Beauties in Bloom

I've always been a Nars eyeshadow fanatic--although expensive, I think the quality is wonderful and many of their shades are very unique. Because of the price I usually stick to trading for Nars shadows, buying from a blogsale, or waiting for a sale from Nars or Sephora! I got my hands on Nars Night Clubbing a few months ago and it is definitely one of my favorite colors period.  Night Clubbing is a rich black infused with golden shimmer. As with most instances when you combine black and gold, the result is a dark olive color--a color I'm sure you are sick of hearing me yap about as it's my current favorite color lol!! The color payoff is really amazing--one swipe and you get more than enough rich color on your brush (or finger). I also love that the gold shimmer in it is so visible. The shimmer doesn't even disappear when you blend the eyeshadow. Here's the beautifulllll swatch: Ugh. So. Gorgeous. As with all my other Nars eyeshadows, the formula is ...

I acquired the Nars duo in Demon Lover in a trade recently and thought I'd post the first look I did with it. I had to work a bit more with blending since they are more on the matte side, but I still love the texture and especially the color! The duo comes with a blue lavender and matte plummy purple...definitely a cohesive duo since the colors match so well together! I'll post full swatches and pictures of it soon! Here's the look I did with it... Lighter side of Nars Demon Lover (blue) on the lid, dark purple in the crease, Nars Dogon (left side) in outer-v, Nars Absynnia to highlight Darn the lovejoy isn't really showing true to color here! It's a bit darker; more of dusty bronzey rose! Products: Face: Laura Mercier Face Primer Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation in Medium Ivory (LOVE this!! will do a post on it soon!) Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage Laura Mercier Translucent Powder Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer Nars Lovejoy Blush TheBal...

As you've probably noticed from reading my blog, I am a HUGE fan of Nars Cosmetics (especially their eyeshadows and blushes). I recently acquired a Nars Palette that includes the popular taupe, Nars Ashes to Ashes and realized it is very similar to a Nars shadow I already own, Cairo. As much as I love to collect makeup to use, one thing I really dislike is having duplicates of colors in my stash---it's just a personal preference and helps me limit the amount of makeup I own since I avoid buying the same colors. And now, Nars Cairo... Nars Describes it as a "champagne rose with shimmer" Here's some swatches of the lovely Nars Cairo with some other taupe shadows to compare! As you can see from the swatches, in comparison to Cairo, thebalm is a much cooler taupe while Mac Satin Taupe is darker and has more plummy undertones. On my skin, Cairo is a shimmery sand color with a hint of rose. As you can see, Ashes to Ashes is very, very similar. Ashes to ...

Ahhh Nars Dogon, you are so lovely to work with. Decided to smoke out the duo-chrome taupe with the  dark blue/black. Light side of Dogon on lid, Dark side of Dogon on outer-v, Rock & Republic Diffused to blend crease (a little), & Mac Phloof to highlight Products Face: Laura Mercier Foundation Primer Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer & a little bit of the mineral powder Laura Mercier Translucent Powder Revlon Age Defying Spa Illuminator in bare light (mixed a little bit with my tinted moisturizer) Bobbi Brown Corrector Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage Concealer Mac Refined Golden Bronzer TheBalm Mary-Lou Manizer Nars Mata Hari Eyes: Mac Painterly Paint Pot A little bit of Benefit Skinny Jeans Nars Dogon Mac Phloof Rock & Republic Diffused Anastasia Brow Powder in Brunette Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner in black ink Covergirl lashblast volume Lips: Revlon Colorburst lipstick in Petal Revlon Colorburst lipgloss in Pink Ice Thanks for looking! Let me...

I finally got my hands on Nars Dogon last week with a gift card! This is one of the stand out items from the Nars summer 2011 collection and I have to say...it definitely did not disappoint. I am absolutely loving this duo. Nars describes this duo as "metallic taupe with icy green sheen & charcoal black" That description is much to simple for the actual complexity of the colors. No Flash With flash, but this looks pretty close to real life Please be patient as I  attempt  to describe the color, you are more than welcome to laugh at me! haha Dogon features a somewhat icy rosy/taupey/grey/silver base that flashes green/teal/gold? Yeah...that makes no sense in writing. But trust me, it IS beautiful. The pictures really don't capture it. On the right is a darkened charcoal/navy/teal blue with a hint of glitter. It's definitely not a plain black. The colors are wonderfully complex and the left side especially looks different in various types of lighting...

Hello!! Sorry for the short absence, I haven't had much free time this past week because of end of the year stuff and i'm so happy and excited to say that I graduated from college last Thursday! Yay!! Back to makeup, here's the beautiful Nars Galapagos that I treated myself to last week. I am absolutely in love... Nars describes it as:  "bitter chocolate infused with gold" These pictures don't do the color justice at all! It's the most beautiful brown! You can sort of see the golden shimmer in the pictures, but it's even prettier in person. The color is a gorgeous warm brown with gold shimmer. The pigmentation is excellent. It is not as smooth as my nars mekong (which is ridiculously buttery), but it is still incredibly soft, easily blendable, and pigmented. One thing that I was initially worried about with Galapagos was if the gold shimmer would actually show up on the eyes. It definitely does if you apply it correctly: packing it on with a shader b...

I'm almost through swatching nars blushes!! I believe Orgasm is the last one. Nars describes Mata Hari as a "Rose Petal Pink," and it's also the only matte Nars blush I own! On my skin Mata Hari comes across as a dusty mauvey pink. I really like this tone of pink because it's not too bright, nor too cool toned. I find it to be very wearable! The pigmentation is wonderful but when I first bought it I was having a lot of trouble applying. It just came across way too heavy. Then I discovered the skunk brush! Take a mac 187 type of brush to apply it and you get perfectly flushed rosey cheeks. This is definitely a blush I like to pair with purple or blue eyeshadow looks because of the mauve/plummy undertone. The quality is on par with all the other Nars blushes I've babbled about: it lasts all day on my cheeks, blendable, and VERY pigmented!

I hope I'm not a terribly boring blogger showing repetitive looks but...here's a second FOTD using Nars Nouveau Monde duo eyeshadow. I wanted to intensify the smokiness of this duo, so I added a bit of Mac Humid to the outer-v to make it more nighttime appropriate! I think it definitely enhanced the combo even more! Also, I decided to search through my camera's manual and actually read it so I would know how to properly use it (only 8 months later hehe)...I changed some settings and I think the colors are much more true to life in the close up photos now. Nars Nouveau Monde: lilac side on lid, olive side in crease, Mac Humid in outer v, Mac universal mix to highlight browbone Products... Face: Laura Mercier Primer Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer & Mineral SPF 15 powder over top Laura Mercier Undercover Pot Mac Universal Mix pigment on cheekbones Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Amused Nars Laguna Bronzer Anastasia Brow Powder in brunette Eyes: Mac Painterly Paint Pot as a...

Meet one of my favorite blushes ever, Nars Oasis... Nars describes it as a "sparkling pink champagne" Oasis is a gorgeous rosy/mauvey/raspberry with gold shimmer/glitter. Not quite pink champagne in my opinion ;) The color is sooo flattering and I can see it working on a variety of skin tones. It looks wonderful on pale tones (I'm about NC20-25 right now) but when my skin gets darker in the summer, it looks just as lovely. I tried capturing the gold shimmer in the photos, if you close up on them you'll probably be able to see them. Matte blush lovers probably want to stay away, but if you like a bit of shimmer and sheen on your cheeks Oasis is perfect. For the daytime, I just tap my brush off realllly well and have no issue with the glitter, it just disappears when you blend it into your cheeks. On a side note, I thought in person Nars Sin and Oasis looked quite similar in the pan, but on me, Sin made me look a bit bruised--I think it had too much purple in it for me...

Here's a purple look I came up with today. I really wanted to play around with my new R&R tempting eyeshadow! I'm pretty happy with how it came out and I'm glad I was able to incorporate my new nars shadows as well from the habanera duo and nouveau monde duo. i love purples ;) Nars Nouveau Monde lilac on inner lid, R&R tempting on lid, Nars Habanera plum on outer lid, R&R skintight as highlight Products... Face: Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer in Nude mixed with Revlon skin illuminator in bare light Laura Mercier secret camoflauge and secret concealer pot Mac MSFN Nars Laguna Nars Deep Throat Mac Hush on cheekbones Anastasis brow powder in brunette Eyes: Nars Nouveau Monde lilac, Nars Habanera, Plum, Rock and Republic Tempting & Skintight Mac Wedge to blend edges Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner in black ink Covergirl lashblast Lips: NYX nude pink lip liner Revlon colorburst lipstick in petal Revlon ...

Here is Nars Luster blush! Another one, like madly, that looks a little lackluster (heh heh) in the pan. But don't be fooled! Luster is a warm, frosty golden peachy apricot with subtle golden shimmer. There's no glitter in this blush, but it does give off a nice sheen. If you don't like shimmery blushes, stay away! For me, Luster is THE perfect golden goddess summer cheek, I always reach for it in the summer months. I especially love it when my skin is more tan; the golden shimmer is just stunning. It would be lovely on pale skin tones but with a lighter hand so it doesn't get too orange! Nars description: "Sheer Golden Apricot." Pretty accurate description in my opinion. Swatched on the left and blended on the right. The swatches above are more true to color! Many makeup lovers online have said that if Orgasm didn't work for them, Luster definitely did. They both have a similar effect on the cheek as both are quite shimmery, but I find Luster to be much s...

I decided to do a look using the green/olive side of Nars Nouveau Monde! I used mac humid in the outer-v to bring out the green tones in the nars shadow--the camera didn't pick up all the color, but it turned out much more green in person! A year ago I never would have touched green eyeshadow, but I really love doing looks with it now! I also used my bobbi brown chocolate shimmer ink--it's gorgeous but I always tend to use black eyeliner in my looks over any other color. Hope you like! :) Mac Creme de miel on lid, Nars nouveau monde in crease and outer lid, Mac humid in outer v Products used: Mac Painterly Paint Pot Mac creme de miel on inner lid and humid in outer-v (I got creme de miel at a CCO a few months ago but i think it is similar to something like ricepaper or nylon!) Nars nouveau monde in crease and outer lid Bobbi brown gel eyeliner in chocolate shimmer ink Covergirl lashblast (orange tube!) Anastasia brow powder in brunette Thanks for looking!

This is the look I wore out for my birthday night with some friends! I definitely wanted to go for a sultry, smokey eye using my new nars mekong! Hope you enjoy! Mac Femme Fi as highlight and inner corner, Satin taupe on lid, Nars Mekong in outer-v Products Used: Face: Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer in nude Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage and Concealer pot Mac Mineralized Skin Finish Mac Hush to highlight Nars Laguna Nars Orgasm Eyes: Mac Painterly Paint Pot Stila Smudgepot in bronze Mac Femme Fi, Satin Taupe, Wedge (to blend crease) Nars Mekong Anastasia Brow Powder Lips: Revlon colorburst lipgloss in Hot Pink Thank you so much for looking!

Here's my second Nars blush post. I got Nars Madly a few months ago when I wanted to find a nice neutral blush. I'm always drawn to corals and pinks, so this was a big change for me! At the time I debated between mac blushbaby (still pretty!), nars douceur (didn't show up on me), then i discovered nars madly and i'm so glad i did... Nars calls it a "seashell pink" but on my skin it shows up as a beautiful, shimmery beige with a tiny touch of peachy-pink. Definitely more tan/brown than pink on my skin. In the pictures it does look like it could be worn as a bronzer, but it is a tad too shimmery for all over the face. It adds a perfect glow to the cheeks but I think it would be too much if used all over the face. It's also very pigmented so I have to be careful when applying it or it just looks muddy.  Madly is definitely a great, neutral blush for a little cheek definition but it may not be a must have if you have some shimmery bronzers already sin...

Here's my first look using Nars Nouveau Monde! Eyes: Mac Painterly Paint Pot Benefit creaseless cream shadow in skinny jeans Nars Nouveau Monde Mac Phloof as highlight Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner in black ink Covergirl lashblast I absolutely love this duo! I wasn't sure how these colors would look together, but I think this made for a nice smokey, evening look. The benefit skinny jeans really enhanced the colors, the green olive was much more intense in person. This is definitely going to be a favorite duo of mine, it's perfect for spring. Thanks for looking!

You'll have to excuse me, lately I've been on an intense Nars kick. I love my newly acquired shadows so much, I figured I'd go through and post some pictures and thoughts on all of my blushes over the next few weeks! First blush I'm going to show you is Nars Deep Throat. I've only had this one for about 2 months now and I really love it! Nars describes it as "peach with shimmer." The color is beautiful, it definitely shows up as the perfect blend of peach and baby pink. There's a very subtle shimmer to add a nice glow to the cheeks, but not enough to effect the texture: it's smooth and pigmented enough to just need a little bit on the brush. When I'm not sure what color to use on my cheeks, this one is usually a safe bet--it goes with nearly every look! As with all of my Nars blushes, it lasts the whole day on me. Check it out if you haven't, nars blushes are my favorite!

I have been waiting for this Nars order for over a week now (fedex smartpost should be called slowpost, if anything). It was worth the wait! Although it's the end of February, this is a very late holiday gift from my wonderful boyfriend. I refused to let him make an order until a coupon code for the Nars website popped up. I am a huge nars blush fan and am so excited to try more of his eyeshadows! Here's what i got... Swatches! The pigmentation on all of them is superb. I'm so excited to do some FOTD's with these shadows! I'll definitely post them this week! The texture on the single and both duos is wonderful: rich and buttery, they apply very smoothly. The pigmentation is really insane on all of them, especially mekong. You only need the tiniest bit on your brush and you have more than enough eyeshadow to work with. I know Mekong will go with all of my favorite neutral looks...Habanera and Nouveau Monde, I was actually apprehensive about: both d...