NARS

The New NARS Artistry Eye and Lip Brushes Make Accuracy an Art Form

March 21st, 2014 by Karen 17 Comments

NARS Artistry Brushes Eye Lip Category — The new NARS Artistry Eye and Lip brushes, coming April 1 to NARS boutiques and narscometics.com (you can also read about the the cheek and face brushes from the line here).

We’ve got a pooped princess over here…but she’s gonna do her best to persevere and proclaim pertinent particulars about the new NARS Artistry Eye and Lip Brushes.

Oh, boy, lots of “p” words up there… I can already tell it’s gonna be one of those reviews (read: wackadoo).

This is round two. We looked at the face and cheek brushes in round one.

So why am I tired? Well, I went out to dinner last night and partook (partook — is that a word?) of some wine, and now I’m having trouble stringing coherent sentences together.

Funny how that happens.

Anywho! These new brushes…

There are nine eye brushes and one lip brush in the new Artistry Brush line (we looked at the Face and Cheek brushes the other day). I’ve been using them to paint my mug for a few days, and so far I’m impressed.

With the eye and lip brushes we’re looking at today, “versatility and soft bristles” are the figurative words. There are some exciting things here if you like makeup tools.

NARS Eye Shadow Brush 40, $32

Like my favorite tubby tabby, the flat, paddle-shaped NARS Eye Shadow Brush 40 ($32) is on the thicker side.

Also like my husky tabby’s tum, the shape is…interesting. 🙂 It’s flat like a paddle brush, but fluffy like a domed blending brush, and the shape makes it usable for a variety of tasks, like dusting a base color all over your lids, blending two different shades together, or sweeping color into your crease.

It also blends as well as it applies, so it’s a multitasking mofo. If you want an eye brush that does it all, I think the 40, with its super soft, sable hair bristles, is a good option.

NARS Diffusing Brush 41, $32

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It’s Makeup, Precisely! The New NARS Artistry Face and Cheek Brushes

March 19th, 2014 by Karen 27 Comments

The new NARS Face and Cheek Artistry Brushes

I’ve painted several rooms over the years, but each and every time I swear to myself I’m never doing it again.

That’s because painting rooms frickin’ sucks, man, and every room subtracts at least a year off your life, you know, if you take those Real Age online tests, I swear…

Now, painting faces!? That’s totally different. Painting faces is awesome sauce to the Nth degree.

Enter the new 16-piece NARS Artistry Brush line, arriving at NARS boutiques and online April 1, with four face brushes, two cheek brushes, nine eye brushes and one lip brush, all specially crafted for precision makeup application.

These things are pumping me up to paint my mug. 🙂

First, the face and cheek brushes, which I’ve been using and enjoying very much. I’ll have more to say about the eye and lip brushes soon (target: tomorrow), but for now…

The face brushes…

Powder Brush #10 ($52)

Designed, according to NARS, to buff, blend and diffuse loose powder to a lustrous finish, it also works pretty dang well for pressed powders. I tried it with both and like the results equally. It lays down a fine, even veil of product.

The brush head is slightly narrower than typical powder/fluffy face brushes, but I kind of like that, too. Even though it doesn’t cover as much surface area as your run-of-the-mill fluffy powder brush, I think it’s easier to control and, when using it, difficult to over-apply, and I’m digging on that.

Only thing is…it’s a tad scratchy. Not terribly scratchy, but still.

I’m not sure about the bristles on this one, but based on the way they feel, I’m guessing the fibers are natural, and not synthetic.

Bronzing Powder Brush #11 ($52)

If you’re a bonafide bronzing buff, you may want to seriously consider Bronzing Powder Brush #11 and its dense, domed head (looks almost like a regular kabuki brush).

No matter where I place it on my face — under my cheekbones, at the edge of my hair line, or anywhere else I apply bronzer — it just fits. And it lays down a perfect amount of product.

I have also yet to see the soft natural-fiber brush head shed one hair in the few times I’ve used it.

Like the Powder Brush #10, the one’s head is a little smaller than usual for its ilk, making it quite precise. It lays down smooth, even color. Love.

Cream Blending Brush #12 ($28)

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Chisel Those Cheeks! Contouring Made Easy With the New NARS Contour Blushes

March 19th, 2014 by Karen 47 Comments

Wearing (and holding) the new NARS Contour Blush in Paloma

I don’t want to divulge too much, because I like being mysterious, and I want RyGos to continue thinking that I wake up with these chiseled cheekbones (Haha! Not). Better to have him believe they were sculpted by Michelangelo than have him know they were actually contoured by NARS.

I mean, you already know so many of my secrets — what’s one more? Like, you know that I hide a Mini Babybel Cheese in my purse (because you never know when the urge to eat a small cheese wheel will hit you. #imjustsaying). You know that I love Bravo. You know that I am obsessed with makeup, Trader Joe’s and cats. You also know that one of my legs is slightly longer than the other.

Wait — you didn’t know that? Oops, I thought you did. 🙂

I guess what I’m trying to say is this: being as how you already know so much about me, what’s a little covert contouring talk between friends?

The secret to the chiseled cheeks I’m currently sporting is the new NARS Contour Blush in Paloma, one of three $42 contouring powder blush duos recently added to the permanent line.

Babybel Cheese, yo! — Um…is that cheese in your purse?

Each of the duos has — no surprise here — two shades, one darker than the other. The darker shade is used to define and add depth to the face, while the lighter shades is used for highlights.

Paloma, the one I wear, is the middle-of-the-road option.

Olympia, the lightest of the three duos, has an ivory and a rose; Paloma, a pinkish beige and a deep rose; and Gienah, the darkest duo, houses a honey and an amber.

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An Easy Way To Take Your Winged Liner Looks From Day to Night

March 14th, 2014 by Karen 18 Comments

MAC Pure Show and NARS Black Valley — Wearing MAC Pure Show Superslick Liquid Eye Liner and NARS Black Valley Eye Paint on my upper lash lines (and trying to look “artsy-fartsy”)

I’m all about the winged liner life…

Ya feel me?

Winged liner, also known as cat liner, is one of my favorite makeup looks (especially in a classic black).

You can wear it pretty much anywhere. Pair it with nude lips to proactively synergize your ROI at work (LOL!), or raise the roof with a bright lip and cheek for a night on the town. The possibilities are endless.

I don’t know if I could ever truly get tired of black winged/cat liner, but I don’t always do it the same way. Sometimes I like to try something a little different, like by incorporating a liner in a different color. I’ll run it along my upper lash line parallel to the liner, like I’m doing with the gold in these pics.

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How To Do a Basic Brown Smokey Eye

February 24th, 2014 by Karen 33 Comments

Please ignore the Christmas decorations behind my shoulder, LOL! I filmed this back in December before Christmas but then got too carried away with the holidays to prepare it.

I still wanted to finish it, though, because it’s a staple look of mine that I wear all year round, perfect for just about any occasion from work things to movie dates to running errands around town.

I make little tweaks to it all the time, but this time I paired the eyes with nude cheeks and lips. You could always opt for more dramatic colors to brighten it up.

Here’s the final look…

Brown smokey eyes with nude peachy coral cheeks and lips

There are some steps and layering involved, but I’m sure you can do it. If you haven’t tried something like this before, it just takes a little practice.

Full list of products mentioned in the video…

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A Friday Face of the Day With the New NARS Matte Multiples

February 21st, 2014 by Karen 28 Comments

Wearing the new NARS Laos and Cappadoce Matte Multiples on my cheeks — Those are the new NARS Laos and Cappadoce Matte Multiples on my cheeks.

I took a couple of the new NARS Matte Multiples out for a spin today. 🙂

I wanted to see if they’d work on top of NARS Radiant Cream Compact Foundation, and they did! They buffed and blended easily, and now it’s just a question of seeing how well they wear over the next few hours…

Cappadoce, the golden bronze, I’m wearing as a bronzer, and I’m wearing Laos, the rosy coral, as a blush.

Um…yes, I am wearing warm coppery bronze colors on my eyes, again, this time via Tom Ford’s eye quad in Cognac Sable. Apparently, I’m going through a phase, LOL!

Tom Ford Cognac Sable Quad — Tom Ford Cognac Sable on my lids, MAC Superslick Liquid Liner in Definitely Feline on my upper lash lines and MAC Costa Riche on my water lines

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NARS Matte Multiple Collection Pics and Swatches

February 21st, 2014 by Karen 26 Comments

Prior to swatching the new NARS Matte Multiple collection this morning, this was my idea of a dream-come-true with multiples… 🙂

SUPER STOKED about this new line of matte cream blushes and bronzers! I’ll be putting them through their paces today and this weekend. For now, though, please partake of these pics and swatches.

All seven shades are available now at narscosmetics.com and coming to NARS counters next month.

NARS Matte Multiple Collection Swatches from the left: Anguilla, Exumas, Siam and Laos

NARS Matte Multiple Collection Swatches from the left: Cappadoce, Altai and Vientiane

My Valentine’s Day Face of the…Night With NARS

February 14th, 2014 by Karen 29 Comments

NARSissist Palette — Tonight I’m wearing the NARSissist Eyeshadow Palette to the movies

It’s just me and the boys tonight, El Hub and Tabs, per usual.

We were all supposed to go to a movie (About Last Night), but Tabs totally ditched us (no explanation, either), so it’s just gonna be El Hub and moi.

Cats are so rude, aren’t they? After I Fandango’d the tickets this afternoon, I walked out of my office and saw a pile of Louis Vuitton bags by the front door.

I guess Tabs is going somewhere? I kept getting mysterious texts today, too, like one from his car service saying that his “flight is on time.”

Whatev!

I hope the movie’s good… It has a 75% on rottentomatoes. That’s a good sign.

Other than that — and this sounds a little weird — we have to run to Target to get a space heater tonight because our gas line is off. Yup, the contractors who’ve been fixing our siding for the past couple weeks discovered a problem with the gas line, and so we’re trying to figure out how we’re going to stay warm and shower…

Most romantic-al Valentine’s Day ever!

Needless to say, necessity will be the mother of invention tonight. I think we’re going to try to improvise something with a 5-gallon bucket filled with hot water from the stove or an empty 5-gallon spring water bottle.

I feel like this is the kind of situation where chocolate can help… And maybe also caramel.

About my makeup, I didn’t feel too ambitious tonight, so I just went with my default going-out eye look — a brown smokey cat eye with a bright lip.

It’s called lazy girl makeup, yo! 🙂

Thank goodness for the NARSissist Palette. It made getting ready easy, since I didn’t have to go searching high and low for different shadows.

BAM! — it was all right there.