NARS Audacious lipsticks in Barbara & Vanessa

Hi!

In this post, I will be referring to lipstick as "she". This is my happy place, judge all you want.

I had been drooling over the NARS audacious lipsticks for a long time before I decided on the colours I was going to buy. I looked at endless swatches on all types of skintones and eventually picked three - Anna, Barbara, and Vanessa.

Anna seems to be continually out of stock on every website I check, so I gave up on her. Barbara was a nightmare to track down but I managed to nab her in a Brown Thomas re-stock one evening. Vanessa proved a little harder - she was one of a number of shades exclusive to Barneys New York. I was delighted when I realised that the Barneys shades are available on the NARS European site - but again, Vanessa was out of stock. Until I chanced it one day and managed to add her to my bag - she showed up as out of stock again immediately afterwards, and I heard nothing for over a week - but she arrived via DPD last Thursday!

I love everything about these lipsticks. The packaging, that magnetic click when you close them, the creamy formula, the non-drying feel on the lips, the immediate wash of colour - I LOVE THEM.

They look similar, yes. I know. But Barbara is a more classic brown-toned nude, whereas Vanessa is a dusky pink-toned nude.

Please excuse the expressions in these photos, they range from bitchface to duckface and I can't defend them, haven't a clue what I was at. I was also a bit heavy handed with the highlighter that day going by these pictures....

Here's Barbara in direct light:

 

And........out......of direct light:

Here's Vanessa in direct light (duckface alert):

And normal light:

If I had to choose one I'd probably choose Vanessa, she's a bit warmer and a bit less 90s than Barbara. But Barbara is still gorgeous, and I'm glad I got both.

You can buy NARS online at Brown Thomas, House of Fraser, ASOS, and NARS eu.