We got a look at the stuff in-coming from Nars for summer 2011 and then we fast-forwarded sharply to autumn with last week's preview of some fancy newbies for when the leaves start to fall.
Hold onto your hats peeps, we're going back in time to ... now ... and we're taking an in-depth look at what's currently available at Brown Thomas Dublin. It's the summer line up and it's particularly strong for lips.
This pleases me.
I got to take away six pieces from the collection (you can see 'em above) - the full summer range is pretty sizeable with three eye palettes, four lip products, one eye glitter, a blush and two nail polishes.
Here are the three palettes: Dogon (bottom left), and Exotic Dance (top right) are the duos and they're €34 each. The third palette is the limited edition Cap Ferrat shadow trio, €42.
This is blusher in New Order - yes, after the band. This isn't a great representation of the colour - it's very lilac but swatched much more wearably than I'd reckoned it would from looking at it dubiously in the pan. I didn't capture a swatch of it unfortunately and it's not one I got as a sample - if you're keen, try before you buy. It's not one for me, I don't think.
We're moving on to the bits I did get to take home, which included three of the lip shades.
OH HAPPY DAYS. I've been pretty intrigued by the sound of Nars Pure Matte lipsticks since their launch and Carthage, €26, right, was in my goody bag. I'll repeat - happy days. It was joined, from left, Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Bolero, €25, lipstick in Mayflower, €25 and something that's not actually a lip product at all. Nope, that glittery goody is Soft Touch Shadow Pencil in Queen, €21.
There's one more lip product in the summer collection - Wonder, €25, a shiny, sheer mandarin orange lip gloss with pink and gold shimmer. It is gorgeous - the shot above was taken with flash and you can see a swatch of it and the other shades below.
From left we have Carthage, Bolero, Mayflower (top), Wonder and Queen (bottom)
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Mayflower, Queen, Bolero and Carthage.
Carthage is the stand out for me here. It wears on the lips excellently - yes, a little drying as it's a matte, but what a colour, eh? Queen is an interesting idea but the payoff's not there with it - this is really more of an accent product - it's something you could tap lightly on top of a finished eye or on the bottom lashline but it's not designed to deliver full-on lines of thick, shining glitter. If that's what you want, you won't like it - so beware. It's sheer, with a little green-gold sparkle.
So, time for a few closeups. This is Cap Ferrat. It's very pretty but I fear the colours are ones I just won't really get much wear out of though, what about you?
And a look at 'em in the pan. As always, textures are silky smooth and pigmentation is good. These are all satin finishes.
I also got the Dogon duo. This is beautiful, a really wearable pair of colours. Nars' duos are often unexpectedly nice - this reveals itself a bit more when you swatch it. Scroll for more ...
And here are swatches of the lot. On the left are the two Dogon shades - that silver turns out to have some iridescence to it when swatched and it's very nice. It's a satiny shade that blends into the darker navy - a more matte texture - really well. This makes for a very good night time eye. Beside it are the Cap Ferrat swatches. They're vibrant and pastel and good for this year's strong brights trend but not shades I'm that likely to wear. If these are your colours, then check this out for sure.
So, how do the products work in real life?
Nars lead trainer Jason Hoffman put together a look on a model at the presentation I went to for the summer and autumn lines. He didn't use Cap Ferrat - he reckoned as we'd be seeing those shades across all the press materials he'd take us through something else - so above he's used Exotic Dance on the model's eyes as well as one of the new Larger Than Life pencils in a green shade. New Order blush is on the cheeks and on her lips he used Carthage and topped it off with a little Bolero for good measure.
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That's your lot from Nars for Summer 2011 - so what do you reckon? Tempted by anything in particular?
