NARS Fall 2014 Collection Review & Swatches

Howdy Makeup Geeks! It’s almost my favorite time of the year…fall. I love everything about it, warm days, followed by cool nights, football season, and the amazing scents of pumpkin spice. Mostly, I am  inspired by the vivid shades we have here in the South. The sugar maples are in full effect with vivid hues of crimson, gold, yellow, green and orange, and the mountains light up with color that leaves you spellbound.

Keeping the upcoming fall in mind, I recently received the NARS Fall 2013 lineup. Needless to say I was very excited to  review these. Apart from playing around with them at my local Sephora, this was my first real experience with the brand. I spent quite a bit of time using and testing these products so I could pass along a fair and honest review. I would never suggest you buy something  I wouldn’t spend my own money on.

So let’s get on to the review. :-)

All products are from the fall 2013 Collection and can be found at NARS and Nordstrom.

NARS SINGLE EYESHADOWS

• Kamchatka – A matte navy smoke with the tiniest amount of purple. The pigmentation was not bad, but the eyeshadow was quite powdery and didn’t last long on my lid, even over a base.
• Namibia – A“grey moon”, or matte grey shade. This eyeshadow  had decent color payoff but definitely not worth the steep price tag. I felt as though this product was very chalky even though it blended okay. As with the others, the color didn’t last long and seemed to fade after only a few hours.
• Yamal – A “maple sugar” tone, or a medium matte brown with warm undertones. This eyeshadow applied much easier than the others and wasn’t quite as chalky.
• Bavaria – A“deep sea blue”, this color is a teal shade with a slight gold sheen. As far as the colors this was my favorite,  however  it was very sheer and the color had to be built up to be noticeable. The  downside of this eyeshadow is that it didn’t blend as well as Namibia and Yamal.

Of the four shades in the fall collection, three are matte and one has a slight shimmer. I was pleasantly surprised to see more mattes than shimmers in this collection. The eyeshadow compacts each contain 0.07 ounce of product and retail for $24.00. This is a steep price for a single eyeshadow so I was expecting amazing texture, finish, and pigmentation. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case with these. I was incredibly disappointed in both the swatches, how they applied, and how they lasted throughout the day. The texture is  quite powdery and  overall very sheer. It’s very hard to get the color to  build up enough to give you a  rich color payoff. After wearing the color for only a few hours I noticed considerable creasing and fading. These are most definitely not worth the price. Personally, I would not recommend these eyeshadows.

EYELINERS

• Las Ramblas –A “yellow gold”. This eyeliner seems to be more yellow than  gold, with a slight sheen to it as well. This didn’t apply as smoothly and evenly as some of my other liners. The pigmentation was not as intense as I would have liked, although it could be built up. I used this liner in my waterline and had a difficult time making it noticeable.
• Via de Martelli –A “chocolate” tone. It is a warm toned medium chocolate with slight red undertone. This eyeliner was much creamier than Las Ramblas and can be layered very easily. From my experience the average wear time without fading was about six hours.

These eye liners retail for $24.00 for 0.02 ounces of product. Again, for the price tag I was expecting a very creamy liners and intense pigmentation, much to my disappointment. Of the two eyeliners from the fall collection, I would suggest the Via de Martelli, however I wouldn’t trade them over Milani or Urban Decay.

PURE MATTE LIPSTICKS

• La Paz – An“orchid” shade with a slight purple sparkle in it. The pigmentation was good but  felt extremely drying not long after I applied it. When I pressed my lips together, I could feel the small glitter particles, and after eating I had noticeable sparkle around my lips. The wear was great on this lipstick as it lasted well over five hours.
• Peloponnese –A “ginger pink”, soft peach with a gold shimmer. I couldn’t feel the gold sparkle in this shade which made it much more comfortable on my lips. This lipstick wasn’t as drying, although it was still dry. The color payoff was better on this lipstick, however it didn’t last as long as La Paz with the wear time lasting just over three hours.

These pure matte lipsticks retail for $26.00 for 0.07 ounces of product and are the only 2 shades in the fall collection. I was quite pleased with both of these. Of all the products in the fall 2013 NARS collection, my recommendation would be the matte lipsticks, especially La Paz. The only downside was the fact that they can feel rather drying on the lips and I had to be mindful of the silver glitter, however this could be avoided by using a lip balm before applying them.

VELVET MATTE LIP PENCILS

• Paimpol –A “pink chiffon” shade. This lip pencil is a cool toned light pink which has a frosted look when applied on the lips. This lip pencil was very sheer and because it was not opaque it didnt appeal to me. Even though the color applied very smoothly, it seemed to give me a  washed out or sickly look to my face and left my lips very dry.
• Mysterious Red – A “crimson red” with a warm tone. This lip pencil applied evenly and smoothly without drying. The pigmentation is good and it wore for well over five hours.

The downside of these products is yet again, the price. These lip pencils  retail for $25.00 for 0.086 ounces of product. In my opinion the Mysterious Red lip pencil is the better out of the two. However,  I would personally skip these all together. Another downside of these lip pencils was the packaging, the cap was very loose and had a tendency to fall off.

NAIL POLSIHES

• Fury – A “regal purple” or a deep, rich purple. This nail polish applied great and only took two coats for a full opaque finish. The dry time was quick and it lasted almost a week with very little chipping.
• Galathee –A “dove grey” or a light to medium grey color. This shade was just a tad thicker than Fury and took three coats  to get the desired finish on my nails. For me, That’s not a deal breaker, as I find that’s the case with a lot of polishes. This polish also wore great with it lasting just a day short of a week.

These polishes sell for $19.00 for 0.50 ounces of product. Personally, I would choose Essie nail polish over these, and at much cheaper price you can certainly get more shades. (* It is important to note I wore both of these polishes with a top coat over them)

Overall, as much as I wanted to be floored by the products in NARS fall lineup, I just wasn’t. The products I liked have much cheaper alternatives that are just of quality,  if not better. For the price tag that accompanies these items I expect to be blown away, but I was very disappointed.

I wish this review could have been more positive and I look forward to bringing you more reviews in the near future of things that you can be excited to pick up for yourself. Until then, I hope wherever you are you are blessed and happy!

:-)

.