By Cedie Lazaro
Let’s be honest: it is always a good day when Dua Lipa pops up on our screens. But her latest link-up with YSL Beauty is hitting a little differently. As the face of their new, limited-edition drop—Libre Santal Couture—she isn’t just serving looks; she’s redefining what it actually means to feel powerful.
We usually think of freedom as this loud, chaotic thing. But this launch proves that the realest kind of confidence is actually pretty quiet. It’s grounded, steady, and totally comfortable in its own skin. An inner force, if you will.
To bring that exact energy to life, director Romain Wygas took Dua out to the sprawling South African desert. The visuals are stunning, obviously, but the real magic is the soundtrack. Instead of just posing, Dua actually drives the whole mood of the campaign by singing a hypnotic, soulful cover of Aretha Franklin’s “Think.” It gives the entire project this incredibly raw, authentic pulse. You’ll honestly want to replay the clip as much as you’ll want to reapply the scent.
Speaking of the juice, master perfumers Anne Flipo and Carlos Benaïm did something seriously cool here. They took the signature Libre DNA—that bright French lavender and warm Moroccan orange blossom we all know and love—and flipped the script. By anchoring it with a rich, velvety base of New Caledonian sandalwood, they created YSL’s first floral-woody musk.
There’s a beautiful little life lesson tucked inside that blend. It’s a reminder that you can be soft and airy, but you’re at your most powerful when you have a solid, immovable foundation. It takes a note traditionally kept for men’s colognes and turns it into an intensely feminine, addictive signature.
The bottle got a chic makeover to match the mood, too. The iconic sculpted Cassandre glass is reimagined in a glossy, deep chocolate-brown hue that looks stunning on a vanity. It’s earthy and rich, offset perfectly by those sharp, asymmetrical gold accents.
Priced at $155 for the 50ml Eau de Parfum, Libre Santal Couture is officially live on the YSL Beauty website and at major retailers. It’s the perfect transition scent for when you want to feel a little more centered, a little more powerful, and completely yourself.
Lorin Gutierrez-Bektas is on the cover of STYLISH Magazine right now. In our latest cover story, discover how she’s carving her own path and challenging what success looks like for today’s generation.
Read the current Stylish Magazine cover story here.
Our #StylishPodcast episode featuring our September-October cover girl Jasmine Curtis-Smith is out. Watch it on Facebook and YouTube.
Stylish Magazine is “your source of self-love, style & inspiration” first introduced in June 2020. Our television series format, Stylish TV, once ranked one of the Top 50 Most Watched Multicultural Shows in the USA, can be streamed on iWantTFC and be watched on TFC (The Filipino Channel) in more than 50 countries. Watch it online here.
Style Visionary Network is a lifestyle-business online platform where #WeCreateVisionaries. Also introduced in June 2020, Style Visionary Network is also the digital home channel of media brands Stylish Magazine and Stylish TV.