Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Products I love: NARS VELVET MATTE LIP PENCILS

You might have heard about them, or maybe even you already own some of them, but NARS Velvet matte lip pencils are life-changing for me. Why? For starters, I am a lip junkie, and I own dozens and dozens of lipsticks, and many of them have similar colors, although I do try to vary a little when buying new ones. 
I love reds, you must know, but I am not a red-wearing person. Maybe I don't have the perfect red for my skin (very pale with yellow undertones) or maybe I'm wearing them in a way I shouldn't. The thing is, I mastered eye makeup and I didn't bother too much with dark lipsticks (and I'm referring to any kind of tones different to nudes) which was a BIG MISTAKE.
That said, I love these lip products because they're so easy to apply and there are a wide range of colors to choose from. I am now going to show you the ones I own and some swatches.
These are all five of them:
(Left to right:) Damned, Cruella, Sex Machine, Dragon girl, Belle de jour.


(Left to right:) Damned, Cruella, Dragon girl, Sex machine, Belle de jour.

(I apologize for the bad conditions some of these are in, because some caps have been peeling some plastic off, and my bad, I haven't sharpened these for the pictures. PLEASE, do excuse me.)

Damned

My "Damned" lip swatch was really really bad, but I would describe it as a really toned down reddish fuchsia (sort of purplish), which isn't bright, but dark and dull. I actually, don't like it too much, I made a mistake when I picked it up at the NARS counter. I do believe people's recommendations are always nice to check out, but I shouldn't have NEVER bought this color.
It does look nice on darker skins, but not on my very pale one. Period.

Cruella

See? This is what I meant when I said "not in good conditions." It's the second color I picked up ever from Nars, just after Sex machine. It's a really nice brick red, which does work quite well although it somewhat clashes with my skin tone again, but it looks way nicer than Damned, that's for sure. It's a dark red, but not reddish brown sort of dark, and it can even look kind of bright in some flash pictures. (Really quick application in the next picture, I am aware it's a terrible mess, I'm sorry.)


Dragon girl
(a.k.a my love at first sight)



It looks like a bright fuchsia, right? But it isn't, I assure you, it's a pinkish bright red, that's perfect both for summer (sooooo many months to go) and for winter (it gives a punch of color to all those neutral and dark clothes, doesn't it?). I totally recommend ANYONE to try this color, because it looks amazing on all sorts of skin tones and types. It's my favorite red of the bunch (or even of my whole lipstick collection) because it's lively and BEAUTIFUL.

Sex machine


This was the first NARS velvet matte lip pencil I bought. I was 16 or so, and my mother and I were shopping and she thought this dusty pinkish color would suit me well. As you can see, it's quite nice with pale skin, I have never seen it on darker skin tones but I would highly recommend you to go to a NARS counter to try them out, whatever your skin tone. It does look good on the picture, but in my opinion, it's way too dusty and dry, and it goes on a little chalky, so I don't think it looks that flattering (on me, at least.)

(And last but not least)
Belle de jour


This lip pencil is a nice caramel-nude tone, which looks quite nude on the lips, as you can see, although I do have quite pigmented lips, so maybe a paler lip will see an orange-brown tinge in the pencil's undertones (you can clearly see it's a light caramel brown in the product itself.) It's a pretty color, although, I have noticed that all lighter colors look chalky on the lips (on mine, at least) and that's something I don't really like.




(Tips: for correct application, you should exfoliate your lips and put some chapstick (or vaseline) on before putting these lip pencils on, because they ARE MATTE, which tends to mean that they dry your lips after some time on. They don't bleed, though, so you need no lip liner underneath this product.)

That said, I hope you check the full collection out, because it is A-MOH-ZING. 
Good night ladies,

Maria.

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