Nars Birthday Lipsticks from Sephora

While looking through all my various lip products I came to the realization that I never blogged about the two lip crayons by Nars that is the 2015 Birthday gift from Sephora. And that's a crime you guys, someone should have yelled at me and said "where's the birthday goodies post?!?!" I actually only got these and the Ulta Urban Decay Eyeliner this year (sad face), so I kind of spaced on doing a full write up. Let's just pretend this is still April and I'm not two months late on this post.

If you are part of Sephora's free rewards program, you get a free birthday gift every year. Last year was a Make Up Forever mini mascara and mini lipstick, which I found to be really cheap feeling and didn't like at all. So when they announced that this year's gift was from Nars, I was ecstatic. Nars is a very expensive brand so the chances of me every buying anything from them are slim to none. So getting two items from them (and both lip products, my personal favorite) was an awesome birthday gift. They are deluxe mini size, which if fine by me since a full sized costs a whopping $26! You receive a Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in the shade Cruella (a classic red) and a Satin Lip Pencil in the shade Rikugien (an almost shimmery neutral pink).

Rikugien is the most wearable of the two, since it is a lovely neutral shade of pink. The satin finish means it's slightly glossy, slightly shimmery. This is what I'd call an everyday shade, something you could put on to go grocery shopping or out to lunch with friends. I keep forgetting how much I like this particular shade, but every time I wear it I think I need to wear it more. I'd love to find an affordable dupe for this shade, since $26 is my total monthly beauty budget typically.

Cruella is a gorgeous red shade, and the matte finish makes it much easier to wear than a full gloss red. I don't reach for this particular red very often though, I find it uneven in how it fades and it does feather quite a bit so it takes some planning to wear. I wish this had the lasting power you typically associate with matte finishes, then I'd probably wear it at least once a week. The shade is stunning, and a matte red goes great with the retro look I like to do quite a bit.

Rikugien

Cruella

I like the crayon format but I wish they were twist up instead of needing to be sharpened. Because they are fatter than any sharpener I own I'll probably end up paying the $6 for the Nars one, unless I can find a cheaper one the right size somewhere else. I feel like needing the sharpener is a way for Nars to get even more money out of you, which is lame. You already spent $26 on the lip crayon, you'd think they'd throw the sharpener in for free. And that's my problem with these high end brands, they are so expensive and require expensive tools to use them properly. It makes them really out of reach for people like myself who don't have $100 to drop on a fancy primer than will make my $100 foundation actually look good. So while I liked these two crayons I'll still avoid Nars and their high priced makeup till I win the lottery.