Holy wow, pumpkin! All I have to say is werk!
I’m not talking work like cubicles, time sheets or lame vacation requests, but the neck swerving, hair flipping, three snaps in z-formation kinda work — the kind of work NARS obviously put into their holiday 2010 collection.
For the holidays, it’s nice to see something almost traditional — with lots of golds, silvers, berries and plums — from such an untraditional brand.
But I did say “almost.” 🙂 After all, this is still NARS we’re talking about. The colors are a casual affair, many of them shimmery and saturated but not heavy or foreboding.
Francois usually likes to throw in a few quirky shades, but this time he shows some restraint to tell a tightly woven color story. He still cuts loose, of course, with unexpected pops of taupe, peach and blue, but it all just fits together.
With the exception of sheer Sex Appeal Blush and Little Darling Lipstick, the lip, eye and nail products burst with color. Francois, inspired by Irish heiress and fashion icon Daphne Guinness, aimed for seductive, audacious and bold, and dagnabbit, homeboy nailed it.
The company’s trademark quality is evident throughout the release, from the pigments to their application and smooth textures.
Oh, yeah. The new eyeshadow trio in the pic at the top is a first for NARS. They’ve never done an eyeshadow trio before, and I like it (doesn’t it look like a Rothko painting?).
If you’re afraid the eye colors might be too intense, don’t worry; I think they’re still work friendly. Just use a light touch when you apply them, and dilute, dilute, dilute.
Okinawa Trio Eyeshadow (limited edition), $45
Melusine Duo Eyeshadow, $32
Etrusque Single Eyeshadow (limited edition), $23
Sex Appeal Blush, $26
Petit Monstre Lipstick on left (limited edition) and Little Darling Lipstick on right (limited edition), each $24
Downtown Lip Gloss on left (limited edition) and Bougainville Lip Gloss on right, each $24
Pokerface Nail Polish (limited edition), $16
Bad Influence Nail Polish (limited edition), $16
Swatches on NC35 skin
Okinawa Trio Eyeshadow
Melusine Duo Eyeshadow
Etrusque Single Eyeshadow (left) and Sex Appeal Blush (right)
Little Darling Lipstick (left) and Petit Monstre Lipstick (right)
Downtown Lip Gloss (left) and Bougainville Lip Gloss (right)
Pokerface Nail Polish
Bad Influence Nail Polish
Bougainville Lip Gloss
Downtown Lip Gloss
Petit Monstre Lipstick
Little Darling Lipstick
Wearing Okinawa Trio Eyeshadow, Melusine Duo Eyeshadow and Etrusque Single Eyeshadow
Sex Appeal Blush on cheeks; Petit Monstre Lipstick and Downtown Lipgloss on lips
Is it just me, or does it seem like Francois was listening to a lot of Lady Gaga in the workroom this time around?
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A
WOW! Aren’t these pigments off the chain? Can you tell I’m excited? NARS took what we usually expect to see for the holidays and NARS-ified it. These won’t be the budget-friendliest products under the Christmas tree at from $16-45 apiece, but one thing’s for sure: the quality’s there. I think it might be the best NARS collection of the year. Available October 15 at NARS counters and online.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
oooh, i’m loving both lip glosses and petit monstre!
Hot stuff! I’m especially diggin that melusine duo, to me it’s saying ” new years eve” 🙂
I’m excited for the Sex Appeal blush! I’m not sure if it will show up all that much on my skin but I’m just excited that Nars came out with a peachy blush without all the shimmer 🙂 This definitely warrants a visit to my Bloomingdales Nars counter tomorrow.
Oh and happy Friday!!
The melusine duo is pretty, reminds me of a pumped up version of Tokyo…
The shadows look like colors I already have, not really feeling them, but I do like the glosses. I want Poker Face!
I love the lipglosses and nail polishes! All such gorgeous colors, I’m getting really excited about the holiday collections 🙂 and nice title xD
I love that the eyeshadow trio is named Okinawa, I’m from Okinawa 😀 lol I have a reason to get it now! Plus the colors look great 😀
I’m adding Melusine, Poker Face & Downtown to my Christmas wish list!
Po-po-po-poker face with me ma-ma-ma-mine!!!!!!
how does the purple side of melusine compare to recent NARS release daphne?
Wow I really like Poker Face nailpolish, it looks very fresh for the holidays. I am also liking Melusine eyeshadow duo, Sex Appeal blush.
All the eye shadows look beautiful and like something I would get, especially the Melusine Duo Eyeshadow; it looks fab! I
The swatches are gorgeous!!! I’m loving the shadows and the lippies, but if I had to pick only one, I’d go for the Bougainville Lip Gloss. Definitely adding that to my wish list. ♥
Oh my goodness, Etrusque <3
Holy crap, this entire collection is beautiful. I literally gasped when I saw the Melusine duo. And the Pokerface nail polish is so so pretty. Aaah… adding them to my wishlist now. 😛
I am absolutely in love with almost everything in this collection, which is rare for me. I will have to watch tutorials or something to learn how to make all the colors in the Okinawa trio or the Melusine duo work well together…
You look really nice Karen. We’ll see how long I can resist items in this collection. NARS eyeshadows are just so vibrant and smooth.
That Bougainville lipgloss is gorgeous!
i love them ALL!!!!!!!!!!
I love the Pokerface nail polish and the eyeshadow trio is very pretty too!
Very nice collection… i will buy blush, single eye shadow in golden and Petit Monstre Lipstick…
i like pokerface and petit monstre. sex appeal would be invisible on me. i wish they’d included more than one pale blush in this collection.
I like pokerface and the lip glosses. The bento lip box? looks nice also I can’t wait for it. The lipsticks are pretty.
pretty! I love the eyeshadow duo and single! and the lipgloss you’re wearing!
There are very pigmented..
And Petit Monstre looks great on you =)
Thank you for the swatches!!
Love that Okinawa trio! Although the blue looks just like the blue in my MAC Tone Grey quad, so I may have to use restraint. The Melusine duo is amazing and I need the Pokerface polish to go with!! You look beautiful 🙂
Dilute! Dilute! OK! (Y/N?)
I don’t know if I can resist Downtown, and I’m not sure that I want to!
Is it me, or does Petit Monstre look quite a bit like Drive Me Wild?
I am liking both the single and the trio eyeshadows! 🙂 NARS holiday is always lovely!
I am all for the eyeshadows – singles, duos and trios! Especially love Etrusque!
How does Bouganvilla stack up to Strawberry Fields?
I LOVE the trio in the pan! But I don’t need any blue eyeshadow as I have a bunch and don’t wear it *that* often. Hopefully he will put out more trios in the future-I would love some nudes. I also love the purple e/s duo! and BOTH lipglosses. I can seem myself getting one of the lipglosses-they are a great twist on a festive holiday lip.
Love the glosses and the polish!
ooooh…loving the petit monstre and the duo and both nail polishes. I’m on the fence with the trio..
Ooh, there is so much to love in this collection. I love the purple glosses, the nail colors, the blue eyeshadow trio. Very nice! 🙂
Ooooh! I rarely see a collection I want *everything* from, but seriously? I would rock all of these!
Oooh! The Melusine duo, Petit Monstre lipstick and Etrusque shadow have def. caught my eye! I only have two blushes and a shadow duo from NARS, but I adore their colour schemes and would like to try out more! What do you suggest?
How does the purple in the Melusine duo compare to Daphne from the fall collection?
Beautiful, I love Bougainville! The Pokerface lacquer really reminds me of Chanel’s Rodeo Drive from the Robertson Boulevard collection!
I’ve never wanted any thing Nars before but oh my god Sex appeal blush is beautiful. Does anyone know of any possible dupes?
Gorgeous – those colors look beautiful on you!
Pokerface looks amazing.
Poker face nail polish is really really awesome. I’ve been wanting a lilac/lavender shade and this might be the one. much more flattering than the pastel purple shades that like essie has
Bad Influence will be mine! Maybe as a reward if I pass my Chem midterm. But I want Mash too. And Midnight Express. And….oh heck. I want them all.
loving the sex appeal blush. definitely will be good for my pale skin and not as orangey as mac’s new highland honey blush
I loooove NARS so SOOO much. I attended their in-store event at Bloomingdale’s SF today and got a new face with some amazing new colors. LOVE!
yay! I am also excited for this collection. I am thinking of picking up Sex Appeal – finally they come out w/a blush that doesn’t have tons of glitter/shimmer!! I was at Nordstrom tonight but wasn’t sure if the collection came out yet…I guess that means another trip tomorrow! 🙂
Somehow NARS never seems to lose its appeal, and NARS + the holiday season is even better! Etrusque shadow is beautiful, even though I’m more of a palette gal, that’s definitely a single shadow I’d like to get.
Yes I did notice that Lady Gaga creeping into the naming! But they all look beautiful. Also, have you seen the NARS bento box? talk about drool-worthy.
Also that look you made using the products? Beautiful! I love the eyes. Though do you think sex appeal would show up on skin tones darker than yours? it’s a pretty peach color, love that it’s matte!
Love the teal in Okinawa. Do you have Tropic single e/s? I wonder how close they are IRL. Love the pale Sex Appeal on you.
I am loving this collection. *drool*
wow this is such a beautiful collection!! i love the trio and the Bougainville Lip Gloss!!
Hi Karen! I love the look of the Sex Appeal blush, you didn’t by any chance keep the box? I’m really allergic to Bismuth Oxychloride which some Nars blushes have in it, if you still have the box would you be able to check if it’s in there?
LOVE IT! Can’t wait to get the nail polishes 🙂
It’s great that you show swatches plus a photo of you wearing the make up. Could you compare swatches of the fall 2010 collection lipstick basque rouge and the metallic raspberry shade (I can’t remember the name but it is from the permanent collection and begins with shy***? with petit montre from this holiday collection?
I love your look for this collection, how did you use each item of the collection, what did you use as your base eyeshadow; it looks pink in the picture, you look great.
Love this collection! Beautiful bold colors.
Check out my video review and swatches!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S84Aqi-NTcM
You look absolutely gorgeous!!!
and I’m rally in love with the gold eyeshadow and the poker face nail polish!!
Hey there! So first time reader here, loving your blog…anyways I’m a total nail polish fanatic and usually collect chanel and OPI and I have Chanel Rodeo Drive from the Robertson Blvd LE, and its a TOTAL dupe for pokerface! I will attempt to swatch them for you tomorrow in the sunlight but side by side you can’t immediately tell the difference. Rodeo is a smidgeeeeeeee darker/more grapey but they are both pretty much twins—purple w a hint of silvery shimmer, at least in the bottle.
Wow these eye colors r so pigmented and pretty