REVIEW: NARS X STEVEN KLEIN COLLECTION
When the NARS x Steven Klein collection landed on my doorstep, it took every ounce of willpower to refrain from swatching and playing with the colours right away! I like NARS as a brand fine enough, yet I always seem to gravitate towards their collabs more so than the permanent collection. Perhaps I’m just a sucker for good marketing.
So the story goes like this; Steven Klein, fashion photographer, and François Nars, NARS founder, have been pals for about 20 years. They came together to bring us a collection of beautiful, bold, inspirational colours just in time for the holidays. The holiday kits are wrapped in Klein’s hauntingly beautiful photography (seriously, they’re amazing!) or if you’re not a makeup kit kinda person, you can get singles of the nail polish, lipstick, lipgloss and eyeshadow shades that peak your interest. I was lucky enough to receive five pieces from the collection to share with you guys here;
- Killer Shine Lipstick in No Shame (bold berry) and Redemption (pale pink champagne).
- Killer Shine Lip Gloss in Fast Life (shimmery mauve/pink).
- Single Eye Shadow in Mortal (shimmery white) and Never Too Late (olive with gold shimmer).
KILLER SHINE LIPSTICK
The first thing that surprised me about this lipstick is how high gloss it is, and yet it don’t feel like a typical lipgloss. For a more subtle day time look, I ditch the liner and just dab it onto my lips straight from the tube. For a more dramatic evening look, I found this lipstick has much more of an intense shine when paired with a lip liner and applied with a lip brush. No Shame, the bold berry shade, wears better than any lipstick I’ve ever tried, even without a liner. It stayed on even after drinking and eating and left a pretty stain on my lips. As a result, this shade needs minimal touch ups.
Redemption is a shimmery pale pink champagne shade that scared me right off the bat. Keep in mind that I like a bold lip and the idea of donning a nude mouth always terrifies me. I tried it on, sans liner, and I was pleasantly surprised with how pretty it looked. Even still, I don’t think I like it enough to wear it in public. If I did, it would be paired with either a brown or aubergine lip liner, because that’s just me. I think this one is going to my mum.
KILLER SHINE LIP GLOSS
I got this lipgloss in the shade Fast Life. It’s a shimmery mauve-pink shade that’s my idea of a nude. I think the colour is super pretty, but I find that NARS lip gloss and me just don’t mix. Even if I wear a liner, the gloss seems to bleed over my lip line and I end up with a ring of colour around my mouth. The formula itself is high shine as promised. If you don’t have the same weirdo lip gloss issue I do, I’d say this is for you!
SINGLE EYESHADOW
The description on the NARS site says these eyeshadows give a "true colour application" and they do. Be sure to spritz your eyeshadow brush with a nice primer first, and you’ll be crazy impressed with the colour payoff. Mortal, the shimmery white shade, acts as a beautiful highlighter on the eye when used with a dry brush. Never Too Late, is a pretty olive colour that could work on it’s own, or layered in with gold and brown for a more defined eye. In my opinion NARS makes amazing eyeshadows and so far, I’ve been loving these!
The NARS x Steven Klein collection was gifted to me. All opinions are my own.
