NARS

NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint SPF 30 Makes Makeup Life Easier With Sheer, Natural Coverage

January 5th, 2016 by Karen 31 Comments

nars velvet matte skin tint spf 30 review — The new NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tints ($44 for a 1.7-oz. tube), coming in 12 shades January 15 to NARS boutiques and the NARS website, and February 1 to NARS counters

It’s a bold statement to say that I love a foundation after only using it three or four days, but that’s all the time it took for me to see how NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint SPF 30 rocks.

I put it through its paces last weekend on my three-day trip to Monterey and Carmel, and I can’t remember the last time I thought my skin looked better, whether in real life or pics. I think when you’re on vacation — and, assuming that you’re wearing makeup on that vacation because, let’s face it, on some vacations, like beach vacations or long walking tours, you don’t always want to wear makeup, especially a full face of makeup — that’s a good time to really test a new foundation, because you’re out and about for long stretches of time and probably taking hundreds of pictures along the way.

Also, and maybe this is just me, but I don’t like to spend a ton of time on my makeup when I’m on vacation, especially first thing in the morning. I can usually tolerate spending about 15 minutes (ideally less), but then I want to be out the door because adventure awaits!

I can say with absolute certainty that new NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint — which is really just a fancy name for a tinted moisturizer with an almost fabric-like matte finish — is the sh*t. Based on the crucial vacation/low-patience-for-makeup test, it totally checks off all the right boxes.

In some ways, NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint is a lot like that superstar of the NARS foundation line, Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer, of which I’ve gone through bottles, and on which I’ve gotten many friends hooked. And, mind you, these friends don’t even wear makeup on the regular, but they still love Pure Radiant.

Yup, it’s that good, and this new one, Velvet Matte, is just as great, if not better.

Like Pure Radiant’s finish, this one looks like real skin, but it still evens out your skin tone. Also, again like Pure Radiant, Velvet Matte Skin Tint contains broad-spectrum SPF 30, along with extra skincare bells and whistles like vitamins C and E.

“This oil-free formula delivers NARS’ signature natural-looking finish and shine control with the skincare benefits of an all-in-one treatment. NARS’ innovative Velvet Illusion Complex Technology creates a soft-focus effect with a soft-touch feel. Transparent Blurring Powders instantly enhance the look of skin by helping to blur imperfections and even tone — naturally dimensional skin that doesn’t look flat, masked, or chalky.”

–NARS PR

The coverage is sheer but build-able up to medium, by the way, so don’t expect it to cover every single freckle or imperfection. My freckles and moles peek through, but I’m totally fine with that right now. I’ve been loving a more natural look lately, but I think you really have to like that whole, “What, me? Am I wearing makeup?” look to appreciate the finish.

nars velvet matte skin tint spf 30 swatches — NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint swatches from the left: Terre-Neuve, Finland, Alaska and Groenland

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NARSissist L’amour Toujours Eyeshadow Palette Swatches and First Impressions

January 4th, 2016 by Karen 13 Comments

narsissist lamour toujours lamour palette 1 — New for spring, the NARSissist L’amour Toujours Eyeshadow Palette ($59, available now at NARS boutiques and the NARS website; coming Feb. 1 to NARS counters)

Today I learned a valuable life lesson from the new $59 NARSissist L’amour Toujours Eyeshadow Palette ($59), and it was this: ’tis better to drink the blueberry smoothie — the one you made for yourself as a healthy snack — after you’ve taken pictures of yourself wearing a new eyeshadow palette, as opposed to before.

(Lest you end up with pics of yourself with a blue tongue and teeth!)

Just as an FYI, you know, in case you ever find yourself in that particular situation. 🙂

narsissist lamour toujours lamour palette 6 — Wearing the NARSissist L’amour Toujours Eyeshadow Palette on my lids

So, I took L’amour Toujours, a new NARS palette for spring, for a test drive around the block today (well…more like around my condo after I got back from seeing a nutritionist who assured me that I can have “a very small amount” of sweets here and there! Life is grand!).

The quick and dirty deets…

Limited edition
Available now at NARS boutiques and NARS website and coming Feb. 1 to NARS counters
12 powder shadows, none of which, I believe, have been previously released (but I’ll have to double check that). Four are mattes, and eight are shimmers.
The mattes, and the names are numerical, which is a little tricky, include “I” (which is a sheer cream bisque), “IV” (a semi-sheer black truffle), “VII” (a cool-toned medium brown) and “X” (a regal blue).
Of the shimmers, there’s “II” (a shimmery pink sand), “III” (a neutral medium brown), “V” (a shimmery golden beige), “VI” (a shimmery copper), “VII” (a shimmery pistol gray), “IX” (a shimmery grayish blue), “XI” (a shimmery taupe) and “XII” (a shimmery blackened licorice).

And some quick first impressions…

When I popped the matte cool-toned medium brown (VII) in my crease, the shimmery pink sand (II) on my lids, the matte regal blue (X) in the outer corner, the matte black (IV) on my upper lash lines and the shimmery pistol gray (VIII) on my lower lash lines, I found that the shadows blend together beautifully. I do see a little fallout with the black shade, though…
Um…Roman numerals for eyeshadow names? That’s very confusing for some reason!
So far I like the combination and variety of warm and cool-toned colors. I also like how smooth they feel on my skin. They don’t feel heavy or look powdery either. I also lake how deep and rich most of the shades are, especially VII, VIII and X.
So far, however, I am not crazy about the sheer matte light beige or black, which are sheerer than I’d like, and I have to build them up to see them in swatches. I also feel like I’ve seen a group of colors just like these from NARS before…
Jury’s still out on whether I can recommend this palette with the gusto of a marching band and a ticker-tape parade, but it’s nice enough, I guess, and I can definitely see myself doing a number of neutral looks with it.
I think I’ll have to use it a few more times to get a better sense of its value and gauge its flexibility.

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Neat and New to Me: NARS Mekong Shimmer Eyeshadow

December 1st, 2015 by Karen 32 Comments

Neat and New to Me

Unlike my Unsung Heroes series, which features permanent collection products I’ve known and loved a long time, the Neat and New to Me series showcases permanent collection products that slipped under my radar for a while, but then I discovered them! — and now I think they’re neat and new to me.

NARS Mekong has been making me smile! 🙂 And rhyme!

That was a rhyme, right? (Mekong making…?)

It has a dark brown espresso matte base with golden micro glitter, and it’s take-your-breath-away gawgeous with warm reddish browns and purply browns on the eyes, and reds, burgundies and plums on the lips.

I recently discovered it, which means that I finally gave it a try, and I feel like such a goofball for waiting so long. Give it a swatch if you can before the end of winter, but I warn you — brace yourself. It’s a total knockout.

nars mekong swatch — NARS Mekong Shimmer Eyeshadow

I’ve been wearing it for smoky eyes, and also as a liner, and when I use it for smoky eyes, I pack it on my lids with a flat eyeshadow brush, and then blend out the edges, drawing just a smidgen up into the crease, before incorporating a couple of matte transition shades.

Then, to offset the heaviness on the top area, I line and smudge a purple or warm reddish brown pencil liner, usually MAC Prunella or MAC Teddy, both of which I think really complement Mekong well, along my lower lash line.

nars mekong — Wearing NARS Mekong on my lids in a smoky eye look with MAC Prunella along my lower lash lines…

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This Made My Day! I Finally Filled My Small NARS Pro Palette With Blushes

November 24th, 2015 by Karen 21 Comments

Even though a small storm blew in this afternoon, my today got off to a great start! The sun was shining, the birds were singing, Baby Girl was kicking like a kung fu rockstar in my tummy, and I finally managed to fill my small NARS Pro Palette with blushes. 🙂

You might remember when I first mentioned this same palette back in September. At the time there were only two lonely blushes in one corner…

nars small pro palette — My small NARS Pro Palette, empty except for a couple of lonely blushes (Amour and Dolce Vita)

But the order I placed came in, and now it’s filled to the brim with blushes. I’m ready to rumble. The pans will never look this pristine again, LOL!

nars pro blush palette — NARS Blush swatches from the left of Mata Hari, Sin and Taj Majal

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Neat and New to Me: NARS Alhambra Eyeshadow Duo

November 20th, 2015 by Karen 12 Comments

Neat and New to Me

Unlike my Unsung Heroes series, which features permanent collection products I’ve known and loved a long time, the Neat and New to Me series showcases permanent collection products that slipped under my radar for a while, but then I discovered them! — and now I think they’re neat and new to me.

I wore the NARS Alhambra Eyeshadow Duo last weekend to shop for maternity jeans, and you know what? You know your eyeshadow is doing something right when you’re shopping for jeans (which is usually traumatic enough as it is) in your sixth month of pregnancy, and you feel extra huge, and you’re in a dressing room with the worst florescent green lighting known to womankind, and you look in the mirror and think, “Dayum! My eye makeup looks good…”

Thank you, NARS Alhambra. 🙂

You can make a woman feel good in gold, EVEN when she’s in sickly greenish lighting.

On one side of this warm-toned powder shadow duo lives a metallic rosy gold; on the other, a golden champagne.

They might look a little scary and frosty in that swatch below, but trust! — they aren’t that shiny or brash on lids once they’ve been blended (which is easy to do because they’re both also incredibly soft).

Like a superhero satin, the finish shines, but it’s about six degrees away from “discotheque,” so you can tell your fine lines to chill. Alhambra’s got this.

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Unsung Makeup Heroes: NARS Reykjavik Velvet Shadow Stick

November 18th, 2015 by Karen 13 Comments

The long-running Unsung Heroes series here on Makeup and Beauty Blog features some of my all-time favorite permanent collection products.

Reykjavik.

OK, that word is hard to spell. For me. It’s like “fuchsia” and “necessary.” In the 10 minutes I’ve been sitting here trying to write about this fantastic Velvet Shadow Stick from NARS, I’ve had to look at the packaging and mentally spell out the word (R-e-y-k-j-a-v-i-c) at least 10 times, LOL!

WHY CAN’T I SPELL THIS WORD?!

I should be able to. I want to be able to, because this velvety $28 matte cream masterpiece of an eyeshadow is SO PRETTY. It’s my NARS November smoky eye BFF, and one should be able to spell the name of their smoky eye BFF, right?

Right?

The word is also the name of the capital and largest city of Iceland.

NARS Velvet Shadow Stick in Rejkavic…

Wait — Reyk-ja-vic — works as a bad-@ss base for smoky eyes. Lots of different colors of smoky eyes.

At a glance, it can look like a dark gunmetal gray, but it completely depends on the lighting and any other colors you layer it with. Sometimes, it leans more toward a bluish gray; other times, a blackened gray. It’s a surprisingly complex cream shadow, and it works with a ton of different color combos. I’ve been wearing it a lot lately as a lid base for smoky brown, black, blue and gray eyes.

Yup, I’m kind of a smoky eye addict, as you’re probably well aware. 🙂
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Neat and New to Me: NARS Albatross Highlighter

November 17th, 2015 by Karen 25 Comments

Neat and New to Me

Unlike my Unsung Heroes series, which features permanent collection products I’ve known and loved a long time, the Neat and New to Me series showcases permanent collection products that slipped under my radar for a while, but then I discovered them! — and now I think they’re neat and new to me.

I’m not gonna say that NARS Albatross Highlighting Blush is the most exciting beauty bird to have ever soared above the oceans and the forests. I mean, it’s not a peacock or a toucan.

Quite frankly, that stark white scared the crap out of me for years. “Albatross is for the birds!” I used to think every time I saw it.

Buuut, not so much anymore. 🙂

I tried it again in one of those Sephora makeup classes not long ago (the one on highlighting and contouring) on the recommendation of one of the instructor artists.

I said that I wanted to try a highlighter other than the usual suspects (a BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector, Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick, Hourglass Ambient), and she suggested shimmery yellow gold Albatross.

I’ve been wearing it pretty consistently ever since.

Now, if you’re big into super glittery highlighters, you might want to keep flying, because yellowish golden Albatross doesn’t have giant flecks of glitter in it. It’s not one of those powder highlighters, but that’s one of the reasons I like it.

It’s just less muchness, if you know what I mean.

It is shiny, however — even more than the Hourglass Ambients — but it isn’t as shiny as the BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfectors. The finish is right there in between, right there in the sweet spot. It catches more than enough light to be noticeable.

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5 Great Gothy Glam Lipsticks for Fall

November 2nd, 2015 by Karen 34 Comments

5 gothy glam lipsticks — You can’t go wrong with one of these gorgeously gothy glam lipsticks this fall

“Luke, I am your father!”

Wha!? Who you talkin’ to? Ain’t no Luke here, buddy. My name is Karen, and this is my cat Tabs.

“JOIN THE DARK SIDE, LUKE!”

Man, you are cray, but OK. Sure, I’ll join the dark side…of lipstick! BOOM! What!? Surprise attack! Get him, Tabs! Attack his ankles!!

–END–

Yes, fellow fierce force users, dark, vampy plums and wines are giving me So. Much. Life. There are so many great gothy glam lip colors out there, and here are five fabulous ones for fall.

1. NARS Audacious Lipstick in Liv ($22)

Oh! I love Liv’s deep, satiny aubergine finish and rich, creamy formula. It livs (get it?) online and at NARS counters, where you can find it now for $22.

2. Dolce & Gabbana Matte Lipstick in Dolce Inferno ($37)

dolce gabbana dolce inferno — Dolce & Gabbana Dolce Inferno

I am burning up with love for $37 Dolce Inferno. It’s hands down one of my favorite deep, dark lippies around. A moody matte plum, it has the faintest essence of pearl that gives it a little kick.

For a dark lipstick, it’s also easy to apply. The smooth, opaque formula feels fairly thick, and it doesn’t slip and slide all over my lips when I apply it, which I do with a lip brush. You’ll find this hot ticket heating up Dolce & Gabbana counters now.

3. MAC Satin Lipstick in Cyber ($17)

My dry lips love MAC Cyber’s comfy, creamy formula. This dark, satiny plum is so creamy that it tends to scoot beyond my natural lip line, so I like to wear it with MAC Cyber World Lip Liner, because 1) the two products are like peas in a pod (the colors match very closely), and 2) the liner totally keeps Cyber under control.

Skynet approved! Look for it passing Turing tests now at MAC counters and online.
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