystifying.
An ode to Wilmington
A few months prior to moving to Wilmington, I hadn’t been planning on launching more lip tint shades. I was content with our small but well-curated lineup of colors, but the months that followed sparked something in me. I knew there were two colors that needed to be a part of the Henné collection, all thanks to the newfound love for this city that brought a much-needed breath of fresh air back into our lives. Blissful and Sunlit launched in spring of 2021 and both pay homage to those splendid, golden hours by the sea that have brought me so much joy, serenity and comfort.Blissful
Wilmington was a huge inspiration behind Blissful, but there were a few other components that also played a role in the creation of this delightful, raspberry hued tint. Blissful evokes the best summer memories in my mind. Those long nights that turned into early mornings filled with laughter, intimate and vulnerable moments and conversations that I’ll never forget. Lazy Sunday afternoon picnics in the park in Stockholm with cheese, fresh bread from the bakery next door to where I worked and a cold bottle of rosé. That first bite of a creamy gelato or sweet and tart sorbet on a hot, humid day. Pure bliss.
Sunlit
Sunlit is a combination of both demand and inspiration. The demand part came from our lovely Henné customers. Over the past years, we received more and more requests for a peach shade. The timing in 2021 couldn’t be more perfect, as we’d received enough demand for the color so I knew it would be a hit, and I felt so inspired to launch Sunlit along with Blissful.
The inspiration came from the endless beaches here in Wilmington, Wrightsville Beach in particular as it’s my favorite. This lovely peach hue embodies the marvelous array of colors the sun paints in the morning and evening. Sunlit is also inspired by the slow mornings spent basking in the warm (but not too warm) sunlight. Sunlit and Blissful are truly an homage to this amazing city that I’m grateful to call home, and it’s also where Axel and I plan to create many wonderful memories with our daughter Stella and the rest of our family.
EXPLORE ALL TINTS
