As Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock so eloquently put it, “It takes two to make a thing go right… It takes two to make it out of sight.”
Truer words were never spoken, particularly as they pertain to the new NARS Dual Intensity Blushes ($45 each). 🙂
Yeah, even though I braced myself for it, I still freaked out a little when I opened one of these compacts for the first time and saw, not one, but TWO blushes within it with the same pattern on the pans as the NARS Dual-Intensity Eyeshadows (which I love, and these feel very similar).
Hearts may or may not have shot out of from my eyes.
NARS designed these new blushes, which arrive March 4 as six $45 duos, to 1) look and feel weightless on the skin, and 2) to create two completely different looks. Applying them with a dry powder brush paints your cheeks with bold color, while a wet brush seduces your skin with a softer watercolor-like effect, similar to what you’d get from a cheek tint, and you can wear the shades separately or mix them together.
The one called Frenzy fuses a sparkling pinkish gold highlighter with a shimmering bright tangerine…
While Fervor partners a shimmering soft pink with a deep, sparkling coppery rose…
And if you’re craving a trip to the tropics…Craving combines a sparkling seashell pink highlighter with a shimmering beachy bronze.
WARNING: Do not panic when you see Panic…which is the brightest duo of the six. It contains a shocking, shimmering fuchsia and a shimmering orangey pink.
If you’re just plain partial to pinks in general, you might adore Adoration, which pairs a soft, sparkling baby pink with a shimmering hot pink.
Last, but certainly not least, there’s Jubilation, yay! It partners a sparkling hot gold with a soft and shimmering nude peach.
I seriously considered wearing Fervor on one cheek and Panic on the other last weekend when I left the house to run errands (“Nobody will notice. Right??”)…but I chickened out and just went with Panic, although I did apply it differently on each cheek, in the name of makeup science.
I lightly dusted it on my left cheek with a dry brush, then dabbed and swirled it on my right cheek using a wet NARS Wet/Dry Blush Brush ($45), which is new and also coming out with the blushes.
Panic lasted about seven hours on my skin, which I’d prepped first with NARS All Day Luminous Foundation.
I do think I prefer the dry application to the wet, though, because at the end of the day, the cheek on which I used the wet brush looked a tad patchy in places, whereas my other cheek looked fine.
I’m actually a little shocked by how natural these look on the skin. It’s like they’re depositing pigment without leaving behind any visible powder, if that makes any sense. The shimmer appears very pronounced in the swatches, I know, but once you get it on skin, it mellows out to a more of satin finish.
I like.
And they’re also remarkably easy to blend. Like the Dual-Intensity Eyeshadows, these blushes feel almost creamy. You barely have to move a muscle to erase any edges. You could be the top reigning Queen of Blush Noobs on earth and still be completely fine with any of these colors, even with the brighter ones, like the hot pink in Adoration or the fuchsia in Panic.
The closest things I can think of are the MAC Extra Dimension Blushes and Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushes.
Like, if one of the Extra Dimensions and one of the Ambients got a little carried away one night with the tequila while listening to Babyface slow jams…one of these Dual-Intensity Blushes would emerge nine months later with the soft, silky texture of the MAC blushes and the fantastically fine, delicate finish of the Ambients.
I gotta say, I like these a lot, and I think they look friggin’ gorgeous on skin, but there is one caveat… If you have very dry skin, take the few extra minutes to prep your cheeks with a heavy-duty moisturizer and a pore-smoothing primer to avoid any problems with patchiness later in the day.
PRICE: $45 each
AVAILABILITY: Coming March 4 to Sephora, NARS Boutiques and narscosmetics.com, and April 1 to department store NARS counters
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B+/A-
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Karen, I am with you on these blushes. Freakin’ gorgeous!!! GORGEOUS!!!! I want all of them, they are all so pretty. But I think I will start with Adoration (not much to your surprise, I am sure). I can’t wait to see them all on your cheeks! Love these!
Hi Agata,
Yeah, these will definitely make your heart beat faster! I think Adoration would look absolutely lovely on you.
Happy Monday!
Does using them wet change the texture? Some eyeshadows get hard on the surface, and this would be a shame with these beauties!
So far, I haven’t experienced that, so good news!
These look beautiful, but I’m a little scared of the glitter/shimmer. Will I look like a shimmer bomb in these? How are they with emphasizing pores?
Hi Amy,
Nope, it’s not an issue. I have big pores and didn’t have that problem. The shimmer looks very pronounced in the swatches, but once the blush is on the skin it looks more like a sheen.
I’m going to be all over these when they release. Adoration in particular, but I’m also making googly eyes at Frenzy!
Hi Estefania,
YES. I’m thinking that’ll be lovely in the summer. Perhaps with an sheer orange or coral gloss?
LOL, I went to Sephora this afternoon and I swear everything was making googly eyes at me… I think a bottle of Dior Nude Skin foundation might be in my future. I grabbed a couple samples and am gonna try them tomorrow.
Hope you had a wonderful Monday!
GIRL. Dior Skin Star Foundation (or something like that) is the BOMB. It makes your skin look like better skin. Let me know how you like Dior Nude Skin! I usually love those types of foundation formulas.
Now the real question is, without primer, will these give you crater pores?
Hi Erin,
Good question. Nope, no crater pores. I wore this without primer (just foundation) and was OK.
Rob Base & DJ Rock have no idea how prophetic they were with these, lol! I’m so diggin’ these. And of course, the colorful ones infatuate me more (looking at you, Panic & Fervor). I gotta say though, some of the color combos confuse me. But the fact that they can be combined makes me feel like mixin’ something up! Yep, looking forward to their release because I will def be purchasing one. Shout out to all the Babyface luvas! 🙂
Hi Kwmechelle,
I still know all the words to It Takes Two, haha! You can’t beat the classics.
So, I’m thinking one of the brighter combos for you. Maybe Panic?
I hope you had a wonderful Monday. How was your weekend?
I die.
Wild applause for NARS.
Hi Alison,
I had a feeling you’d like these. NARS 4 ever! *raises blush brush to the sky*
I have a feeling I am going to wind up with all of these! I envision myself mixing and matching and highlighting and bronzing to my heart’s desire! I haven’t been this excited about a blush launch since last summer’s Alluring Aquatic collection from MAC (feels like forever ago, lol).
Hi Laurissa,
I love the blushes from that release too! I think you will enjoy how these feel/look on the skin; it’s very similar to the MAC Extra Dimension blushes.
By the way, did you ever grab the bronzer from Alluring Aquatic? It’s pretty epic (I use mine all the time).
Hi Karen!
Unfortunately, I did not 🙁 I wanted so many items from this collection, I needed to save money somewhere. So, the bronzers were out! I ended up buying ALL the eyeshadows, both blushes, two lipsticks and two glosses. THEN I bought 1 backup each of Goddess of the Sea lipstick and Modern Lure lipstick. Good times….
Ahh, I see. At least you were able to get the blushes! Those were (are) amaze-balls. Hopefully they’ll re-release the bronzers again. They’re so lovely! I just wish MAC would make the Extra Dimensions permanent already, le sigh.
So beautiful.
Hi Rachel,
They are beautiful. Like works of art!
I am just dying inside as I look through these photos. Dying! These are SO beautiful and I just want them ON MY FACE! It is unfortunate that I made a pact JUST YESTERDAY not to purchase any more cosmetics until I use up something of the same kind. Guess I’m gonna be wearing 3 pounds of blush for the next few weeks. Mwhaha.
Hi Jenny,
I know that feeling all to well. So many beautiful colors, so little time! I may just start wearing one shade of a duo on my left cheek and the other on my right. HAHA!
These are a little shimmery but I’m really digging Frenzy and Panic. I feel like I need them!
Hi Fancie,
They’re shimmery in the swatches but not as much on the skin. They buff out to a satin finish. HTH.
I have Frenzy & It’s gorgeous on darker skin tones. I’m going to buy Panic next. Seeing how wearable the shades are.
Then Panic it is. Thanks for helping me make up my mind. These duos are so, so gorgeous. As for all the words to ‘It Takes Two,’ you GO girl. You should totally play that song when applying these.
In fact, I’m feeling a bit nostalgic. May have to buy this one on iTunes to play when I working out. Or, you know, applying Panic. My weekend was really good. My 2 yr old nephew & 6 yr old niece were over. My nephew called me Auntie & screamed for me when I came home from being out. They’re both the only two people I don’t mind kissing off my lipstick for. 🙂
I think you could probably do Fervor too, if you like pink blush. Maybe try them both on when you see them in person at Sephora and then go with the one that makes the clouds part the and angles sing, “AHHHH!” That’s what I usually do. LOL
That is so cute that you get to be the Cool Auntie! I’ve always wanted to be “Cool Auntie Karen.” You have to introduce the young ones to the jams of the days of yore (aka the 90s, haha). Start with Young MC. For some reason children love Bust a Move!
Karen, can you explain your technique to apply your blush with a wet brush without disturbing the foundation underneath? I have a hard time figuring how I could swirl a wet brush on my cheeks without removing some.
Hi Lulle,
Sure! Firstly, I do it while the foundation is still wet (it breaks up more if I wait until it fully sets), so I go in with the wet brush right after foundation application.
After I wet the brush (usually with Fix+), I run it across the pan to pick up the product. Then, I dab the bristles on the back of my hand gently to 1) remove any excess moisture and 2) make sure that the brush bristles is coated evenly (helps decrease patchiness).
Then, I lightly dab and bounce the brush onto the apples of my cheeks, rather than swirling or sweeping. That way I can get the color on there without disturbing what’s underneath. Does that make sense? Let me know if you have any other questions!
Yes, thank you! I guess dabbing vs. sweeping is the key.
You’re welcome. 🙂 Getting the color even on the bristles definitely helps too! If I skip that step I end up with parts that are uneven.
Ohmygoodness! One of my favorite things ever to do with them is DANCE! Their poor dad, my brother, is a Rhythm-less Nation (get it?). But, we both have a love for music & ALL THINGS 90’s! My niece takes ballet, hip hop, & gymnastics. Whenever we get together, there is ALWAYS music and dancing. My personal fave (at the moment) is High Five. Remember them? Oh and of course Michael Jackson, whom we all enjoy.
My niece is a chip off the ole’ block. She gots da moves. Even at 7, she choreographs dance moves for her Auntie. Wouldn’t trade making memories with her for the world. As for the blush, I’m definitely gonna “play” with these to see how they swatch on my deep complexion. But who am I kidding? I NEVER leave Sephora with just one item. If two of these “accidentally” come home with me, I’ll just charge it to the game. Gotta make sure I look good while dancing, you know?
OHMYGOODNESS. The Kissing Game! I haven’t heard that song in a minute (um, try two decades). I’m pretty sure I had that album on tape around here somewhere, haha!
Your niece is so lucky to have you. When I was growing up my immediate family was so small (just my mom, dad, brother and grandma), and I would’ve loved to have had a cool aunt to do fun things with. Enjoy all this time while you can because next thing you know, you’ll be helping her with her makeup for prom!
I think one of the best things about Sephora is the “play” part, so have fun while you’re swatching and trying things on. I was actually there earlier today. I tried on a little bit of the Dior Nude Skin foundation and then got samples, woo hoo!
THE KISSING GAME!!!! Yeah, buddy! I have their greatest hits on my IPhone & it’s on my workout playlist. Growing up, we always lived within walking distance of practically all of my mom’s family (she’s one of 5). And the same was true of my dad’s family. With the exception of one sibling (my dad’s the oldest of 9!) all his family lived within walking distance. It was common to play with our cousins, uncles, aunts, have family fish fries, weekly Sunday dinners, and dancing at each of the above. I miss that :(. My brother & I are the only relatives here, with the exception of my niece & nephew (we’re about 11 hours from where we were raised) so I feel like my niece & nephew are missing out on that aspect of my childhood. So, we try very hard during visits to make these memories which are so similar to our own. Looking forward to your review of the Dior foundation. I was at Sephora this weekend (I stole away for some “me time”) and saw the new Hour Glass Modernists palettes. Of course Color Field, the only one I wanted & swatched, was way more impressive than I anticipated. Your review of it was spot on. Waiting for the next VIB/VIB Rouge sale to snag it. Totally going bananas during that sale. Thanks for the walk down memory lane. 🙂
Panic is so so gorgeous!! I’m hoping these launch here in Japan soon so I can get my paws on these!
p.s – My husband and I visited a Cat Cafe here in Japan over the weekend and there were so many cute tabbies there. I couldn’t help but think of Tabs all the while I was there! I was wondering if there any cat cafes in the US?
These don’t make me feel all weak in the knees like other NARS products have done in the past, but Frenzy does look pretty.
These felt and looked amazing. Fyi, these are already available at the NARS makeup counter at the Navy Exchange.
Geeze! There all so pretty! Cant pick just one, Nars just take my money already I want these.
Thanks for sharing this with us 🙂
The blushes are s pretty but I cant take my eyes off PANIC.. its turly magnificient!!
I would prefer to go for a dry application then wet and as your said it gives more of a satin finish than shimmery on cheeks.I am all game for it!!
I loved the way you described “NARS Dual intensity” the love child of “MAC extra Dimension” and ” Ambient blushes” 😉
The colors are gorgeous. But they look like they all have shimmer in them, are there any matte ones? I find that when i wear shimmery blushes it accentuates the uneven-ness of my skin on my cheeks.
I really don’t know whether to go for Fervor or Adoration! At first look I was drawn to Adoration but maybe Fervor is more unique?
Great post as always!!
Xx Ingrid Hughes
They are truly incredible. Got Craving a few weeks ago to use as a bronzer + highlighter. I also prefer using them dry – I think they’re already strong enough without being wet haha.