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NARS

The Uber-Luxe NARS Pro Brush Collection

May 11th, 2017 by Karen 9 Comments

nars pro brush collection
The new NARS Pro Brush Collection

I don’t even know where to start with the NARS Pro Brush Collection. The face brush is $95… I mean, I can’t. I just can’t. Almost $100 for a single brush is craziness to me. I thought a $38 Chanel eye brush was stressful!

I received these brushes as press samples, so I didn’t purchase them on my own. Because if I had, I would be the type of person who drives to Petco to buy Tabby’s gravy in a tricked-out Mercedes with those automatic side mirrors that collapse down like Transformers.

I am not that person… I drive a six-year-old Mazda.

If I were that type of person, though, I would consider getting one, or maybe two, of the uber-luxe, shockingly soft brushes in this collection. (Note: I was so shocked by how soft these were that I couldn’t keep it to myself. I had to have El Hub try them.)

Would I get all eight, though? No, not unless Tabs scores a big kitty modeling contract.

Again, the #1 Finisher powder brush is $95. The most “affordable” brush (air quotes) in the collection is a small angled eye brush called the #8 Small Sculptor, and it’s still $45.

There are eight brushes in all, most of them face brushes, with a couple of eye brushes in there as well.

The NARS Pro Brush Collection breakdown

  • #1 The Finisher ($95) — A large and fluffy brush ideal for buffing and blending powder formulas.
  • #2 The Brightener ($95) — A large, teardrop-shaped brush that specializes in highlighting and all-over blending with a weightless touch.
  • #3 The Intensifier ($85) — A medium-sized brush designed for creating defined cheek looks.
  • #4 The Sculptor ($85) — A medium-sized, angled brush ideal for sculpting, diffusing and dispersing fluid formulas.
  • #5 The Small Brightener ($55) — A small, teardrop-shaped brush with a weightless touch, ideal for highlighting eyes and other small areas on the face, like the bridge of the nose, Cupid’s bow and cheekbones.
  • #6 The Small Intensifier ($55) — A small, domed-shaped brush ideal for targeted contouring on the nose, in the crease, and on other small areas of the face.
  • #7 The Flat Intensifier ($55) — A small, flat makeup brush ideal for focused effects on the eyes and brows with powder formulas, and also for eyeshadow artistry, defining brows and setting under-eye concealer.
  • #8 The Small Sculptor ($45) — A small angled makeup brush ideal for adding dimension — with liquid and cream formulas — to small areas around the eyes and lips.

— Paraphrased from NARS PR

nars pro brush collection 1 4
From the top: NARS #1 The Finisher ($95), #2 The brightener ($95), #3 The Intensifier ($85) and #4 The Sculptor ($85)

According to NARS, the brushes are made in Japan and bound by hand. They’re certainly fancy-looking, right? And the brush heads feel supernaturally soft, which I’d expect for brushes in this price range. I don’t feel a trace of scratchiness. None. These are like rolling around naked on fancy silk sheets. So luxurious!

When I hold the handles in my paw, they also feel sturdy and perfectly balanced. Neither too heavy, nor too light. They feel like they could be heirloom pieces you could pass down from one generation of makeup lover to the next.

What? Am I the only one who’d do that? I’d totally do that!

nars pro brush collection 4 8
NARS #5 The Small Brightener ($55), #6 The Small Intensifier ($55), #7 The Flat Intensifier ($55) and #8 The Small Sculptor ($45)

[Continue reading…]

There are 9 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Makeup, Makeup Tools, NARS, Product Reviews

The NARS Orgasm Collection: A New Three-Piece Release Arriving May 15th

May 11th, 2017 by Karen 23 Comments

nars orgasm collection may 2017
The new three-piece NARS Orgasm Collection, arriving May 15th at NARS boutiques and the NARS website

Question: Is it possible to have multiple orgasms when you’re putting on your makeup in the morning?

Answer: Um…yeah?! It’s too easy to go there and do prepubescent boy jokes with NARS Orgasm. I’m sorry! Color me adolescent.

nars orgasm collection blush lipstick
NARS Collection products from the left: Orgasm Liquid Blush ($30), Orgasm Lipstick ($28) and Limited Edition Orgasm Blush ($30)

NARS has a new Orgasm collection. Shocker. But this one’s actually pretty exciting because there are two new versions of Orgasm — a liquid blush and a lipstick — neither of which I think I’ve ever seen from NARS before.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a respectable re-issue of Orgasm if the original Orgasm powder blush wasn’t up in the mix, and this one has new LE packaging.

When/where

The collection comes out on May 15th, and it’ll be at NARS boutiques and the NARS website. I know for sure that the powder blush is LE, but I’m not sure about the liquid blush and the lipstick. Will have to get back to you on that.

NARS Orgasm Liquid Blush ($30)

Obviously, one of the exciting things here is Orgasm Liquid Blush, and girl…FRAK, it’s good!

For comparison, it’s thicker than Benefit Benetint. Actually, have you ever worn the Veil Primer by Hourglass? I think it feels a lot like that. Almost like a runny lotion, and it’s slippery and kinda silicone-y.

nars orgasm collection swatches
From the top: Orgasm Blush, Orgasm Liquid Blush and Orgasm Lipstick

You know the gold shimmer in the original Orgasm? I dunno…but it borders on obnoxious for me sometimes because I’ve got this whole pore situation happening. There’s still gold shimmer in Liquid Orgasm, too, but it’s waaay toned down. It looks like a satiny peach pink with micro flecks of gold in it that peek out here and there.

You can use it on top of or underneath powder products, and it does well in both situations.

Yeah, it’s $30, and the glass bottle is pretty tiny, but the pump is easy to control, and if you pump one drop and spread it around with a brush or your finger, that drop will just keep spreading and spreading and spreading… It’s so concentrated!

nars orgasm liquid blush
I’m wearing NARS Orgasm Liquid Blush on my cheeks and Orgasm Lipstick on my lips

[Continue reading…]

There are 23 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Collections, Face, Lips, Makeup, NARS, Product Reviews

What I Wore Wednesday, Vol. 8: Metallic Bronze Lids and Matte Beet Red Lips

April 12th, 2017 by Karen 16 Comments

Some might say that metallic bronze lids and beet red matte lips is a little too glam for hanging out with a toddler at home, but I went with it. 🙂

I got the inspiration for this look from one of my favorite makeup artists on Instagram, Katie Jane Hughes.

tom ford cheek eye palette warm kosas electra
Clockwise from the pencil at the upper left: NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Damned, Kosas Cosmetics Lipstick in Electra, Tom Ford Eye & Cheek Palette in Warm, Tom Ford Naked Bronze Cream Shadow, MAC Next to Nothing Foundation in Medium Plus, MAC Eye Kohl in Teddy, NARS Sun Lit Bronzer in Laguna

[Continue reading…]

There are 16 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Face of the Day (FOTD), Kosas Cosmetics, MAC Makeup, Makeup, NARS, Tom Ford Beauty

What I Wore Wednesday, Vol. 7: Glossy, Beachy Casual With the NARS Charlotte Gainsbourg for Summer 2017 Collection

April 5th, 2017 by Karen 12 Comments

nars charlotte gainsbourg k 1

There’s a 100% chance that I’m wearing pajamas in these pics. ?

Today I’m wearing a glowy, glossy, beachy casual look with the new NARS Charlotte Gainsbourg collection (thanks to Leelee for the suggestion!).

nars charlotte gainsbourg k 2

nars charlotte gainsbourg

nars london clinic

What’s in the mix

Eyes: MAC Cream Colour Base in Hush (all over lids from lash line to brow bone), NARS Charlotte Gainsbourg Old Church Street Velvet Eyeshadow Duo (champagne shade in the inner portion of lids and blue on the upper lash line), NARS Charlotte Gainsbourg Kohliner in Nuit D’Encre (tight line), NARS Blondie Eyeshadow (outer portion of crease and lower lash line), NARS Audacious Mascara (lashes), MAC Brun Eyeshadow and Benefit Ready Set Brows (brows)

Cheeks: NARS Sun Wash Bronzer in Laguna, NARS Charlotte Gainsbourg Multiple Tints in Jo and Alice (mixed together and applied on apples), MAC Cream Colour Base in Hush (upper cheekbones)

Face: Make Up For Ever Smoothing Primer (on my cheeks, nose, forehead and around my mouth), NARS Hydrating Glow Tint in Medium mixed with a few drops of Make Up For Ever HD Invisible Cover Concealer in Y41 (all over my face), Make Up For Ever HD Invisible Cover Concealers in Y31 and Y41 (underneath my eyes), NARS Light Reflecting Pressed Setting Powder (to set under eye concealer), MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium Golden (on my forehead, sides of my nose, around my mouth and chin)

Lips: NARS Multiple Tint in Jo mixed with NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in London Clinic (applied with a MAC 217 brush)

nars charlotte gainsbourg old church street
I’m wearing this on my lids

Dude, I wish I was actually going to the beach today! I’m just about to leave for the dentist. Wish me luck…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 12 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Face of the Day (FOTD), Makeup, NARS

NARS Charlotte Gainsbourg Collection for Summer 2017: Swatches and First Impressions

April 4th, 2017 by Karen 27 Comments

nars charlotte gainsbourg summer 2017
The NARS Charlotte Gainsbourg Collection for Summer 2017, coming to NARS counters April 15th

Oh, my gosh!!! I’ve been painstakingly growing out my bangs for the last… How long’s it been? A month and a half? But now I’m this close to throwing in the proverbial hair towel and chopping them off because of Charlotte Gainsbourg.

I’ve been looking at pictures of her and listening to her music all day long because, hello — gotta set the mood for the new NARS Charlotte Gainsbourg Collection, and this woman works some fierce bangs action. Charlotte, girl, you’re giving me so much hair inspo right meow. 🙂

And makeup inspiration, too! Charlotte’s new collab with NARS is kind of incredible. It completely contravenes the whole more-is-more thing happening in makeup, like an anti-Instagram/heavy contouring/blinding highlight kryptonite, with sheer coverage, sheer skin, sheer cheeks, sheer lips and barely-there color on the eyes.

It’s fresh, easy, approachable, and very evocative of Charlotte’s makeup style (and mine right now).

In most of the pictures I’ve seen of her, Charlotte’s skin looks real! She’s wearing very minimal coverage (most of the time, it doesn’t look like she’s wearing any foundation or concealer at all, but I think she probably is), maybe with a pink or dark lip, barely-there color on her cheeks, and lashes and liner. Or she’ll do a subtle smoky eye with neutral lips, which seems like a very French aesthetic to me.

Charlotte is half French, half English and the daughter of two famous people, English singer Jane Birkin and French actor/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg, and she’s starred in more than three dozen movies, many of them in the UK and France. Her experience with movie and stage makeup inspired this launch.

The collection encompasses 18 LE pieces and arrives on April 15th with lots of exciting new formulas, including things we’ve never seen from NARS before, like the Hydrating Glow Tints, Lip Tints and Velvet Duo Eyeshadows.

There are also three new shades of the Multiple Tints (which are still relatively new) and the snazzy Au Poil Brush Roll, which is — wait for it — $175 (!).

SAY WHAT?! Yeah.

nars charlotte gainsbourg collection swatches 2
Swatches from the top: Multiple Tints in Alice, Jo and Jeanette; Velvet Matte Lip Pencils in London Clinic and Blindfold; Lip Tints in Double Decker, Ephelide and Promise

[Continue reading…]

There are 27 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Makeup, NARS, Product Reviews

New LE Shades! NARS Pop Goes the Easel Collection Velvet Lip Gloss in Bait, Suck and Disruptor

March 29th, 2017 by Karen 6 Comments

nars pop goes the easel velvet lip glide swatches
NARS Pop Goes the Easel collection Velvet Lip Glides from the left in Suck, Bait and Disruptor ($26 each). All three are Nordstrom exclusives, and they’re available now (not pictured: Impossible Red).

Someone on Instagram asked me earlier if I could recommend a non-matte liquid lipstick, and the first thing that popped into my head were these NARS Velvet Lip Glides.

The Velvet Lip Glides are part of the NARS permanent collection, but these three — Suck (why is it called that…?), Bait and Disruptor — are LE Nordstrom exclusive shades from the Pop Goes the Easel collection.

nars disruptor
Bright cherry red Distruptor, BAM!

I think the Velvet Lip Glides are just generally BOMB. They’re super saturated, comfy, and they don’t bleed my lips dry, unlike so many other liquid lipsticks that are ridiculously drying. The formula stays a little wet on your pout. It doesn’t dry all the way down, and did I mention that they’re REALLY comfortable? They feel kinda like a moisturizing, long-wearing gloss (non-sticky), except that they last much longer.

nars bait
Bait, a cool-toned pink

[Continue reading…]

There are 6 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Makeup, NARS, Product Reviews

Let the New NARS Sun Wash Diffusing Bronzer Collection Bathe You in Faux Sun Rays

March 28th, 2017 by Karen 32 Comments

nars sun wash diffusing bronzer collection 1
The new NARS Sun Wash Diffusing Bronzer Collection

Gosh, dreams ? really do come true. Cats ? rule the Interwebz, The Craft is now on Netflix, and NARS Laguna Bronzer is finally available in a matte finish sans shimmer! ?

*Raising the roof at my desk right now.*

A new sheer matte formula

Yes, ma’am, the new NARS sheer matte Sun Wash Diffusing Bronzers will bathe your skin in faux sun rays. They’re made to look smooth and feel like almost nothing at all while they crank up a soft-focus effect.

Each of the four 0.28-oz. pans is $40. Seaside (Light 1), Laguna (Medium 1), Casino (Medium 2) and Falaises (Dark 1) don’t lean too orange on my medium skin (I wear St. Moritz in the NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint line, for reference). Seaside and Laguna lean more toward golden bronze, while Casino and Falaises add some red.

nars sun wash diffusing bronzer collection 2
Clockwise from the top: Seaside, Laguna, Casino and Falaises

They borrow a page from NARS Translucent Light Reflecting Pressed Powder

Like, NARS Translucent Light Reflecting Pressed Powder, a.k.a. my holy grail setting powder for under-eye concealer, you can’t see these powder particles on your skin. You see the sheer color, but the particles preternaturally disappear.

Are these toy makeup pans?

They almost look like it — like they’re solid, hard plastic — but rest assured, they aren’t. Your brush bristles will pick up the powder. It just won’t kick up a million visible grains.

nars sun wash diffusing bronzer swatches
NARS Sun Wash Diffusing Bronzer swatches from the top: Seaside, Laguna, Casion and Falaises

[Continue reading…]

There are 32 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Makeup, NARS, Product Reviews, Top Posts

NARS Pop Goes the Easel Blushes in Threesome, Misconduct and Peep Show

March 24th, 2017 by Karen 7 Comments

nars pop goes the easel blushes-final
The new NARS Pop Goes the Easel collection Blushes (the collection is a Nordstrom exclusive)

My mom has never really been a makeup girl, but if she were to strike up a conversation with me about NARS blushes, I hope to gawd she doesn’t bring up the new blushes from the Pop Goes the Easel collection, because one of them is called Threesome, and I DO NOT want to be having a conversation with my mom that involves the word “threesome.”

NOPE. Can’t do it. Not gonna do it!

But if it were you and me? Totally fine. Threesome, Misconduct and Peep Show. Those are the three new powder blushes in the NARS Pop Goes the Easel collection. They’re $30 each, limited edition and only available at Nordstrom.

nars pop goes the easel blushes 2

Misconduct is a warm peachy plum with golden sheen (like a really sheer version of NARS Sin), Threesome is a matte cool baby pink, and Peep Show is a matte bright reddish pink.

[Continue reading…]

There are 7 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Makeup, NARS, Product Reviews

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