In the throes of summer, let me write about a staple in my collection.
THE BACKSTORY: I started earning money by doing odd jobs from a very young age. Why am I telling you this? I remember my teenage self working extra hard just to afford NARS ‘Dolce Vita’. It has been my go-to lip crayon for as long as I can remember. I ultimately bought myself a ‘Cruella’ and a ‘Dragon Girl’ too. This mini-set is something I bought a year or two ago and am still trying to use up (mostly because my lip product usage has waned over these past couple of years).
THE PRODUCT: These are packaged like your standard lip crayons, I like its sleek black body and the colour-coded bottoms.
They are not retractable and require sharpening, which is such a huge L. Their website states “Works best with NARS Pencil Sharpener. Other sharpeners may be harmful or damaging.”. Yeah, no. That’s another L. I use whatever sharper I find lying around. Lately, I’ve been using a sharpener from Nudestix. It works just fine. I also scoop up the shavings and smear them on my lips. Waste not, want not.
Anyway, I do like the formula on these. They have medium coverage but you can build them up into a more opaque and crisp lip look. I like that they aren’t too pigmented because the pencil gives you room for error. I also like that it is easier to diffuse the colour because of its medium pigmentation.
Despite drying down to a matte finish, I find that these do not tug while you’re trying to apply them and that they go on quite smoothly. If your lips are moisturised, they don’t tend to settle onto lip-lines. But I seldom moisturise (I couldn’t care less for the most part and for the other part, I just forget) so I do think they grab onto my lip-lines after some time. But they don’t really give me raisin lips. They look fine.
I also think these are incredibly long-wearing. At work, they have survived 5+ hours without any touch-ups. After meals, though, they tend to fade. The darker colours do leave a stain behind but the light colours, like one would expect, do not. They also survive my chronic lip-licking, lip-smushing and lip-biting perfectly (I swear I’m not a cringy romance novel protag, it’s just something I do a lot at work or when I’m stressed out).
SWATCHES AND SHADES AVAILABLE: Shades available greatly differ from country to country (and they tend to have a lot of Limited Edition shades as well) but I believe there are around 13 standard shades.
- ‘Dolce Vita’ – one of my favourite go-to lip colours; it’s a bestseller for a reason. The shade is a lovely dusty rose.
- ‘Cruella’ – a gorgeous, statement-making scarlet.
PRICE: 27 USD (full-sized)
QUANTITY: 2.4 grams (full-sized)
AVAILABILITY: NARS official, Sephora etc.
♥ OVERALL: I think these are well worth the money, despite the heavy price-tag. If you have someone visiting a country where NARS is available, give these a go. I would recommend waiting till the Holidays for these sets/minis to roll out.
NARS Velvet Matte Lipstick Pencil in ‘Dolce Vita’ & ‘Cruella’.
27.00 USD
Pros
- Buildable. Can be left as a stain or be built up to a proper lip.
- Long-wearing while being comfortable.
- Touch-ups are easy.
- Colours are super flattering.
Cons
- Not retractable; you have to sharpen them and hence waste product.
- Price is a little steep.
