NARS

In the High Court of Holiday Makeup, What’s the Verdict on the New NARS Guy Bourdin Crime of Passion Palette?

October 25th, 2013 by Karen 34 Comments

THE SCENE: A crowded courtroom.

PARTIES PRESENT: The Honorable Judge Karen presiding, with Attorney-at-Law Tabs the Cat representing his client, the new NARS Guy Bourdin Crime of Passion palette.

NARS Guy Bourdin Crimes of Passion — Limited edition packaging

Judge Karen pounds her gavel (which incidentally looks like a lint roller) repeatedly.

JUDGE KAREN: “Order! Order in the court!

“Counselor Tabs, your client, the limited edition NARS Guy Bourdin Crime of Passion Palette for eyes, lips and cheeks, stands before the High Court of Holiday Makeup today to be judged on its shopping worthiness this holiday season.

“On the count of eyeshadow fallout in the first degree, how does your client plead?”

COUNSELOR TABS: Mrrrow. (“Not guilty, Your Honor.”)

JUDGE KAREN: “And on the count of weird color combinations in the first degree, how does your client plead?”

COUNSELOR TABS: Mrrrow. (“Not guilty, Your Honor.”)

JUDGE KAREN: “And on the count of brief wear time in the first degree, how does your client plead?”

COUNSELOR TABS: Mrrrow. (“Not guilty, Your Honor.”)

JUDGE KAREN: “Lastly, on the count of difficulty blending eyeshadows, how does your client plead?”

COUNSELOR TABS: Meeee-ow. (“Guilty, Your Honor.”)

The crowd collectively gasps…

JUDGE KAREN: “Order! Order! I will have order in my courtroom!

“Thank you for your service to the court, Counselor. You may now approach the bench, so that I may feed you turkey-flavored Temptations.” 🙂

What’s the verdict?

I’m this close to saying that the only crime the new Crime of Passion palette commits is AWESOMENESS because it has so many great things going for it, like excellent wear time (all day for the eyeshadows, bronzer and blush, and 4-5 hours for the lipgloss), super wearable colors that should suit most skin tones, and eyeshadows that stick like electromagnets to my lids.

I’m talking zero fallout — zilch — even when I packed it on, and not one grain of powder appeared beneath my eyes, not even when I used the dark black shade.

The $59 palette, which arrives at NARS counters, boutiques and online next month, comes with useful basics you can easily dress up or down.

The palette includes…

Larger Than Life Lipgloss in Deep Throat, a new shade in a shimmering sheer peach
Eyeshadow in Jezebel, a new shimmery reddish brown
Eyeshadow in Naiade, a new metallic light rose
Eyeshadow in Pandora, a re-promoted matte black
Blush in Deep Throat, a re-promoted sheer peach
Bronzing Powder in Laguna, a re-promoted brown bronzer with golden shimmer

But there’s one big catch (at least for my right wrist), and that’s blending these eyeshadows together.

I guess that’s the tradeoff (sigh). These latch on to skin so well that, yes, there’s no fallout, and they stay put a solid 10-12 hour with very little creasing or fading, but they also take near Herculean effort to blend into smooth gradients.

I definitely feel like I have to swoosh with my blending brush back and forth more than I do with other NARS eyeshadows.

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The Four Lippies in This New NARS Guy Bourdin Holiday Gift Set Fling Giant Kisses

October 24th, 2013 by Karen 36 Comments

NARS Guy Bourdin Fling Gift Set — Big kiss!

MMMWWAH!

I dunno… Do you think it’s too much to walk around with these red lips from the NARS Guy Bourdin Fling holiday gift set like this?

Too much?

It might be the closest I ever come to looking like one of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (go team Vanderpump!).

The set’s called Fling, but I suspect a great many girls will want to go steady with it.

It features four lippies — pastel pink Roman Holiday Lipstick, dusty rose Dolce Vita Velvet Matte Lip Pencil, sheer grape Damage Lipstick and raspberry Baroque Velvet Gloss Pencil — in transitional colors that sort of skirt the line between traditional winter and spring shades (or perhaps summer and fall).

NARS Guy Bourdin Fling Gift Set lipsticks from the left: Lipstick in Roman Holiday, Lipstick in Damage, Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Dolce Vita and Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in Baroque — Lipstick in Roman Holiday, Lipstick in Damage, Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Dolce Vita and Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in Baroque

NARS Guy Bourdin Fling Gift Set swatches from the left: Roman Holiday, Damage, Dolce Vita and Baroque — Swatches from the left: Roman Holiday, Damage, Dolce Vita and Baroque

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A Closer Look at the Lovely NARS Guy Bourdin Holiday Collection

October 10th, 2013 by Karen 35 Comments

NARS Exhibit A Blush — Wearing Exhibit A Blush, Mississippi Cinematic Eyeshadow and Goodbye Emmanuelle Cinematic Lipstick from the new NARS Guy Bourdin collection

Earlier this week, the day after I posted a quick look at this collection, I learned that the release, specifically the tie-in to Guy Bourdin’s sometimes dark, disturbing photography, sparked a controversy. I’ve decided to cover the collection because I see this as an issue of art, personal preference and freedom of expression. As someone who was in an abusive relationship, I could say more, but I don’t intend to say anything further about it in public.

The Blushes ($29 each)

The first products I ever fell in love with from NARS were their blushes (can I get a what-what for Amour?!), and the blushes in this release reminded me of that. The brand has some of the best blushes around. In classic NARS fashion, the three here in the Guy Bourdin collection last all day long, look natural, and I don’t have to load a dozen layers on my cheeks to see them.

NARS Exhibit A — Blush in Exhibit A, a matte vivid red

First, there’s Exhibit A, a re-promote from the permanent line. It’s a vivid red with a matte finish…

NARS Coeur Battant — Blush in Coeur Battant, a magenta

Then, there’s Coeur Battant, also a matte, but this one’s an intense magenta.

NARS Day Dream — Blush in Day Dream, a peachy pink

Lastly, there’s Day Dream, a peachy pink with an opalescent, almost angelic shimmer.

The big theme here? Pigment. One or two swipes across each of these pans is all it takes for bright color on both cheeks. For reals! Even Day Dream, which I thought I’d have to layer, only requires a couple swipes.

But because these blushes lay down lots of color, they can be very tricky to use. Even with a light touch, it’s easy to go overboard with them (at least for me). If you’ve never worn blush before, you might want to go for something sheerer. There are lots of great beginner’s blushes out there, but I don’t think these three are among them.

If, on the other hand, you’re already comfortable with blush (or if you’re just an adventurous beginner), you should be totally fine.

And yeah, I know you’ve got mad blush skills, yo! — but still, I’d opt for either a skunk brush or a fan brush, instead of a regular blush brush, to avoid over-applying. Might as well make it easier on yourself, ya know?

MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A

NARS Day Dream Blush — Blush in Day Dream

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A Picture Perfect Collection of Bold Brights Beckons You: The New NARS Guy Bourdin Holiday Color Collection

October 8th, 2013 by Karen 37 Comments

NARS Goodbye Emmanuelle Cinematic Lipstick Swatch — Wearing NARS Cinematic Lipstick in Goodbye Emmanuelle ($26), one of 17 pieces in the new Guy Bourdin Holiday Color Collection

WARNING: Catching glimpses of the pretty, pretty colors in the NARS Guy Bourdin Holiday Color Collection has been known to make knees buckle.

It’s gotta be the bold brights… They get me every single time.

I’m getting a decidedly MAC-esque vibe from this new 17-piece limited edition release, AND I LIKE IT! If there ever was a collection capable of converting the most die-hard MAC mavens to hard-core NARS nerds, this would be the one.

With saturated, high-intensity lipsticks, blushes, eyeshadows and nail polishes, it holds nothing back.

The entire NARS Guy Bourdin Holiday Color Collection, coming to NARS boutiques and counters (and online) October 15

Rather than releasing just enough products to complete one look — like a blush, a gloss, one lipstick and a few eye pieces — which is what NARS usually does with their collections, they expanded their horizons this time around, offering multiple options — three blushes, four nail polishes, five eyeshadow singles (in the new Cinematic formulation) and five lipsticks (also in Cinematic).

Very MAC-like, I must say.

But this collection is more than bold brights. It’s also, in a way, an ode to one of FranÃ§ois Nars’ childhood heroes, french photographer Guy Bourdin, who FranÃ§ois credits for inspiring him to become a makeup artist.

Bourdin’s work graced the pages of top fashion magazines like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar during the later half of the 20th century. He was one of the first to create complex narratives through his fashion photography. He often staged his shots in strange and mysterious ways to tell stories through imagery, sometimes with violent, surreal themes or sexuality.

I gotta say, I really like it when collections have provocative, interesting stories behind them, and I think it’s cool that Nars gives props to a fellow artist who meant so much to him.

My makeup spider sense is tingling about this collection. I can see it being one of those launches that people talk about with a twinkle in their eye, like five or six years down the road over coffee one day. “Gah! Remember NARS Guy Bourdin? I still dream about those lipsticks…”

NARS Guy Bourdin Holiday Color Collection Cinematic Lipsticks — Cinematic Lipsticks from the left: Goodbye Emmanuelle (a hot pink), Full Frontal (a rose violet), Short Circuit (a firey coral), Future Red (a cherry) and Last Tango (a dusty rose)

NARS Guy Bourdin Holiday Color Collection Cinematic Eyeshadows — Cinematic Eyeshadows, clockwise from the blue pan on the far left: Wishful Thinking (a macaw blue), Rage (an electric orchid), Cambodia (a pinkish copper), Bad Behaviour (a deep pewter) and Mississippi Mermaid (a champagne), $24 each

NARS Guy Bourdin Holiday Color Collection Nail Polish — Nail Polishes from the left: Tomorrow’s Red (a scarlet flame), Union Libre (a blossom pink), No Limits (a bright pinkish violet) and Follow Me (a deep fuchsia), $19 each

NARS Guy Bourdin Holiday Color Collection Blushes — Clockwise from the red pan in the lower left: Blush in Exhibit A (a vivid matte red), Blush in Coeur Battant (a magenta) and Blush in Day Dream (a peachy pink), $29 each; Cinematic Eyeshadows in Rage (an electric orchid) and Wishful Thinking (a macaw blue), $24 each

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NARS Eye Paint in Black Valley, Cat Eyes and a Growing Crisis Among Cat Ladies

September 9th, 2013 by Karen 35 Comments

NARS Black Valley — Wearing the new NARS Eye Paint in Black Valley ($25)

According to recent research in the field of cat lady psychology, incidents of Kitty Stockholm Syndrome among humans held hostage by cats is at an all-time high.

A random sampling of cat ladies between the ages of 22-65 indicates that the rate of Kitty Stockholm Syndrome, or KSS, a trauma that occurs when humans empathize with their cat captors, affects a staggering 99.9% of women held hostage by their cats.

Because of the stigma attached to KSS, and fearing retribution at the paws of their feline captors, many cat ladies are reluctant to publicly discuss the phenomenon. But a few brave souls, like blogger Karen of Makeup and Beauty Blog, have been willing to speak about it on the record.

Karen recently sat down with us for this exclusive interview to reveal what goes on in the mind of a cat lady KSS sufferer…

“Oh, sure,” said Karen, a veteran beauty blogger and cat lady who’s lived with KSS since 2007. “I’ve got KSS, big time, but it doesn’t really manifest itself until I actually leave the compound.

“Take last week. My captor, Tabs, stayed at home while I went to Las Vegas for a conference. Now, you might think I would have used the trip as an opportunity to escape, but the entire time I was there, I kept thinking about Tabs — wondering if he was watching birds through the windows, or sleeping, or eating the potted catnip plant he forced me to install before leaving.

“I thought of him so much that it even came through in my makeup!

“I wore cat eye liner over the entire trip, exactly the way Tabs likes it, too — in a true black shade, dark and dramatic, with a flirty, feline flick at the end — using the new NARS Eye Paint in Black Valley ($25).

“By the way, NARS Black Valley? All sorts of rad.

“Wait! — you haven’t tried it yet? I know this interview is supposed to be about KSS, but seriously, we have got to get you on the Black Valley train, ASAP.

“It’s from the new NARS Eye Paints line of long-wearing potted gels that do everything — almost like MAC Fluidline/Paint Pot hybrids. You can use ’em to line your eyes (both lash and water lines), as cream shadows, or as bases for powder products.

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Christmas Comes Early in California With the New NARS Loves Los Angeles Gift Set

August 26th, 2013 by Karen 23 Comments

Please tell me I’m not the one of us who has imaginary conversations with her makeup, ’cause I can hear my tinted moisturizer practically scream with joy whenever I take out the new limited edition NARS Loves Los Angeles Gift Set ($75).

When I hold one of the three pieces up to my ear like a conch, instead of the sound of the sea, I hear a voice say, “Guuuurl, YES. NARS is a frickin’ genius! You’ve need something like this for all those LA rooftop pool parties you never go to, when you only have, like, five minutes to do your makeup. Now all we need is that maxi dress and those Tory Burch knockoff slippers we saw the other day, and we’ll be good to go. Hurry up! Time’s a-waistin’!”

This is what happens when you spend hours talking to a cat and your makeup collection every day…

Anyhizzle, the new $75 three-piece limited edition gift set is coming to select NARS counters September 1, with a palette containing four eyeshadows, a powder blush and a bronzer; a full-size lipgloss and a nail polish — all in some of the brand’s bestselling shades in Los Angeles.

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Unsung Makeup Heroes: NARS Galapagos Eyeshadow

August 17th, 2013 by Karen 21 Comments

About the Author
The following guest post was written by Jessica Revitte of gettingcheeky.com. You can also find Jessica on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.

I often find myself approaching my makeup collection like a game of Scrabble. I know I have a major point scoring word right in front of me, but somehow I just can’t quite visualize what it is — only to realize later that I passed over a big hit time and time again. The same unfortunate haze sets in when I regard my shadow drawer. I know what’s there and I know the potential that all of the incredible and carefully selected products have; yet I struggle to grasp their individual or collective potential.

Karen and Tabs gave me a straightforward prompt: write about an unsung product that I couldn’t be without chez-Getting Cheeky. I tend to over-think things though (see the Scrabble analogy above), and this prompt ended up becoming an exercise in why I should be more attentive to the capabilities of all the products in my collection rather than a select few. One such much-loved, long term favorite that I shattered and subsequently repurchased is NARS Galapagos eyeshadow ($24). For some incomprehensible reason I allowed this brand new shadow to sit unloved in my drawer until now. I’m left wondering why? It’s a one-shade wonder!

In my book, the mark of a perfect product is something that can be used in many different ways. Galapagos checks all my boxes in that respect. At first swatch it seems quite light on the pigmentation: one might even go so far as to say that it’s a disappointment in comparison to the rich appearance of the shadow in the pan. Like many powder shadows NARS offers Galapagos is a sleeper hit. Don’t write this shade off before you watch it transform before your eyes. Build the color for a complex but diffused soft brown, or apply wet for a rich shimmering fudge. What NARS simply describes as a “coconut bronze with gold flecks” is so much more. In my time with Galapagos I’ve found ways to use this shadow dry, wet, blended, smudged and as a straight line. This shadow shines in every application.

NARS Galapagos swatched heavily dry, lightly dry, wet and as a liner

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Unsung Makeup Heroes: NARS Matte Eyeshadow in Thunderball

August 15th, 2013 by Karen 10 Comments

NARS Matte Eyeshadow in Thunderball ($24)

About the Author
The following guest post was written by Radhika Mohan of weekendramblings.com. You can also find Radhika on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Google+.

For a good part of my makeup life, I had only read about NARS on makeup blogs, but we didn’t (still don’t) have NARS back home in India, and all I could do was stare at photos of “the best blushes ever.” It was only when I came to the US that I could finally try out products from this brand, and the blushes weren’t what really caught my eye. My favorite products from NARS are the eyeshadows, and considering how much I love a dark smokey eye, my pick for an unsung makeup hero would be NARS Matte Eyeshadow in Thunderball.

Thunderball is described as a midnight gray, but to me, this is a deep greenish gray that can look almost black under certain lights. Like most NARS powder products, Thunderball too comes packaged in a small black compact with a mirror on one side and a transparent plastic cover protecting the eyeshadow on the other.

Thunderball is a matte eyeshadow with a velvety smooth texture — no chalkiness to this one! It is amazingly pigmented and pretty much true to the color in the pan. On lighter skin tones, the greenish undertone would show up better, but on my darker skin, this can be mistaken for a grey or even black. In the swatch below, I have added a black eyeshadow just for comparison (it’s the black from L’Oreal Hip Duo in Dashing, for anyone who’s curious).

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