New fashion? I’m all for new fashion and styles. It doesn’t mean we have to give up on all the classic. We don’t. There’s a reason why it’s classic. Because it works. It looks good. It’s proven. What being for new styles and fashion means is that we can see stuff differently, wear it differently and, maybe, add new interesting details to our looks. Or, if we find something brand new, well, that’s going to be awesome, but it happens only rarely, in all honesty. Still hoping though 🙂
Before we talk shades here, remember that NARS is a professional brand, which means professional quality. And here’s all the beauty we get this spring by NARS.
The first and only thing we have for our face in this collection is this blush.
Blush
Impassioned 4062
A cooler pink leaning to lilac. Looked almost baby doll like in promo photos, almost beige nude like in the package, but that’s what it proved to be. And I’m very glad it did. Makes me happy 🙂
Romantic and pretty and girly, one of the best natural but pretty feel blush shades I’ve seen in a while. A very easy shade. Perfect for you, if you aren’t great at contouring (I, for one, am not 🙂 ) or don’t want to bother with it 🙂
Impassioned easily lights up your cheeks making just the right kind of accent on your cheekbones. This shade is very spring like. Very happy. But I’ll definitely enjoy wearing it all year round. It’s matt too, which helps all the natural feel about it.
Let’s see what we have for the eyes.
Eyeshadow
Duo eyeshadow
Hammamet 3904
Wow, we’ve just been in an ever so romantic spring, and now all of a sudden we’re in a hot hot summer.
Two shades, obviously.
A matt warm pink, tan and bronze like almost beige. Really warm and really nice, if you like shades of the kind. I’ll tell you one thing – it’s the hottest nude you’ve ever worn in your life. If you come to really like it, you’ll never want to give it up, you’ll want to always have it in your makeup stash. The kind of shade that will be equally perfect for work, walk or red carpet. This warm nude shade made me actually like warm nudes 🙂
A warm, beautiful and pearly bronze brown. Mind that it’s not really brown bronze. It’s bronze brown. And that’s exactly what makes it so special. I mean, how many bronze shades we get? Tons. Especially in summer. And how many pearly brown shades we get? Almost none. To me, that’s a reason in itself to get all over it. It’s ever so flattering. Lush and special occasion like. Calling for some truly high end receptions. Great shade. Not just for brown eyed beauties.
Here’s what I’ll tell you, stash this eyeshadow duo for the summer, when you’re tanned and when all the corals kick in for nails and lips. This will be something. Really something. Exquisite and sultry.
We’re going to continue with the eyeshadow here, because we have three more shades to ogle 🙂
Here’s the first one.
Dual-intensity eyeshadow
Tarvos 1939
Back into spring, huh? Ok 🙂 I kind of like this swing that just keeps me guessing what each next shade is going to be like.
A super pearly and sparkly romantic pastel green. I can’t tell you how much I love this shade. It’s so invigorating. A lovely shade that can make you look well rested in the morning, even if you haven’t really had much sleep last night.
This green is so fairy like. It’s light and easy and airy. Loaded with optimism and positive emotions. It’s spring personified. At the same time it’s not to bright, which means it’s wearable and becoming for more people. A good shade to try green on your lids. And this pearl and sparkle in it can add the most beautiful glow to your look. Also, this shade will match any eye colour, which doesn’t happen too often. A great green.
Next.
Dual-intensity eyeshadow
Cressida1940
Ok, back into summer now 🙂
I mean, this shade is too bright for spring, although this spring we’re getting some bolder shades. Romance got to be all modern and edgy. This shade – Cressida – is a satiny intense blue. This blue is bold. It’s not a baby boy blue. Not a pastel blue. It’s actually a very blue blue. If you dare, it’s a nice shade to try. And the satiny finish helps to make it more wearable.
If you don’t dare, try it as an eyeliner. It will work with any eye colour. But I’ll tell you what. If you have to be bold, better be bold all the way, at least, that’s my philosophy, when it’s about makeup. So believe it or not, but smoky eyes with this shade will look stunning, even if your eyes aren’t blue. And if your eyes are blue, well, then be careful with this shade, it might make you almost dangerously attractive.
And last.
Dual-intensity eyeshadow
Kari 1941
An ever so cool matt beige. It’s not shiny or sparkly but it does have a satin kind of lush finish that good classic eyeshadow texture usually has.
This shade is just so rare and so beautiful. Given all the nude frenzy, everyone always goes the warm way these days, when they do nudes. Well, luckily, NARS didn’t. And they came up with this super flattering and sophisticated shade.
Love it. It’s becoming all across the board. This shade here is not spring nor summer, it’s timeless. I always want to have it and wear it. It’s just so gorgeous. And it will provide a nice background for the green or blue we’ve already looked at. Or any other shade you might want to pair it up with, for that matter. Boy, this shade is great.
Here are the three mono eyeshadow colours swatched side by side. Left to right here I have: Tarvos 1939, Cressida1940, Kari 1941.
And here are all the eye shades from this collection. Pretty. Left to right: Hammamet 3904, Tarvos 1939, Cressida1940, Kari 1941.
I can only hope the lips shades are as exciting as the eye shades.
Here we have two classic cream lipstick texture shades.
The first one is
Rosecliff 9400
A cool nude beige shade with a very nice touch of pink mixed to it. When beige is diluted with pink, even if a little bit, it always makes it more appealing to me. I also think it makes it more becoming for most of us. Once again, the fact that it’s a cool beige as opposed to a warm beige makes it truly exciting to me.
If you like nude classic cream lipstick shades, try Rosecliff. You might discover a whole new direction in makeup here and see that cooler nudes look even better than their warm counterparts on you. By the way, Rosecliff is a great shade name in general and a perfect name for this shade in particular. Another thing worth mentioning, when it comes to this shade, is that you can wear it anywhere you go. And match it up with any eye and face makeup you want to go for.
And the second one is
Banned Red 9401
I would never think I’d say it, but this looks like a red nude shade. I know, I know, red can’t be nude, but it kind of feels this way 🙂 It does. It’s s well balanced, deep, muted red shade, not shiny, not matt, with this upscale satiny finish to it… It’s spectacular. Deep and darker and at the same time not bright. Perfect for going out. A beauty. If you shun vibrant orange reds, this might be your perfect red right here.
Honestly, I’ve never seen quite a lip shade like that, and I’ve seen and worn a lot of lip shades. How can red and nude beige be mixed in even proportions, so that this lipstick looks nude and red at the same time, depending on the situation? I really don’t know. But here it is, right in front of me. So, it’s your choice. What Banned Red will look like depends on how you play it. What you wear with it, what your attitude is like, where you go. Wow.
Please, see the two lipstick shades here. Rosecliff 9400 is on the left, Banned Red 9401 is on the right.
Moving on. Two lip gloss shades left to see.
One is
Vida Loca 5611
A coral beige or a beige coral, depending on how you look at it or what your colour perception is. We’re back to summer here. As little of a coral fan as I am, this shade is wonderful. And very cute. In a good way. So that it could be your spring pastel coral, if so you’d like.
I’d say though, stash it for the summer, wear it with that eyeshadow duo Hammamet, and you’ll look stunning. All these shades – the two eye shades in the duo and this coral lip gloss – are just calling for sunny weather and tan. Or just sunny weather, if tan is not your thing. They are natural looking and at the same time incredibly complimenting. Another way to wear this coral beige is to wear it as a nude lip shade with a little twist. Just swap your usual beige for Vida Loca. You’ll see, it’s worth it.
And the second shade.
Instant Crash 5612
A warmer nude beige. I have to tell you, be careful with it, this shade is not going to look good on just everyone. So, don’t forget to try it carefully before you actually wear it. Make sure it becomes you.
Instant Crash could be a nice thing to have to match a bright eye accent make up. Also, it could be a good match for that eyeshadow duo – Hamameth – if such warm beige nude lip shades look good on you. No sparkle in this shade, just a nice shine. Instant Crash is pretty thick in terms of lip coverage. Just like Rosecliff lipstick, it will go well with that green and blue mono eyeshadow and any other bright eye shade out there.
Here we go with lip gloss shades. I have Vida Loca 5611 on the left here and Instant Crash 5612 on the right.
Now let’s see all the lip shades from this collection. Left to right: Rosecliff 9400, Banned Red 9401, Vida Loca 5611 and Instant Crash 5612.
Here’s a question for you, Nars, where are the nail shades? 🙂 I wish we had some for spring.
NARS Nouvelle Vogue is a nice and small spring collection. Well put together. There are a lot of things here I like – the blush, the eyeshadow duo, all the mono eyeshadow colours and that Banned Red lipstick, of course. This collection is sort of a spring and summer combo, to my taste. That is, it can be worn both in spring and summer. And there are not that many items in it, so, if you have to travel in the next four or five months, this collection will provide a multitude of looks, wherever you are. And it won’t take up that much space in your luggage. Love that 🙂