NARS

Plot a Course for Adventure, Your Lips and Tips on a New Romance With the New NARS 413 BLKR Lipstick and Nail Polish

August 8th, 2013 by Karen 35 Comments

Wearing the new NARS 413 BLKR Lipstick and Nail Polish

Where are we heading today, babe? I’ll drive if you navigate. (Please excuse my messy Mazda! I really need to clean it…)

I know you need to swing by Petco to get your cat her gravy, and we both want to visit DSW to look at shoes…but can we also stop by 413 BLKR to see what’s happening at NARS?

Silly goose! Of course I’m not suggesting that we drive from San Francisco to the company’s flagship boutique in New York, although I give you mad makeup props for remembering the address of the store (it’s on 413 Bleecker Street). I’m referring to the NARS 413 BLKR collection.

Early this month, NARS added two new pieces to the fam — 413 Lipstick ($26), a stunning rosy brown, and moody blue BLKR Nail Polish ($19).

Check it…

NARS 413 BLKR Nail Polish Lipstick — The new NARS 413 BLKR Nail Polish on the left and 413 BLKR Lipstick on the right

NARS 413 BLKR Lipstick is a deep rosy brown with a semi-matte finish ($26)

NARS 413 BLKR Nail Polish Swatch — Three layers of 413 BLKR Nail Polish, a midnight blue ($19)

NARS 413 BLKR Lipstick Swatch — 413 BLKR Lipstick…

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The NARS Soulshine Cheek Palette: Perfect Vacation Partner

August 5th, 2013 by Karen 14 Comments

Oooh, GURL. This NARS Soulshine Cheek Palette ($41) is totally coming with me to Kauai later this month (El Hub and I are going for vacation). The bright peachy pink, golden apricot and soft rose look like they’ll be perfect partners for a tan. Ideal for doing nothing but sitting by the pool, eating fries, drinking margaritas (on the rocks with salt) and reading.

Grghghh… I just drooled a little. 🙂

This palette is the more intense of the two new limited edition NARS Cheek Palettes available now exclusively at Sephora stores and sephora.com, so if bright blushes are your thang, you might want to check it out.

The Soulshine palette features a peachy pink with gold shimmer, a sheer golden apricot and a soft rose with golden shimmer.

NARS Soulshine Swatches — Soulshine swatches

Enter a Realm of Shimmer and Shiny Cheeks With the New NARS Realm of the Senses Cheek Palette

August 2nd, 2013 by Karen 17 Comments

Ooh, artsy!

I really like how NARS handled their logo on the new Realm of the Senses Blush Palette pan ($41).

Tilted and oversized, nice. It’s totally something I would do if I ever had the chance to decorate a fancy-schmancy blush pan with a logo. 🙂

Realm of the Senses is a limited edition blush palette with sheer peach, bronzed rose and sparkling golden powders for sculpting, highlighting and defining cheeks and faces, and it’s available now exclusively at Sephora and sephora.com.

This palette’s powders are much more shimmery than those in the Adult Content and Killing Me Softly Blush Palettes, so if it’s bold highlights and shiny cheeks you’re looking for, step right up!

NARS Realm of the Senses Cheek Palette Swatch — From the left: sheer peach, bronzed rose and sparkling golden sand

Orgasm Makes an Appearance in the NARS Killing Me Softly Palette

August 1st, 2013 by Karen 26 Comments

In case you were worried that NARS wasn’t going to release a blush palette that didn’t include Orgasm, you can now wipe the sweat from your brow.

Wait — was that a double negative? I kind of confused myself there…

Killing Me Softy, one of two new blush palettes for fall, does include the cult classic peachy gold blush, along with three other shades for highlighting and contouring. There’s Gilda (a coral with a hint of red), Albatross (a luminous gold) and Outlaw (a soft rose with golden shimmer).

Overall, the palette leans quite warm, so if you wear toasty peaches, golds, corals and red shades well, you might want to take a closer look.

It arrives at NARS counters, boutiques and online September 1.

NARS Killing Me Softly Palette Swatches from the left: Gilda, Albatross, Outlaw and Orgasm — Swatches from the left: Gilda, Albatross, Outlaw and Orgasm

The New NARS Adult Content Blush Palette Is Rated Rawwwrr!

July 31st, 2013 by Karen 25 Comments

Uh…I don’t know why (ok, well, maybe I do), but the name of this palette makes me laugh. 🙂

Because really, if it contained “adult content,” you’d probably find things like bills, lame bowls for “portion control” (man, I sure miss my 19-year-old metabolism!) and, like, an hour-long commute in gridlocked traffic (both ways).

Anywho, the name’s cheeky.

Get it? Cheeky? Blush?

Ha! I made myself laugh!

This new powder blush palette arrives in stores, NARS boutiques and online September 1.

NARS stocked it with Zen (a natural beige), Miss Liberty (a soft, shimmering peach), Deep Throat (a flirty, sheer peach) and Desire (a cotton candy pink).

All I have to say is STOKED! This one’s a stunner.

NARS Adult Content Swatches from the left: Zen (a natural beige), Miss Liberty (a soft, shimmering peach), Desire (a cotton candy pink) and Deep Throat (a flirty, sheer peach) — Swatches from the left: Zen (a natural beige), Miss Liberty (a soft, shimmering peach), Desire (a cotton candy pink) and Deep Throat (a flirty, sheer peach)

With Its Glitter All Grown Up, Navy Blue NARS Kamchatka Eyeshadow Ships Out This Fall Carrying a Smokey, Shimmery Surprise

July 9th, 2013 by Karen 10 Comments

Can I get a “hells, yeah” for bomb-@ss smokey shadows you can wear along your lash lines?

I realize that’s a very specific shout-out, but duuuude, you know how many times I’ve tried to smoke out a shadow along my lash lines only to end up looking like a reject from the Thunderdome? — with my lids all dark, contrasty and totally and completely unblended, even though I practically broke my wrist trying to smooth out the edges?

Picture the most questionable makeup look you’ve ever seen on Toddlers and Tiaras, but applied in the dark, upside down, without any brushes.

Now, push that disturbing image out of your mind, because there’s none of that nonsense with new navy blue NARS Kamchatka ($24). This bad boy totally gets it right! 🙂

(Well, at least along lash lines.)

NARS Kamchatka Single Eyeshadow, a navy smoke ($24) — Kamchatka Single Eyeshadow, a navy smoke ($24)

Yes, NARS had some fun with this color. It’s one of those secretly shimmery shadows — a Clark Kent Kamchatka, perhaps? — that looks like a run-of-the-mill matte navy in the pan, but it turns into a Kryptonian superhero when it touches skin, as flecks of silver glitter within the formula flex their tiny makeup muscles.

I think it’s a gorgeous, grownup take on the sparkly stuff.

NARS Kamchatka Swatch — See the super tiny silver sparkles? You have to look pretty closely…

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Powder Surge! Retro Lips Go to the Matte With the NARS Fall 2013 Velvet Matte Lip Pencils

July 9th, 2013 by Karen 32 Comments

This morning I had a Channing Tatum revelation.

In 1990, Chan-Tate — master of abdominal gyrations and star of many of my favorite daydreams — was 10 years old.

That same year, I was 15, and my younger brother was 11. So, technically, Channing could have been my lil’ brother’s homeboy, which by default means I could have been Channing Tatum’s babysitter.

Cue sad unicorn face!

Hmm… There’s something very weird about that. At approximately the same time I discovered the wonders of matte lipsticks (more on this in a sec), I could also have been preparing Channing Tatum a Hot Pocket for lunch, reading him a story, or scolding him for jumping on the couch.

Yup, matte, powdery-lookin’ lips were all the rage back then. For a period of about 10 years, while young Channing Tatum was probably pretending to be a Thundercat in the backyard, the world faced a severe shortage of glossed and glittery lips.

But, as they say, what’s old is new again. 🙂 It’s time for us to talk about lips and NARS Fall 2013.

Take my hand, friend, as the waves of ’90s nostalgia crash over us…

In a collection heavy on matte eyes and lips, with the Velvet Matte Lip Pencils, there isn’t a single sparkle to be found between pale pink Paimpol and brick-like Mysterious Red.

Mysterious Red

Of the two, Mysterious Red is the showstopper for me, albeit one that isn’t entirely unique. While striking and bold, I’ve seen the color and shades like it before (NARS Forbidden Red, MAC RiRi Woo and MAC Red come to mind).

Beautiful and classic, this warmish opaque brick red is the exact lip color I longed for in the summer of 1990, when I desperately wanted to look like Madonna in her Express Yourself video, yet despite its stark, flat matte finish, it feels surprisingly smooth on my lips.

For comparison, you know that dramatic, powdery effect you get with MAC RiRi Woo? Well, Mysterious Red has it, too, but without the tugging or skipping.

And being a pencil, it’s a cinch to use. Just line and fill in your lips.

From the left, for comparison: NARS Mysterious Red, NARS Forbidden Red, MAC Red, MAC RiRi Woo and MAC Dubonnet — From the left for comparison: NARS Mysterious Red, NARS Forbidden Red, MAC Red, MAC RiRi Woo and MAC Dubonnet

If you compulsively collect reds and want to freshen your collection for fall, Mysterious Red would be a solid choice. It may not be the most groundbreaking shade, but at least you know it won’t go out of style before you’ve worn it down to a stub.
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B+/A-

Paimpol

Under close examination, I do see some sparkles on pink chiffon Paimpol’s tip, but there isn’t a twinkle in sight when it’s on my lips, where it’s more of a straight-up flat matte.

NARS Fall 2013 Swatches from the left: La Paz Pure Matte Lipstick, Peloponnese Pure Matte Lipstick, Paimpol Velvet Matte Lip Pencil, Mysterious Red Velvet Matte Lip Pencil — From the left: La Paz Pure Matte Lipstick, Peloponnese Pure Matte Lipstick, Paimpol Velvet Matte Lip Pencil, Mysterious Red Velvet Matte Lip Pencil

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2-Minute Review: NARS Yamal Single Eyeshadow

July 9th, 2013 by Karen 21 Comments

Got 120 seconds for FranÃ§ois?

WHAT IT IS: NARS Yamal Single Eyeshadow. A sheer, cool brown matte single shadow that looks like a fawn’s delicate fur. It’s one of four shadow singles in the new NARS fall 2013 collection, and the only one that’s limited edition.

NARS Yamal Single Eyeshadow, a maple sugar ($24, limited edition) — Yamal Single Eyeshadow, a maple sugar ($24, limited edition)

WHAT IT DOES:

This soft, silky matte blends without misbehaving
Like a lighter version of Urban Decay’s Buck Eyeshadow, or MAC Era with a cooler color temp, a tad more taupe and zero shimmer
It’s a smooth operator, especially for a matte, never looks chalky and refrains from chilling out in my fine lines
Worn with NARS Pro Prime, it lasts all day on my combination skin without creasing or fading
Elegant worn alone on lids with a black liner along the water lines and a smidgen of NARS Kamatcha (also from the fall 2013 collection) eyeshadow smudged along the lower lash lines
The only limited edition NARS Eyeshadow Single in the fall 2013 collection

NARS Yamal on the left and Urban Decay Buck on the right — NARS Yamal on the left and, for comparison, Urban Decay Buck on the right

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