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NARS Leslie, Jeanne, Deborah, Bette, Liv Audacious Lipsticks Reviews, Photos, Swatches

NARS Leslie, Jeanne, Deborah, Bette, Liv Audacious Lipsticks
NARS Leslie, Jeanne, Deborah, Bette, Liv Audacious Lipsticks

Here are the final five shades of the new NARS Audacious Lipstick ($32.00 for 0.14 oz.) formula. Stay tuned for a round-up!

NARS Leslie Audacious Lipstick ($32.00 for 0.14 oz.) is described as a “cherrywood.” It’s a reddish brown–almost coppery–with a soft shine. It had fully opaque color coverage that applied evenly and smoothly. It wore well for six hours and was neither drying nor hydrating. Estee Lauder Emotional (140) (P, $30.00) is lighter. MAC Camden Chic (LE, $16.00) is darker. Guerlain Gisela (LE, $51.00) is more shimmery. Make Up For Ever #20 (P, $19.00) is a bit lighter. See comparison swatches / view dupes.

NARS Jeanne Audacious Lipstick ($32.00 for 0.14 oz.) is described as a “cherry red.” It’s a medium-dark, rusty red with warm, brown undertones and a glossy shine. It had rich pigmentation that yielded full color coverage. It wore well for five and a half hours, and it was lightly hydrating. NARS Sandra (P, $32.00) is a lot lighter and more matte. MAC Hearts Aflame (LE, $16.00) is cooler-toned, lighter. MAC Studded Kiss (LE, $16.00) is more matte, cooler-toned. MAC Legendary (LE, $16.00) is browner. See comparison swatches
view dupes.

NARS Deborah Audacious Lipstick ($32.00 for 0.14 oz.) is described as a “chestnut.” It’s a medium-dark, muted brown with warm undertones and a luminous sheen. It had full color payoff in a single stroke, and it applied evenly and smoothly. The consistency had a bit more slip in it, but it didn’t impact application. The color lasted for five hours and was neither drying nor hydrating. NARS Jeanne (P, $32.00) is lighter, redder. MAC Legendary (LE, $16.00) is more matte. MAC Tabla (P, $16.00) is lighter. See comparison swatches / view dupes.

NARS Bette Audacious Lipstick ($32.00 for 0.14 oz.) is described as a “bordeaux.” It’s a deepened, muted red with subtle, cool undertones and a glossy finish. It had semi-opaque color payoff, which made it standout as one of the lesser pigmented shades in the range. The consistency also had more slip, and I did experience light feathering after four hours of wear, though it lasted for almost six hours. It was neither hydrating nor drying. NARS Charlotte (P, $32.00) is much lighter. MAC Hearts Aflame (LE, $16.00) is lighter, less glossy, warmer. Maybelline Espresso Exposed (955) (P, $7.49) is slightly darker. MAC Fixed on Drama (LE, $16.00) is more matte. NARS 413 BLKR (LE, $26.00) is lighter, more matte. Urban Decay Shame (P, $22.00) is darker. MAC Unknown Pleasures (LE, $16.00) is more matte. MAC Dark Deed (LE, $16.00) is lighter, more matte. See comparison swatches / view dupes.

NARS Liv Audacious Lipstick ($32.00 for 0.14 oz.) is described as a “deep aubergine.” It’s a cool-toned, muted berry-purple with a glossy shine. It had mostly opaque pigmentation, but it wasn’t totally even and still had some translucency due to the more emollient consistency. It lasted for five and a half hours and left a stain behind, and it was neither drying nor hydrating. MAC Soulfully Rich (P, $18.00) is darker, more matte. MAC Heart Hangover (LE, $18.00) is lighter, more matte. MAC Prince Noir (LE, $16.00) is darker, more matte. See comparison swatches / view dupes.

NARS Leslie Audacious Lipstick
NARS Leslie Audacious Lipstick

NARS Leslie Audacious Lipstick
NARS Leslie Audacious Lipstick

NARS Leslie Audacious Lipstick
NARS Leslie Audacious Lipstick

NARS Leslie Audacious Lipstick
NARS Leslie Audacious Lipstick

NARS Leslie Audacious Lipstick
NARS Leslie Audacious Lipstick

NARS Leslie Audacious Lipstick
NARS Leslie Audacious Lipstick

NARS Jeanne Audacious Lipstick
NARS Jeanne Audacious Lipstick

NARS Jeanne Audacious Lipstick
NARS Jeanne Audacious Lipstick

NARS Jeanne Audacious Lipstick
NARS Jeanne Audacious Lipstick

NARS Jeanne Audacious Lipstick
NARS Jeanne Audacious Lipstick

NARS Jeanne Audacious Lipstick
NARS Jeanne Audacious Lipstick

NARS Jeanne Audacious Lipstick
NARS Jeanne Audacious Lipstick

NARS Deborah Audacious Lipstick
NARS Deborah Audacious Lipstick

NARS Deborah Audacious Lipstick
NARS Deborah Audacious Lipstick

NARS Deborah Audacious Lipstick
NARS Deborah Audacious Lipstick

NARS Deborah Audacious Lipstick
NARS Deborah Audacious Lipstick

NARS Deborah Audacious Lipstick
NARS Deborah Audacious Lipstick

NARS Deborah Audacious Lipstick
NARS Deborah Audacious Lipstick

NARS Bette Audacious Lipstick
NARS Bette Audacious Lipstick

NARS Bette Audacious Lipstick
NARS Bette Audacious Lipstick

NARS Bette Audacious Lipstick
NARS Bette Audacious Lipstick

NARS Bette Audacious Lipstick
NARS Bette Audacious Lipstick

NARS Bette Audacious Lipstick
NARS Bette Audacious Lipstick

NARS Bette Audacious Lipstick
NARS Bette Audacious Lipstick

NARS Liv Audacious Lipstick
NARS Liv Audacious Lipstick

NARS Liv Audacious Lipstick
NARS Liv Audacious Lipstick

NARS Liv Audacious Lipstick
NARS Liv Audacious Lipstick

NARS Liv Audacious Lipstick
NARS Liv Audacious Lipstick

NARS Liv Audacious Lipstick
NARS Liv Audacious Lipstick

NARS Liv Audacious Lipstick
NARS Liv Audacious Lipstick

Makeup Look
On face:
  • Giorgio Armani Maestro Foundation
  • Urban Decay Naked Loose Finishing Powder
  • MAC Sculpt Sculpting Powder
  • Tom Ford Love Lust Blush
  • Chanel Dentelle Precieuse Illuminating Powder
On eyes:
  • Urban Decay Roach Eyeliner

73 Comments

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Ginny Avatar

Dang, I had actually narrowed down to about four of these shades, but now Leslie and Jeanne are throwing me off. I appreciate that they did so many warm toned reds (my skin tends to pull out any cool tones in a red), but they did too many for me to choose! These all look great on you. Thank you for doing the whole line, Christine. Bravo!

Baby A Avatar

Hi, Christine. I’m curious how you test these out. Do you wear one for several hours til they wear out then remove it then try out another one then so forth and so on? Because your face still looks immaculate!

Christine Avatar

When you see photos here, it has nothing to do with the timing of testing. I swatched and photographed all 40 shades back-to-back. I think it took about 2-3 hours. In general, I photograph several things at once, swatch them, and then I apply them to show them worn if necessary (lip products, blush, etc.). The point is really just to get everything photographed and ready, and THEN all those products go into a to-testing bin so that I can work through them. For eyeshadow, it depends on what I need to have tested sooner rather than later, so I might apply different sets of eyeshadows to each eye from what I just photographed, or I might just apply products I had ready to test already. Eyeshadow is trickier, since it’s harder to apply, remove, and re-apply more than once (my eyes can’t take it), so usually for eyeshadow I only take the photos when I’ve applied it for testing (and this is why I never show both eyes or a full face, because when I’m testing products, I often test two different cheek products, lip color–whether it matches or not–and two different sets of eyeshadows so nothing matches).

Amy Hoeh Avatar

Wow. Now that is dedication. A small showing of why your blog is a Holy Grail for most people prior to purchasing anything related to makeup. I’ll even pull up your site on my phone while I’m shopping before it goes into my cart. Your opinion is respected and trusted by SO MANY! I wish that we could all collectively buy you a Christmas gift since you help us so much. What do you get a girl that has almost every single product made for so many YEARS? Certainly not more makeup. lol.
It’s the thought that counts, right?

Michelle Avatar

Well another bunch of colors I can’t pull off, but I LOVE Liv on you Christine!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW!! You should wear that every. single. day. It’s STUNNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish I could pull that color off but with fair skin, blue eyes and blonde hair I’d look like a vampire. Dang pale complexion LOL.

A Name Avatar

I like Leslie, and I normally stick to the cooler reds (even though I’m very warm toned) so I don’t have anything like it.

This whole line has been reliably good – SO many tempting lipsticks!

Andie Avatar

I really appreciate the consistency of this line of lipsticks. They each lived up to the claim with no real duds. I’m still a little leery of the $32 price tag. At least they seem worthy of the price. I will check out the line in stores and see if any speak to me there.

zainab Avatar

I’m surprised by how much I like Liv and Deborah, but of these I think Leslie is the only one that would really flatter me. So I think that narrows my ‘want list’ to six. I can probably manage six, spread out.

Veronica Avatar

WHY ARE ALL THE COOL-TONED SHADES I LIKE B-GRADE?? Seriously, how gorgeous are Bette and Liv? I’d be all over them if it wasn’t for that grade, but for lipstick in the $30+ range, I expect an A- at the least.

Veronica Avatar

It’s so weird that the stronger pigments had such slip, since you’d think the depth of pigment would require it to be thicker. I really love the look of the formula, so it’s a shame to see so many of the eye-catching shades miss.

Elena Avatar

The colours look so pretty on you, but I just cannot wear creme lipsticks in red or dark colours. It MUST be a matte finish. I tried with Revlon’s Cherries in the Snow seeing how it’s a classic retro shade and just can’t do with the shine. The neutral shades you have posted earlier are very intriguing.

Helene Avatar

I want all of the new NARS lipsticks. All of them. OK, maybe I could skip 5 or 10, but the rest! Good thing they are permanent.
Of these last ones I really fell for Jeanne. So pretty and very wearable, I think.
Excellent job reviewing this range, Christine, and making al of the lipsticks look so good.

Sylirael Avatar

I think Liv has to be my favourite here (although I could wish it was a scooch more even, especially given how dark it is), especially because I don’t feel like we see a *lot* of that kind of muted dark purple pluum kind of colour. Also, it’s the coolest (in undertone) of these darker shades – I have to say, I feel like this range really has a lot of variety when it comes to shades that are ‘bricky’ or orangey/brown in undertone somehow. Although this is not a good colour range for me, I really like that it’s available here for those it does work on! 🙂

Rachel R. Avatar

I’m liking these much more than I thought I would. I thought this group would be darker and browner. I like Bette and Liv the best. Deborah really isn’t my kind of color, but I think it would be a wonderful fall color for warm-toned skin.

Toni Avatar

Now these are my kind of fall shades! I think I’d go for Deborah first, then Leslie. It’s nice to see NARS make such a wide range of shades….this might be my first high end lippie splurge! BUT I put myself on lip product restriction for three months because I went a bit crazy earlier this month!

Lauren Avatar

Hmm…So many beautiful colors, so hard to choose! Thanks for these great reviews/swatches!
If I’m looking for kind of a dark, sultry red (think 1920s), would you recommend Charlotte or Bette?

Cindy Avatar

I’m having trouble deciding between Ingrid and Liv….I’m an NW 25 with dark hair and deep brown eyes….which of the two would you recommend?

Rebecca Avatar

I think the nudes are getting all the love and selling out, but women need to try these gorgeous shades and step out of the box. Ah, if only Sephora carried Vivien. I chose Jeanne and finally learned how to pronounce it in French!

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