The Stars of Sofia Coppola’s “Fancy and Cozy” Dinner? Tinted Lip Balms and Cool Friends

“It's something that I enjoy but I don't talk about publicly,” Sofia Coppola tells me. “I'm always on the hunt looking for the perfect one—and then my 13-year-old daughter is like, Mom, you can't buy another tinted lip balm.” It’s not yet midnight in the West Village, and we’re tucked into a booth inside The Golden Swan, watching guests like Molly Shannon, John Currin, and Grace Coddington start to play musical chairs now that the sticky toffee pudding and sorbet have been served. It’s an evening celebrating her The Tinted Balm collaboration with Augustinus Bader, and the industry-favorite beauty brand is delivering another party where stars don’t mind getting comfortable.

Coppola was thinking “fancy and cozy” for the atmosphere, and it’s all playing out live: Facialist Lord Gavin McLeod-Valentine swirls around snapping Fuji photos, Arthur Elgort is laughing with Thomas Croquet, couture designer Julie De Libran is admiring a vase of Ariel Dearie’s dreamy florals inspired by the pink, coral, and plum lip shades. Coppola dreamed them up after spending years combining balms and lipsticks to create something new: “I went to art school and I wanted to be a painter, but I'm a really bad painter,” she admits. “But I liked mixing the colors.”

Augustinus Bader co-founder Charles Rosier credits the film director for her creativity and for trusting the brand with her idea since this wasn’t an elaborate corporate plan, but a request from Coppola herself. “It was more of a custom thing for me that I just wanted,” she says. “I always think if I want something that maybe there's probably someone else that wants that too.” And they do. The feedback in the room (and in the Vogue office) is that they’re sheer and dreamy like her movies.

Celebrating something as universal as a lip balm, it turns out, makes for a good time. “I was really happy that my friends showed up,” Coppola says of the mix of personalities in the room, pointing to Shannon and Currin engrossed in conversation, excitedly gesturing at the next table. “Like, what are Molly Shannon and John Currin talking about?”

Augustinus Bader x Sofia Coppola - The Tinted Balm with TFC8® is now available at AugustinusBader.com and select retailers.