Tag Archives: Nars

Beauty Spot: Deborah Lippmann On The Beach & Nars Koliary nail polish review

A Tale of Two Blues…

Yup, you’re getting two reviews for the price of one here! Now you know me… my usual philosophy is why write 100 words when 500 would do… but the reason behind this package deal is that NARS Koliary and Deborah Lippmann On The Beach are basically the same colour. Admittedly, a very gorgeous bright primary ocean blue, but the same colour nonetheless – and I imagine you’d enjoy reading two identical reviews as much as I’d enjoy writing them!

It’s a simple colour, but both brands execute it stunningly. Pure bright creamy mid-tone blue. No turquoise or green or purple hints hiding beneath the surface, no shimmer or glitter or special effects – just straight-up primary blue on a platter. It’s a delicious palate cleanser of a polish and one that always gets me compliments whenever I wear it.

There’s also very little to separate On The Beach and Koliary in terms of formula and wear either. They both boast beautiful buttery formulas that flow perfectly and make application as easy as an ocean breeze. They’re both wonderfully opaque, they both have gorgeously glossy finishes and they last for around a week without chipping. Aaaaah… If only all polishes could be this easy, huh?!

I genuinely can’t choose between them… but you definitely should, because polish collections don’t really need both. Although I find the Lippmann brush a tad easier to hold thanks to the smaller cap, I daresay the NARS had a formula that was just a smidgen better. In Hong Kong, they’re even priced the same. So you’ll have to make the decisions I’m afraid!

Either way, On The Beach or Koliary, this is an essential beautiful ocean blue. It’s summer in a bottle… but don’t mistake this for just a holiday fling – it brings a striking injection of summer any day of the year. I think I just blue myself!

Looks good with: summer, summer, summer!
Drying time: <3 mins
Coats required: 1-2
Chips: +5 days

Deborah Lippmann On The Beach nail polish, Spring 2012 Collection, $170, Joyce Beauty (I received this product for review on Sassy Hong Kong)

NARS Koliary nail polish, Summer 2012 Thakoon Collection, $170, Lane Crawford

Beauty Spot: Nars Kutki nail polish review

As my nail polish collection multiplies by the minute, some tough decisions need to get made. In make-up mental mode, I picked up all of Nars’ Thakoon nail polish collection (an stunning series of summer brights, for those that haven’t already seen it). But when I got home and applied Nars Kutki, I had to ask myself – do I really another pastel blue?! The answer, of course, is a resounding YES.

Unlike China Glaze’s Sea Spray, there is not a hint of dustiness to Kutki – it is a true powder blue. Unlike Chanel’s Coco Blue, there is no secret shimmer to it – it a dreamy creamy crème through and through. Unlike many inferior pastel blues, there is not a hint of chalkiness to it; Kutki is bright soft summer skies all the way. It is, in short, gorgeous.

My previous experience with Nars’ nail polish had been fine but nothing spectacular (see my review of Night Rider here). But the consistency and quality of the Thakoon polishes do really justify the price tag! Kutki has a pleasant, easy to apply formula that seems to glide onto the nail just so. The texture is creamy, buttery and opaque in two quick coats. It is a polish that applies as effortlessly an cleanly as its carefree summer colour implies. I just wish that Nars would consider having a smaller, easier to hold cap under its admittedly aesthetically pleasing, big square one (like Illamasqua or Butter London do).

I imagine it would be easy to find a dupe for Kutki… but for that special frisson of the Thakoon factor, I found it pretty irresistible. Combined with the simply gorgeous colour and the easy as pie formula, Kutki is a definite keeper. Sorry, no tough decisions today guys!

Looks good with: fluffy white clouds, summer sunshine, ice-creams
Drying time: <3 mins
Coats required: 2
Chips: +5 days

NARS Kutki, Summer 2012 Thakoon Collection, $170, Lane Crawford

Beauty Spot: NARS Night Rider nail polish review

A few months ago, I made a brand new discovery… the NARS counter! Why had no-one told me about this brand before?! All the amazing colours, powerful pigmentation and cosmetics expertise of MAC, but without the crazily made-up sales assistants – what’s not to love?

I’m blaming the fact that I was oblivious to NARS for so long on the fact that it just didn’t exist in Nottingham (back when I lived there anyway) – unsurprising given that I remember the big fuss made when we finally got our own MAC store. And as you can imagine, as soon as I knew about NARS… and knew about its nail polish… the make-up hauls began!

A beneficiary of one such shopping spree, NARS Night Rider nail polish is part of their Night Series Collection, with the lacquer shades based on some of their pre-existing eye shadow colours (ones preceded by the word ‘Night’ – see it all makes sense now!). Night Rider is a soft dusky lilac with tonnes of silver flakes of glitter and a quite unique but very pretty finish.

It has oodles of shimmer (rather than the sparkle you’d normally associate with glitter) but from other angles, has an almost foil-like finish (slightly similar to the look of Chanel’s Graphite). The glitter is not the usual micro-kind you find in every sparkly nail polish under the sun, but something a little larger, a little flatter and a whole lot denser – but without producing a spangles o’ clock effect.

The colour is also super-intriguing and rather mysterious. In some lights, it’s a dusky but delicate silvery lilac; in others, the purple is almost completely covered with brushed silver flakes that almost have a bronzy quality to them too. It is also, I might add, a dead-on match for the Night Rider eye shadow it is based on, even down to the unusual glitter particles – only the polish is a hell of a lot more pigmented!

Since this is the first NARS nail polish I’ve reviewed, I want to talk about the packaging. NARS’ packaging is of the simple black school (hi again MAC!), except that rather than being made of plastic, everything is cased in rubber. Lots of people hate this, because it goes sticky over time and seems to be a magnet for dirt in your make-up bag, but for nail polish, a rubber cap is a major bonus! The chunky square shape of NARS cap would traditionally have made things difficult for me, but the easy grip offered by the rubber meant holding and working with it was a breeze.

NARS’ brush is quite short, so easy to control, but also quite square, meaning it’s difficult to achieve a nice rounded edge by your cuticle. Formula-wise, I have no complaints; a little gloopy perhaps, but no serious issues. Although in some of my photos, it looks as if it dried bumpy, this wasn’t the case in real life, and I also found Night Rider to be extremely long wearing.

Whilst I loved the colour of Night Rider, I’m not sure if I loved it on me. Something about that pale dusky lavender seems to bring out the lobster in my hands. I actually preferred it in the shade, where that weird bronzy foil-y silvery grey-lilac effect takes flight. If they could make it look like that all the time, it’d definitely get my vote!

… And I managed to go through this whole review without making a single joke about David Hasslehoff or talking cars. Result!

Looks good with: dark colours, metallics, smoky glitters (i.e. NARS Night Series palette, go figure)
Drying time: 5-8 minutes
Coats required: 2
Chips: +5 days

NARS Night Rider, Fall 2011 Night Series Collection, $160, Lane Crawford

Here Today, Haul Tomorrow

It’s that time again… another EPIC haul post. So here’s what I’ve been buying over the past few months. Non-shopaholics look away now!

I loved the look of the Chanel’s Fall 2011 Illusion D’Ombre Collection, which marks their first foray into cream eyeshadows in nearly ten years (and as we know, I’m currently loving my cream shadows), plus some of their highly-coveted limited-edition sell-out nail polishes. The eye shadows are all kinds of gorgeous – shimmery, lightweight and extremely easy to use – and I picked up Illusoire (a smoky mauve), Epatant (a silvery khaki) and Emerveille (a shimmering peach). I have, wonder of wonders, actually swatched these so you can expect a review soon! I also got the nail lacquer in Graphite and a free sample of eye make-up remover.

These Stila Beach Palettes are the result of ‘which one should I buy… oh, I’ll just buy them all syndrome.’ Which happens to me a lot! They contain four eye shadows and two blushes/highlighters each, they’re super-cute and they were only £10 quid each. What’s not to love?

They’re from Lookfantastic.com, who I’ve already sung the praises of in my previous haul, who have since gone one better – by crowning me the winner of a competition to win a £75 beauty hamper! The spoils of my victory are shown here and I’m most excited about the mini bottle of Moroccan Oil, which I have been dying to try for ages yet never dared take the plunge full-size – and full-price!

My latest beauty discovery is Nars, thanks to the bessie beauty blogger Jenn. I love bright non-neutral colours, and it seems Nars does too! I picked up eyeshadow duos in Noveau Monde, Eurydice and Sugarland, plus a single in Strada, this amazing gold-dusted lavender. My wonderful boyfriend then bought me some goodies from their limited-edition Night Series collection – the Night Series Palette and two nail polishes, Night Flight and Night Rider, which are based on the eyeshadow colours and are seriously STUNNING. As usual, reviews to come!

Illamasqua had a summer sale so I used this as an opportunity to try my first make-up from the brand, which launched in the UK after I left. Service was brilliant – the order was beautifully-packaged, came with a catalogue, arrived by registered delivery and came within a week of ordering! I got two nail polishes – Raindrops (which I’d been lusting after since this post) and Poke, the Liquid Metals Palette, a Loose Pigment in Involve and a Liquid Metal in Stoic, both of which were on sale. Can’t wait to try these as they look all kinds of intensely awesome.

Clinique also have a new range of cream eyeshadows out – the deliciously-named Lid Smoothies. Colours, as ever with Clinique, are un-exciting but the formula and quality is great – I got Bit O’ Honey (a glistening light gold), Cashew Later (a super-versatile neutral) and probably the star of the collection, Born Freesia (a light lilac). I also stocked up on their Anti-Blemish Foaming Cleanser, one of my make-up miracles, and their Derma-White City Block, a great anti-pollution base with a high SPF that I loved from a free sample. Mega-spend with Clinique equalled a pretty awesome bag of freebies too!

I also got my Mum to send me over some stuff from Boots – can you guess which item I might be stocking up on because it’s been discontinued?! Yes, my make-up miracle, the Benefit Get Bent Eyeliner Brush SOB. I also got two of Benefit’s Creaseless Cream Shadows in Skinny Jeans and Birthday Suit, a load of toothbrush heads (which I’ve spared you) and some super-moisturising Lanolips stuff, another brand I’ve been dying to try. I got the Intense Rose Balm For Very Dry Hands & Nails (remember how my hands are falling apart?), Lemonaid Lip Aid, 101 Ointment and their coloured Lip Ointments in Dark Honey, Apple and Rhubarb (my lips are now falling apart too). Lanolips will be launching in HK soon, but as usual for mega-bucks…

After Benefit also discontinued my holy-grail, one-and-only blusher/miracle, Georgia, I’ve been one the hunt for a suitable replacement. And ever since Mac’s Semi-Precious Collection, I’ve been obsessed with baked, marbleised make-up. Enter Laura Geller, a brand which comes with great word-of-mouth Stateside and again, posted over by my Mum via QVC. I got Blush N Brighten blushers in Golden Apricot and Pink Grapefruit (I love that these come with brushes too!) and the Backstage Beauty Kit, which includes a Blush N Brighten Highlighter Duo in Como/Portofino, a Baked Eyeshadow Duo in Rome/Milan and a Lip Lights Lip Gloss in Dewberry. Can’t wait to try these stunners either!

Another Mac haul from their latest Mac Me Over Collection. The Icelandic Cool section was, sadly for my wallet, totally my colours! Again, amazing boyfriend gifted me the Lady Grey Eyeshadow Palette and four Shadesticks, in Tundra, Cakeshop, Heirloom and Street Cool (Butternutty is still to come, thanks to the lovely Vicky!).

I also won a Lush competition to win their Limited Edition John Burgerman Bath Bomb Set – I absolutely love the colourful tin, which is definitely a keeper, and the bath bombs look like sweets! Is this a bad time to admit I don’t actually have a bath?!

What haul post of mine would this be without some nail polish! Zoya’s Smoke & Mirrors Collection is one of my favourite collections in ages – two halves, one with a dusty murky shades (Smoke), the other with glimmering glittering smoky shades (Mirrors), and a ridiculous amount of purples. I picked up Jana, Neeka, Yara and Jem – how could I resist a polish named after Jem & The Holograms, only my favourite cartoon of ALL-TIME! Spot the odd OPI out, Grape… Set… Match!

And finally, the piece de resistance, the Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Eyeshadow Palette. Ugh… how GORGEOUS is this?! Thanks to my lovely Mother I’ll leave you with a few pics revelling in its ultra-luxeness… try and keep your drool to yourselves!