New Shades Of The NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencils – FINALLY!

I’ve only been banging on about the NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencils for like, five years. I’ve tried them all; from the iconic Red Square that solidified my love for orange-based reds to Cruella, which is now one of the only true rouges that I have in my collection. I’ve even given the nude shades a go and the deep, deep purples which make up my vampy lip contingent. Basically I love them. They are one of my favourite lip products and they seem to sit at exactly the point where matte meets longevity, without being complete moisture-suckers (although don’t expect them to be nourishing at all).

When it comes to matte formulas, these are my go-tos and after exhausting the current colour range I was pretty chuffed when this month they released 10 new shades. Ree has swatched the whole range if you’d like to see the extended line-up, but there are three that I’d pip as the really special ones. Here’s what I’ve added to my collection…

NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Intriguing. I was over the moon to see a couple of nudes in the line-up and although Get Off is a pretty beige lip, Intriguing is the one that’s different enough from the rest of my everyday nudes to warrant a spot on the team. I thought it was similar to Bettina, but actually it’s way more colour-packed than that (Bettina can run a little grey at times) and this is quite pink for me but leans more salmon-toned so warms up my complexion with a shade that isn’t a million miles away from my natural lip colour. When I think of the NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencils I instantly think of the bold ones, but actually the nudes always find their way into my everyday makeup box too, because sometimes I’m in a mood for a shine-free lip that doesn’t budge and this does exactly that.

NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Endangered Red. I have no idea what NARS were thinking when they named this colour, because it really sits more in the ‘berry‘ category. On the pre-existing Velvet Matte Lip Pencil spectrum it sits somewhere between Damned (which is one of my most-used colours) and Train Bleu. It’s a little vampier than the latter and less intense than the the former. I lurve the shade, but out of all of the pencils I’ve ever tried, it’s got to be said that the pigmentation isn’t the smoothest here. It’s nothing that can’t be rectified by a bit of layering here and there, but it takes a bit of extra work compared to other shades I’ve tried; but the end result is a badass lip colour, which in the makeup world is never the easiest to apply anyway. Basically, it’s worth the work.

NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Famous Red. Although this isn’t the one that I’ll get the most wear out of from the range, it’s the one I’m most excited about it. Just look at that soft coral goodness! Some may pull comparisons to Dragon Girl, but I have to say when the two are swatched next to each other, Dragon Girl is much more of a cherry red, whereas Famous Red is definitely less blue-toned and more pinky. I bladdy love it. I can’t quite put my finger on it exactly, but there’s something about it that just looks effortless and not too obvious, despite it’s bold colouring. It’s one of those ‘throw it on with mascara and you’re done‘ products, which are basically my favourite category of makeup, ever.

P.S) If you want to buy these from Space NK, I’ve got a free shipping code for you – ANNANARS17.

Photos by Lauren Shipley

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