NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencils ($24) are the talk of Twitter. The buzz over these glorious lip "sticks" has been intense, with beauty mavens lusting for them or sharing the shades they purchased. I participated, answering a tweet by Laurie at Product Girl, who purchased Frivolous, one of the six shades. I decided to start with Baroque and New Lover, knowing I could go back for more if I loved them. I love them!These are glossy lip pencils with a smooth, buttery texture. They coat the lips with stunning, glossy color and moisturizing ingredients, including vitamin E, hyaluronic acid spheres, and phytosterol esthers. They don't contain the bad actors we all like to avoid, like phthalates, sulfates, parabens, petrochemicals, and synthetic fragrances. They are so much nicer - in my opinion - than the matte pencils that NARS introduced previously. I like a little shine.
Here is a photo of the two shades I purchased. It was taken in sunlight indoors. Baroque is shown at the top of my arm, with New Lover below. Don't use the swatches on the NARS site as your guide for purchasing a Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil. The swatches at Sephora are better. I purchased mine from Sephora.
I adore both of these shades. They are gorgeous colors, have a perfect amount of shine, and feel great on my lips. They are long-lasting too - something I learned as soon as I tried to wash them off my arm. I swatched to see them the moment they came and then went to the bathroom to clean up. Soap and water didn't remove them. I had to get out the long-wear makeup remover. That's great for those of us who eat off our lip colors in a jiffy.
NARS has a hit on its hands! Now I want all the shades. They are so handy for throwing in your handbag or keeping in your desk drawer at work. This morning, I saw at The Beauty Look Book that Sabrina had bought all of them. I can see why. These pencils are fantabulous. (I checked - that's now a word!)
You can purchase them at the NARS Web site, Sephora, and at your NARS counter soon. The gals at Neiman Marcus can't wait to receive them.
Photo at top courtesy of NARS