Review: Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencils in Dolce Vita & Bahama and Satin Lip Pencil in Hyde Park

The obsession with everything Nars-related continues...

The packaging: All three of these chubby lip pencils comes in its own box. The pencils are not twist-up, which is my only complaint. I hate having to sharpen these because I feel like you lose a lot of product by sharpening.
 

(L to R): In natural light - Dolce Vita, Bahama, Hyde Park

The scent: No scent detected.
 

(L to R): In sunlight - Dolce Vita, Bahama, Hyde Park

The products:

Dolce Vita is described as a matte dusty rose shade. On my lips, it pulls to a lighter, MLBB shade. This is usually my go-to lip product on a daily basis. It goes on smoothly, but it's better to do a light prep on your lips because this tends to be drying as it is matte. It usually lasts about a couple hours or so on my lips because it is a lighter shade. 

Bahama is a matte brownish-pink shade that definitely has a 90s feel to it. If you're looking to copy Kylie Jenner's lip, this is a must for you. Again, since it is matte, it tends to dry out my lips within a couple hours. This shade lasts a bit longer than Dolce Vita because it is a darker shade. 

Hyde Park is a glossier, muted red shade. Being a satin pencil, it glides on smoothly and is somewhat hydrating throughout its wear. It usually lasts about 3-4 hours on my lips through eating and drinking. This is a great red to wear for a very polished look. 

Cost: $26 each 

Questions? Comments? Let me know! 

Review: Nars Lip Gloss in Sixties Fan

I know I've mentioned multiple times on this blog how much I despise lip gloss, but I have found some glosses that I like (maybe love?) in this past year. I think Nars definitely became one of my favorite makeup brands in 2014 because every single Nars product I put my hands on was spot-on fantastic.

The packaging: This is a standard lip gloss tube with a black cap and clear tube that allows you to see the shade of the product. It features a doe-footed applicator. Nothing fancy here, just standard packaging.

The scent: No scent detected.

The product: Sixties Fan is a deep raspberry shade, but on my lips, it was a bit lighter. It went on smoothly and lasted for about 3 hours (through eating and drinking). It became slightly tacky towards the end of 3 hours, but it wasn't where I wanted to just give up on life and wipe this off my lips. It was neither hydrating nor drying. 

Cost: $26

Questions? Comments? Let me know!

Review: Nars Audacious Lipsticks in Lana and Charlotte

Life has been extremely hectic the past few months, so while I've been here, I haven't totally been "here." But it always seems like time slows down a bit in the fall/winter months, so I've been able to catch my breath lately. 

During the past few months, I've amassed a pretty huge backlog of lip products, but one of the best new releases were Nars' Audacious lipstick line. Hope all of you got to at least find a favorite out of the 30+ shades! 

The packaging: These lipsticks come in rectangular tubes that feel nice and heavy in my hands. The cap and the tube are magnetized, so the lipstick has a nice, muted click when you close it. 

The scent: None detected.

The product:

Lana is a bright orangey-red shade. It went on smoothly and had a very creamy texture. I found that I really didn't need much lip prep before applying Lana. It reminded me of LQ's Jungle Queen, but leaned a bit more red. One swipe gave nearly opaque coverage. It was lightly hydrating and lasted about 4 hours on me.  

Charlotte is described as an oxblood-burgundy shade, but on it translated to a darker raspberry shade. It went on smoothly, and one swipe gave nearly opaque coverage. It reminded me of Nars' Damned, but was creamier and not matte obviously. It was lightly hydrating and lasted about 6 hours on me. 

Cost: $32, but well worth it! 

Questions? Comments? Let me know!

Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Damned

I used to hate matte lip products. Growing up in the 90s made me feel like matte lip products would propel me back into a land of teased hair, mom jeans, and scrunchies. However, this past fall had me wearing nothing but matte lip products, and I'm a believer in all things 90s again.

The packaging: These lip pencils come in pencil form...without the luxury of it being twist-up. This means you'll need to get yourself a damn good sharpener for these pencils, but even then, you'll lose quite a bit of product when you're sharpening.

The scent: No scent detected.

The product: Damned is a deep magenta shade, and was my signature lip color for all of fall and winter. It is such a BEAUTIFUL shade, and it works on every skin tone out there. I highly recommend hunting this pencil down and at least swatching it. This shade was sold out everywhere I looked, but a Sephora sales associate hunted one down for me - it's back in stock everywhere now though. Lip prep was a must for this product since anything matte exaggerates dryness/flakiness. It went on smoothly and lasted for 4-6 hours on me. It was not hydrating, and I needed to apply balm after a couple hours.

Cost: $25 - BUY THIS. This shade is life-changing.

Questions? Comments? Let me know! 

Review: Nars Lipstick in Dolce Vita, Schiap, and Manhunt

I got bored several weeks ago and wandered into Sephora. As any girl knows, you cannot trust yourself to walk into a Sephora and walk out empty-handed, especially if you're bored. Sephora is like a candy store for women. So anyway, I went in not looking for anything in particular, and walked out with three Nars lipsticks. Again, my bank account hates me. Credit card companies, however, LOVE me.

The packaging: Each lipstick came in its own box. The tubes are shorter than normal lipstick tubes, which doesn't bother me. It's an all black tube with NARS written in white on the cap. 
 

(L to R): Dolce Vita, Schiap, Manhunt

The scent: There's a somewhat off-lemon scent to this, but it doesn't linger. You also have to be sniffing pretty hard to smell this. 

The product: Dolce Vita is a sheer lipstick. It's a described as a sheer, dusty rose shade. It's definitely a MLBB lipstick on me, and I've been wearing this non-stop since it's such an easy shade to apply. It applies smoothly and was neither hydrating nor drying. It lasted about 4 hours on me.  
 

Dolce Vita

Schiap is a semi matte lipstick and is a bright, almost-neon pink. It does have some blue undertones. My lips definitely needed to be prepped before applying this, but it applied smoothly. It wasn't hydrating, and after a few hours, I felt like I needed to apply balm to my lips. It lasted about 5-6 hours on me. I actually like applying a very thin layer and then sheering this color out using my fingertips rather than applying a full opaque layer.  
 

Schiap

Manhunt is a sheer lipstick and is a poppy red. In the swatch I took in sunlight, it almost looks like it has some coral in it. This is described as sheer, but with two swipes, it gave me an almost opaque coverage. It applied smoothly, wasn't very hydrating, and lasted about 5 hours on me. Again, like Schiap, I like applying a thin layer and sheering out this color. It makes it a lot more wearable in the daytime. 
 

Manhunt

Cost: $26 each.

Questions? Comments? Let me know!

Review: Nars Satin Lip Pencils

From a bad review in the last post to a good review in this post! Nars hasn't really been a go-to brand of mine, and the products of theirs that I have tried have been good, but not great. These lip pencils though are completely great.

The packaging: These pencils come in their own individual black boxes. The pencils are capped with a black cap and the shade of the product is banded around the bottom. 

The scent:  No scent was detected, so sensitive noses rejoice!

The product: The two shades I bought were Luxembourg and Hyde Park. Luxembourg is a bright, hot watermelon shade. Hyde Park is marketed as a cardinal red, but it was more of a raspberry on my lips. These pencils are HIGHLY pigmented and go on smoothly and evenly. They don't pull or drag on your lips and leave a nice stain behind. They lasts a long time as well - almost 6 hours! They weren't drying either, so there was no need for me to apply balm throughout the day. The only thing I don't like about these pencils is that you have to sharpen them, and that leads to a lot of product loss. Also, you won't be able to line precisely with these pencils because you never get a sharp enough tip even with sharpening.

Favorites: I had also purchased Yu (a very hot pink shade), but returned it for Luxembourg instead. Out of all three that I tried, I think my favorite would have to be Hyde Park because it's much more wearable than the other two. I wear it most days as a stain, but blotted the color on with my fingers. 

Cost: $25. If you want a very pigmented shade that lasts for most of the day, then this is worth it. Otherwise, I would suggest paying $10 more and going with something from YSL's Rouge Volupté line.

Questions? Comments? Let me know!