I purchased this pencil weeks and weeks ago and it's just been sitting on my vanity. I don't really know why I didn't wear it, but I didn't. I finally picked it up last weekend and applied it and was incredibly unhappy. I wasn't expecting it to be quite so bright and so I promptly took it off and put on something more sedate. I was ready to list it on Make Up Alley for a swap when I decided I should give it more than a 5 second test run.
So a couple times this week, I wore it all day.
NARS describes the color Mexican Rose as "hot pink" which is pretty spot on. It is a bold color, but I'm trying to wear more lip products and sometimes I just need to force myself out of my comfort zone. And after a couple days of wearing Mexican Rose I have to say I'm kind of in love with it.
NARS describes the Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil formula as "Spectacular shine in an innovative, lightweight formula and enriched with Vitamin E plus a blend of moisture-rich hyaluronic spheres that make lips appear fuller".
The formula reminded me a lot of the Clinique Chubbystick on initial application. It is closer to a lipstick formula than a gloss, but it really is moisturizing and it does stay glossy and moveable for quite a while.
This wore probably 6 hours on me before I felt like it faded to the point that I needed to re-apply. A big part of that is that the formula stained my lips pretty significantly.
I haven't tried the Yves Saint Laurent ROUGE PUR COUTURE Vernis À Lèvres Glossy Stain, but it makes me wonder if the formulas aren't similar. Has anyone tried both? Thoughts?
The big downside for me to this product is that unlike the Clinique Chubbysticks, the NARS Velvet Glosses aren't twist up pencils. You actually have to sharpen them. UGH! Thanks to the incredible pigmentation and wear time I haven't had to sharpen mine yet, but apparently when I do, I need to freeze the pencil first. This is a recipe for disaster. I guarantee you that I'm going to put the pencil in the freezer so I can sharpen it and then I'm going to find it at Christmas time when I'm trying to make room in the freezer. There is no way I am going to remember.
Contains .09oz of product. Retails for $24 wherever NARS is sold.
Overall: 8/10 - love the color, love the formula, hate the sharpening.
