NARS Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Larger Than Life Eyeliner ($23.00 for 0.02 oz.) is a new (and permanent) long-wearing pencil eyeliner that is available in nine shades (though two have not yet been made available online). They’re touted to have 12-hour wear with no smearing or caking. Each eyeliner twists up and also has a built-in sharpener.

I posted sneak peek swatches a couple of days ago, and I’ve spent the time since then testing different shades out to see how they wear. I had high hopes for this product, especially because the initial wear test (which had only been four hours or so) made it seem promising. First, these are infinitely better than NARS Eyeliner Pencils. When I had these on the back of my hand, I can’t smudge them after they set–really vigorous rubbing will cause them to flake a bit, though.

• Santa Monica Blvd. is a pure white a matte finish. This one applied a bit unevenly, and it seemed less opaque than the other shades. It seems similar to MAC Pure White.
• Rue Bonaparte is a soft beige with a matte finish. This works well to give eyes a more awake appearance when used on the waterline–the problem is getting it to stay there, though. It seems a touch lighter than MAC NC15/NW20.
• Abbey Road is a blue-teal with soft blue shimmer. It seems similar to Urban Decay’s Covet.
• Rue Saint-Honore is a royal purple with strong blue pull–it’s described as a deep royal blue but looks more purple than blue on me.
• Via Appia is a dark, copper-shimmered brown. It’s not as dark (or as warm) as Urban Decay Corrupt.
• Madison Ave. is a medium-dark gray with a matte finish.
• Via Veneto is a deep, dark black with a matte finish. It reminded me of Urban Decay’s Perversion and MAC Black Black.

I’m not sure if these are waterline-safe or not–the press release nor the website indicate that they are–but typically, matte shades are usually suitable for the waterline while shimmery/glittery shades may not be. I wore Via Veneto (which is a deep, dark black) on my lower waterline and lash line, and I get about an hour of wear on the waterline before the majority has faded away.

The eyeliner on the lash line lasts much longer, and what I noticed is when I wore foundation, the eyeliner wore better and had no smudging eight hours later.  By 12-hours (the claimed wear time), there was very, very faint smudging underneath the lash line, and the eyeliner wasn’t as intense or as thick as it was originally.  When I wore no foundation, by the sixth hour, there seemed to be a faint, but noticeable, darkness beneath the line–a subtle smudging.  I don’t have oily eyelids, and when it’s not allergy season (and it is not), I don’t have very watery eyes.

The built-in sharpener is best used when you twist-up the pencil a good amount, because you really need to get a good portion of it into the sharpener to get it to work.  You do lose some pencil in the process in order to achieve the slanted, pointed tip.  It seems a bit less than a traditional pencil eyeliner per sharpening, but I’m not sure it’s significant enough that one would be persuaded solely by that–after all, most pencil eyeliners are 0.04 oz. and this is half the size at 0.02 oz. and you do still waste some when sharpening.  It is more than most mechanical eyeliners (which are around 0.01 on average), though.

They’re creamy and deposit mostly even color when applied (except Santa Monica Blvd., which is sheerer overall). They glide across the skin and lash lines with ease, so there is no tugging or pulling. The texture of these–overall–is really nice and easy enough to apply. The wear is good, and of course, when it comes to eyeliner, wear is the defining factor.

See photos & swatches! 

Santa Monica Blvd., Rue Bonaparte, Abbey Road, Rue Saint-Honore, Via Appia, Madison Ave., Via Veneto

Santa Monica Blvd., Rue Bonaparte, Abbey Road, Rue Saint-Honore, Via Appia, Madison Ave., Via Veneto

NARS Larger Than Life Eyeliner

Santa Monica Blvd., Rue Bonaparte, Abbey Road, Rue Saint-Honore, Via Appia, Madison Ave., Via Veneto

NARS Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Larger Than Life Eyeliner

Santa Monica Blvd., Rue Bonaparte, Abbey Road, Rue Saint-Honore, Via Appia, Madison Ave., Via Veneto

Santa Monica Blvd., Rue Bonaparte, Abbey Road, Rue Saint-Honore, Via Appia, Madison Ave., Via Veneto

Santa Monica Blvd., Rue Bonaparte, Abbey Road, Rue Saint-Honore

Rue Saint-Honore, Via Appia, Madison Ave., Via Veneto

NARS Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Santa Monica Blvd. Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Rue Bonaparte Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Abbey Road Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Rue Saint-Honore Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Via Appia Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Madison Ave.Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Via Veneto Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Via Veneto Larger Than Life Eyeliner (Initially vs. 12-hours Later)