If you’ve been a regular reader in the last month or so, it’s likely that you’ve heard me declare my love for the NARS Audacious Lipstick in Brigitte ($37 CDN) and therefore my musings and general verdict should be anything but surprising. However, I’m going to provide my (relatively) unabridged thoughts regardless and let you know whether the lipstick appears to be worth the price tag.

The Audacious Lipsticks are definitely a luxury product – even compared to NARS’ other offerings – and fortunately, the looks, packaging and performance of the lipstick fits its luxury branding. The glossy black packaging thankfully repels dust and is sleek and luxe with its square shape, subtly monogrammed sides and full-on extravagant monogram into the bullet itself, along with the addictive magnetic packaging. The formula delivers on all of its promises; while its a more traditional style of lipstick than many on the market today with full-on pigmentation and a cream finish, it’s the best performing product that I’ve tried of its kind. It offers insane pigmentation in a single stroke, lasts for ages on the lips – without fading weirdly, I might add – and has that luxurious nourishing texture that makes your lips feel nicer with use rather than the opposite. I find the formula wears for a good 4-5 hours with moderate eating and drinking and stains nicely after that time period. The only thing that I have to watch when I’m  wearing this lipstick and doing some heavy eating and/or drinking is that the formula can slip and slide a little bit because of its creamy texture. I love that the lipsticks are unscented for both cosmetic reasons and for the sake of my sensitive lips. Because they are unscented, they do not have irritating ingredients that many do, nor do they have a weird scent.

The shade range is huge, consisting of 40 shades – 10 of which can only be purchased online or in NARS boutiques, however – and does come with loads of interesting shades, but I went for Brigitte, one of the most neutral shade offerings. NARS describes the shade as a “nude rose”, which is sort of misleading because it’s notably darker and rosier than one would expect a nude offering to be, especially one presumably named after Brigitte Bardot’s signature pout; nevertheless, it is a gorgeous subtly-warm-leaning neutral rose with a hint of peachy-coral to it. It definitely fits into the my-lips-but-rosier category for me and is one of those staple neutral shades that doesn’t compete with other makeup but instantly adds life to the face. Brigitte also is easy to wear, even though I have tremendous difficulty wearing pink lipsticks.

While Brigitte is a relatively unique and non-generic shade offering, I’ve come to the conclusion that I have two lip products in my collection that are very similar in colour – but the formulas are different. As the name would suggest NARS Dolce Vita Velvet Matte Lip Pencil has more of a matte finish and texture, along with stronger brick undertones – but is extremely similar. The Bourjois Nude-Ist Rouge Edition Velvet also has a more matte finish along with the different liquid stain texture that dries down completely but has a little more brightness and true rusty rose lean to it, but really it gives a similar effect.

 

I’ve gotten out of the practice of grading products as I review them, but I have to mention that this lipstick would be a solid ‘A’ rating, which is something that one does not come across to often. I adore both the shade and the formula, but given that the product is so expensive, I won’t be investing in shades all too often.

Have you tried any of the NARS Audacious Lipsticks?

Maggie, x.