NARS Stylo Eyeliner (Blue Bayou, Nuits Blanches) Review, Photos, Swatches
Long-wearing Liner: NARS Eyeliner Stylo in Bayou Blue and Nuits Blances
NARS Eyeliner Stylo
($27.00 for 0.02 oz.) was recently released just in time for the fall/holiday seasons as a brand new product by NARS. It is touted to be a long-wearing, quick-drying liquid liner delivered via a felt-tip applicator. With the felt-tip applicator, you are supposed to be able to get precise lines–thin or thick–with “maximum control.” The Eyeliner Stylo is available in three shades: Blue Bayou (blue), Nuits Blanches (black), and Nabucco (brown).
I test drove two: Blue Bayou, which is not quite an electric blue, but much brighter and deeper than a sky blue–but there’s no teal or green in it for me; and Nuits Blanches, which is a very deep dark black. Oddly enough, I’ve found a lot of black felt-tip liners do show up a bit brown when swatched on the skin, but on the eyes, looks black as it’s supposed to; this also happened here (for reference). I wonder if, perhaps, it’s how close/magnified the photo is vs. viewing it in person at a real-life size. Anyway, just something worth noting.
The formula is definitely long-wearing and it dries quickly but not too quickly, so you do have some time to work. The formula itself is fairly water-resistant as well; I’m not sure I’d say entirely waterproof, but it doesn’t budge or smudge or flake throughout the day and takes a bit of elbow grease to remove. To be honest, one of my biggest frustrations with this product had to do with Blue Bayou staining my eyelid for three days. I don’t love products that stain overall, because I do find it annoying the next day, but having this slightly faded, residual blue liner on the outer edges of my eyes for three days was ridiculous. I know in the past, readers have recommended Make Up For Ever’s makeup remover for staining products, but between my cleansers, olive oil, and Lancome’s Bi-Facil, the staining wasn’t budging. I found the black didn’t stain nearly as much and seemed to fade away by the next day.
I will say that this the felt-tip applicator is very long and skinny, and those with smaller eyes may find this a little unwieldy. On my eyes, I felt like I had enough control to create thin, precise lines. I did find creating thicker lines to create a little more skill, just because the applicator is quite thin and more suited towards thin lines rather than thicker lines. I think with enough practice you’d find that you could get thin or thick lines without much fuss or frustration, though! The applicator distributes a good amount of product without it being too much or too little–there’s no drag nor is there excess that you have to worry about.
Bottom Line: I like and would recommend Nuit Blanches, because it works and functions quite well. I do take an issue with something that stains so intensely as Blue Bayou did, which makes me hesitant to recommend it. I didn’t take any points off for staining, but it’s something I think is worth noting as a potential problem for some (as it is for me). I used Blue Bayou last week in a look, which you can view here, to see how it looks in action.
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- Product: 27/30
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: If you don’t mind a product that may stain your eyelids temporarily, these are easy to use, quality felt-tipped pens to give you that liquid liner look.
Availability: NARS, NARS Eyeliner Stylo
See swatches…
Hi Christine! How do you think the nars liner compares to mac’s penultimate liner?
It’s less watery, but they’re very similar. I’d probably opt for Penultimate, because it’s way cheaper and does about the same job. The NARS felt tip seemed a lot thinner, though.
Too bad about the staining; I was seriously tempted for a minute by the blue one.
Does it bleed when you put it on?
Nope, it didn’t bleed on my eyes when I used it!
i love NARS but that seems like too much for an eyeliner. pass for me.
I agree, it’s pricey for a liner, but it seems in line with NARS’ prices (which I do feel seem a bit higher than they should be).
Thanks for the update. I love Nars. From time to time their pigment is a bit to deep/loud for me. The black and brown look amazing, and although I adore Bobbi Brown long wear gel liner, my dry skin cam make the application a bit annoying. As a lady who lives a block from a bayou, no bayou looks that blue. Thanks again!
LOL! I was surprised at how bright it was – I thought it’d be a little more navy, just judging that they only had three shades, that’s how it typically is.
I tested these at the NARS counter a week ago and I was so irritated that the blue one stained my hand! GRR! Good thing I didn’t put it on my eye. I think NARS failed on this one.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who experienced some staining!
I tested this in sephora and I didn’t like it at all. It was way too watery and the tip was too flimsy. The penultimate is more steady and not as watery. I love the color of the blue one, but I can’t deal with the product. They need to change the formula and the tip of it. I am good at applying liner, but this went all over the place when I tested it.
Flimsy? Oh, man, totally different story over here. It took a few swipes on the back of my hand to get it into “normal” stiffness. I didn’t really find it watery either…
Do you think it could just be the fact that it’s been tested by a lot of people? (At least for the tip being too flimsy for you.)
I like this product. To draw a thicker line, I tilt the stylo tip on its side and use its width to create the line. Easy Peasy 😀
I didn’t have a problem with staining but I am NC42/44, I never even considered products to stain.
Good tip, Kristina!
hmmmm… nice to read this, had bad experience with this kind of liners, they used to bleed, but they are so easy to use!!!
I didn’t experience any bleeding, but my lids are fairly smooth, so maybe that helped!
The Blue Bayou color is just gorgeous… but I’m not really willing to commit to having it on for three days :-/
It is faded, though – I mean, just to clarify. It’s not bright blue for three days. It does fade significantly after the first removal, but it’s noticeably there.
I think you meant elbow ‘grease’ not ‘crease’ ;]
Shame that the blue stains so badly, its such a pretty colour!
Oh, yeah! Thanks – fixed that!
I know, I was like, WOW that’s INTENSE. It’s not like bright blue for three days, but it’s noticeable and made me a little grumpy. There is a such thing as too much of a good thing, I suppose 😛
Blue Bayou is gorgeous. I agree that it is expensive for a liquid liner because it would only last maximum 6 months.
Agreed! Liquid liner is one of the shortest life products (next to mascara!), so it’s like, WHAT?
Funny that I actually tested it out at Sephora this past weekend! I was almost drawn to the blue shade and drew a short line on the back of my palm, and yes, staining totally freaked me out. No matter how many times I rub it with a cotton pad saturated with a makeup remover, it stayed. Thank goodness I didn’t try it on my eyes!
LOL! It’s like, “When is pigmentation a bad thing?” And I totally found the answer in Blue Bayou. I’d say it removed about 60-75% on the first pass, then maybe up to 85% was removed by day two… still annoying.
I noticed it stained significantly less where there was lots of eyeshadow/base.
I was at Target today and picked up an E.L.F. pen liner that swatches pretty much exactly the same as this. It was only one dollar! From the swatch I did on my hand it doesn’t seem like it stains.
One dollar.
Awesome, Kaleen! I’ll have to look out for it.
Blue Bayou is so pretty, but I’m not keen on staining and the price.
Agreed!
ill have to go to space.nk to test some out.. we dont have sephora here boooo 🙁
a liquid electric eel! me like!
this is weird, the blue bayou look almost like mac plumage on me wearing it, its stunning, not like this colour? I don’t know if its different because this looks like borderline bright electric eel blue hahaha
The blue stain I got was irritating. Attempting to remove it for the next three days, irittated my eyes literally. I really wanted to love this. This lasts longer than liquid last liner by MAC.