NARS Satin Lip Pencil

This year's Sephora VIB birthday was two deluxe size samples of NARS' Lip Pencil. When I first heard that, back at the start of the year, I felt a touch disappointed because I don't really need anymore lip products. Then summer rolled around and I received my sample box, which contained one Satin Lip Pencil in Rikugien (a "rose-pink")  and one in Velvet Lip Pencil in Cruella (a "scarlet red").

While I haven't gotten much use out of the Velvet Lip Pencil, as the colour is bit intense for my pasty skin (and so this review is not about it), I absolutely love the Satin Lip Pencil. As per NARS' own suggestion, I use it as an "all-over lip color" (though it can also be used as a lip liner or paired with another lip product). The pencil's "rich, color-bright pigments" are a slightly darker, more vivid version of my natural lip colour and because of that, this shade is very flattering on me. It's pretty much the perfect day-colour for my complexion and because of that, I consider it a "must-have."

NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer

If this product was released this year, by almost any other company, it would likely be labelled a BB cream since it hydrates, brightens, fights the sun, dark spots, hyperpigmentation and provides “…a translucent veil of colour.” But NARS calls it a “tinted moisturizer” and I'm more than happy with that label because that’s exactly what this product is, a moisturizer that provides just a hint of colour.

Now, if you've been reading this blog for a while, you know what I'm going to write next: This product just doesn't provide the type of coverage that my face needs. NARS describes this moisturizer as, “Your skin – almost bare, but better” and that’s completely right, if you have almost perfect skin. Otherwise it’s “Your skin – almost bare, needs real foundation.”

NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base Primer

My problem with NARS’ Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base isn't that it doesn't work but that it doesn't work well to justify me picking a $30-something tube of this product and then working it into my daily routine.

According to NARS, this primer “maximizes color intensity” and creates a “seamless canvas that keeps cream and powder color looking brilliant, fresh and just-applied all day long.”  To back up these claims, NARS lists some impressive survey number: “97% (of users) felt that it extended the wear of eyeshadow” while “90% (of users) felt that it prevented creasing and smudging.”

I completely agree with the first survey statement; this product definitely extended the life of my eyeshadow. As for the second, while this product didn't completely eliminate creasing and smudging, it did reduce it.

But despite these positive results, I'm still not impressed by this product because those results just didn't last long enough. Yes, at the three-hour mark, my eyelid that had the primer on it did look fresher and brighter than the lid that just had eyeshadow on it but by the time I got home, some five hours later, the primed eye looked only marginally better.