I first saw and fell heads over heels in love with NARS blushes at Paris B‘s site. Okay, it was her amazing blush collection which got me drooling, but more significantly, the NARS blushes really stood out for me. It was really too bad that NARS wasn’t (and still isn’t) available in Malaysia. When I came to Melbourne, and discovered Mecca Cosmetica (it’s like a very small Sephora, but at higher prices), the first thing I bought from the shop was a NARS blush and lip gloss.

Fast forward to almost a year later, my collection of NARS blushes grew. Oh it grew all right.

Description:

Made with transparent pigments for a soft and sheer look. Imparts a natural, healthy glow for any skin tone and may be worn alone or layered together for more depth and intensity.
Provides a sheer, natural hint of color
Made with transparent pigments to avoid heaviness

It first started out with the Exhibit A, then the Orgasm, Taos (a gift from a friend), Dolce Vita (got this in the US), and the latest addition to the stash from a few days ago, the Deep Throat.

If you have never tried NARS blushes, but have access to it, you should check it out. NARS blushes are incredibly pigmented, and only the slightest touch of the brush onto the compact powder can gather a lot of colour. This may not suit those who prefer sheer blushes that they can layer with. As for me, I like mine heavily pigmented; this means that I only need very little to add colour onto my cheeks. I’m not really keen on layering too much powder onto my skin. The less the better 🙂

Breaking down each shade,

Deep Throat – Peach with shimmer
Dolce Vita – Dusty rose
Taos – Desert rose with shimmer
Orgasm – Peacky-pink with shimmer

Dolce Vita and Taos are quite similar in shades, although I found the Dolce Vita to be a dirtier colour. My facial skin is pretty fair, but amazingly, these dirty colours actually worked on me. I should think it’d work perfectly for those with darker skin.

Now I know that a lot of people raved about the Orgasm. I still can’t make my mind up about the Orgasm though. It’s very sheer, which is very different from the rest of the NARS blushes, so layering is a must. It doesn’t really show up on my cheeks unless I use a lot of it, and when I do, I end up with a load of shimmer on my cheeks. Not something I’d like for a day look, I’m afraid. Geekchic told me she liked layering it with her beloved Benefit Dandelion. I’ve tried it, and I think it looked pretty good.

As for my latest purchase, the Deep Throat, now that one, I like. It’s more pigmented than the Orgasm, and the shade’s simply lovely. It isn’t as pigmented as the rest though, so a bit of layering is still needed, without too much shimmer on my face. Suffice to say, I like my Deep Throat more than my Orgasm.

Geez, what names NARS come up with, huh? 😉

These colours are what I’d call conventional shades. This means that you can find dupes (alternative brands and more often than not, cheaper ones too) for these. Do check out these dupes that these lovely ladies discovered.

My Women Stuff – NARS Orgasm Dupes
Lipgloss Eater – NARS Torrid and Deep Throat Dupes
So Loverly – More NARS Orgasm Dupes

Of the collection of NARS blushes which I have, my favouritest of all is the Exhibit A*. This was the very first NARS product which I bought, and to me, it’s still the best, because I’ve never seen anything like it. The Exhibit A is a shade of brilliant red. Red! Can you imagine that?

When the makeup artist at Mecca introduced this to me, I asked her if she was joking. I would never in my life put on something so ridiculously bright. It’s madness I say! She insisted that I gave it a go as I’d be surprised at how pretty the colour could be. And I was indeed surprised. Shocked even. For the colour that appeared on my cheeks after that was simply gorgeous.

It’s not at all a shocking swipe of rouge on my cheeks, but a beautiful shade of coral red. It went so well with the NARS lip gloss in Babe. Although you’ve got to be careful when applying this though. The slightest touch of my brush could pick up quite a lot of pigment.

See, not crazy red, right? :p

NARS blushes are available at Sephora and sold at USD25 a pop. In Australia, it’s a lot more expensive (why?!?!). You can get ’em at Mecca Cosmetica at AUD60 a piece. Sigh, and just a few months ago, the AUD was almost on par with the USD. Tsk tsk.

What I like about it: Heavily pigmented, gorgeous colours, each blush will last you donkey years

What I do not like about it: Heavily pigmented means that an accidental slightly-harder swipe of the brush can render you war paint on your cheeks. Oh, and I don’t like the rubbery packaging either.

*UPDATE: It’s Exhibit A, folks, not Exhibition A (what the heck was I thinking?!). Although I am afraid I can’t amend the images as I’ve deleted the original files. Bugger.

When it comes to your beauty budget, brushes are the best place to splurge. The difference between using a good quality makeup brush and a cheaper version is like cashmere to cotton. Choose your brush to fit the purpose: goat, squirrel and pony-haired brushes are soft and kind when applying powder foundation, powder eye shadows or cheek colour.

On the other hand, synthetic fibres work wonders for liquid foundations or more precise lines around the brows and eye line.

Guess what came in the mail for me yesterday?

An early Christmas present!

I was really surprised to find out that it was a package of Christmas goodies from Nikki of Askmewhats!

She knew I was raving to try out Paul & Joe products, and the darling girl sent me:
Paul & Joe Dual Crayon
Paul & Joe Eyebrow Pencil
Travel-sized bottles of cleansing milk, moisture lotion and whitening emulsion

She also added an Ardell Brow and Lash Growth Accelerator and a powder blush by Nichido.

Ooooh this is so exciting! 😀

Sweetie, I love love LOVE the goodies, and I really appreciate the kind and lovely gesture. I can’t wait to try ’em out, especially the stuff by Paul & Joe. Thanks babes!

*Hugs*