NARS

BOOYAH! Who’s down with the brown?

How about the wine?

I’m always down with the wine…

I’m actually talking about lipsticks right now. 🙂

Yes, I have a soft spot for the colors in this last batch of new NARS Audacious Lipsticks (the wines and browns) because I spent my college days wearing these colors.

That was back in the ’90s, which appear to be having a resurgence… You know, what’s old is new again, and all that.

Now, if we were talking about the return of lacy plastic chokers, I would not be able to deal, but I’m totally down with ’90s-style brown and wine lipsticks staging a comeback, particularly ones with an interesting twist, like these seven shades here…

Instead of a flat matte ’90s-style finish, these NARS Audacious wines and browns have a dreamy, creamy finish, a super smooth texture and tons of pigment, making them 100% worthy of toting around in your little black satin backpack.

First, the browns…

Leslie, Sandra and Deborah are quintessential ’90s colors.

Deborah, a chestnut, seems like the closest one to a straight-up ’90s brown. Just add spaghetti strap dress and white baby tee to complete the ensemble.

Meanwhile, Sandra and Leslie may look like they’re twinning, but upon closer inspection, they do have their differences. Reach for Leslie if you want something redder, and Sandra for something deeper and richer.

If you’re unsure what to wear with your brown lipsticks, you could go with brown eyeshadow, for sure, but when I wear brown on my eyes and my lips, I feel like it can look a little monotone/one note, so with brown lips, I’ll usually opt for reddish browns, purples, bronzes or coppery colors on my eyes, like here in these pics (that’s Tom Ford’s Cognac Sable Eye Quad and MAC Costa Riche Eye Kohl).

Olivia, a garnet wine, and Charlotte, a burgundy, are the lighter options. If you can’t decide between the two, I suggest Olivia if you like warmer colors, and Charlotte if you like cooler color temps on your kisser.

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Just as a helpful warning, if you plan to fly solo when you peep the purple, plum and berry shades in the new NARS Audacious Lipstick collection, wear a Bluetooth headset, or bring a pomeranian in a bow tie.

That way, when you’re gushing over shades like Angela at the counter (“OMG, I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS IS SO GOOD!”), instead of looking like a crazy chick who carries on loud conversations with herself, you’ll appear to be enthusiastically chatting with your BFF or your favorite canine shopping buddy. 🙂

It’s about planning ahead, yo.

Among the eight bad-@ss purples, plums and berries in the new 40-piece NARS Audacious Lipstick line, I think the purples are otherworldly!

They may or may not have me speaking in tongues… (“WJguoib hj ahiogh pjogiognae naweagzzzzz!”)

Here they are, along with pics and profiles of the plums and berries.

Let’s do this!

These three are like the Cher/Dionne/Tai trifecta of the entire collection. Don’t even try to sit with them at their lunch table, unless you can bring it.

Angela, the queen bee, is the one who runs sh*t. A vivid pink orchid, it oozes je ne sais quoi.

Seriously, every time I open this tube, I want to worship it. When I wear Angela on my lips, I feel like raising my arms and screaming up at the sky, “WHERE ARE MY DRAGONS?!”

Now, I know that Angela looks like it might work best for cool skin tones, but don’t be afraid to try it if your skin tone is warm. It’s one of those colors that I think will work well on almost everyone.

Wear it, fall in love with it, and then send me an invite to the wedding. 🙂 I’ll be bringing a plus one, BTW, Tabs or Ryan Gosling. Depends on their schedules…

If you like the idea of Angela but feel like it’s a little too perky for you, peep Silvia. They’re both similar, but Silvia is slightly deeper and more purple.

Dominique, the last of these three, is exclusive to Barneys New York. A pink lilac with a hint of silvery gray, for some reason it reminds me of Dame Edna’s hair…

In a good way.

I feel kind of like a poser when I wear this shade…but if you’re one of those chic, trendy types who can pull off silvery gray hair, you could totally make it look legit.

I bet these two can’t wait for this year’s holiday parties.

While they look very similar at first glance, they come into their own on lips. Janet seems slightly bluer to me and leans cooler.

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It wouldn’t be a big NARS lipstick launch if there weren’t some bad-@ss reds up in the mix.

Oh! NARS does some ah-may-zing reds, don’t they? And there are lots of scintillating scarlets in the new NARS Audacious Lipstick collection ($32 each; 40 shades; available starting September 1).

Yesterday when we were looking at the corals and hot pinks I mentioned how I felt that NARS did a really good job making each of the colors in this collection distinct, despite some of them appearing very similar at first. Look closely, and you see the subtle differences among them. They don’t all just blur together into a hazy fog of reddish pink…

So, if you’re one of those unstoppable makeup fanatics (like myself) who, like the Terminator, WILL NOT STOP until you find your personal red lipstick version of Sarah Connor (for me, it’s a super warm tomato red with strong orange undertones), chances are you’ll find it among the reds in this launch.

Quickly, though, before we get to the reds, have I mentioned that my lips have been dry lately?

I think I have…but it wouldn’t be a Wednesday unless I mentioned it at least 26 more times, LOL! 🙂

So yeah, my lips have been very dry, which is what happens when you kayak on a windy lake for four hours. Of course, after doing this batch of swatches — which you know, took a while — they were in even worse shape.

But despite the currently critical lip sitch, I still think these lipsticks look smooth, which is yet another testament to the audaciously smooth Audacious Lipstick formula.

Now, on to the reds!

If you like warm, orangey reds…

Don’t miss Annabella (a poppy red), Carmen (a geranium red) and Lana (a vivid orangey red) without taking a closer look.

Of the three, I think Lana is the warmest and the most orange. It’s basically like a creamy MAC Lady Danger.

For a warm red with less orange than Lana, check out Carmen (slightly redder, less orange) or Annabella (even more red, and less orange).

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