NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil Review, Photos, Swatches
NARS Club Mix Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil
NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencils
NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil ($24.00 for 0.09 oz.) was a new product, released for spring, as a twist on NARS’ Velvet Matte Lip Pencil. It’s a glossy, moisturizing jumbo-sized pencil available in six “glazed” shades. The range includes: Baroque (raspberry sorbet), Club Mix (sheer grape), Frivolous (iridescent seashell pink), Happy Days (pink coral infused with gold shimmer), abd Hopi (honey beige), and New Lover (gold infused strawberry pink).
- Baroque is a dark, pink-tinged red with silver and pink shimmer. It’s nearly opaque on lips.
- Club Mix is a berry plum with soft pink and burgundy with a slight metallic finish. It’s semi-sheer to semi-opaque on lips with a glossy shine.
- Frivolous is a sheer pink nude with soft gold shimmer that applies semi-sheer to semi-opaque. For me, it’s a rather my-lips-but-better shade.
- Happy Days is a sheer coral-red with coppery gold shimmer that gives medium color coverage.
- Hopi is a darkened, coppered tan with gold and copper shimmer. It is almost semi-opaque on lips, but you can still see my lip freckle.
- New Lover is a dark, cool-toned pink with iridescent pink-peach shimmer. Like Hopi, it is almost semi-opaque in color coverage.
It’s hard to determine just what kind of color coverage to expect from these, because it seems to range from semi-sheer to semi-opaque overall, with Baroque being the most opaque and Frivolous being the sheerest. Given NARS’ gloss range and lipgloss in general, they are typically not opaque, so I think the pigmentation level in these is good and above average.
The finishes of each is a glossy enough to be a gloss but the thin texture of the pencil won’t give lips as full of a look as thicker lip gloss does. These are a great alternative to those who want the shine of the gloss but the texture of a lip balm.
These are smooth and glide on effortlessly, and the coverage is fairly even without having to work at it. They also deposit color well without requiring lots of layers to achieve the results seen in swatches. I get about three hours of wear with these, which is about average. I detected no scent or taste, and the texture of these is not at all tacky.
My concern with these lip pencils is how soft the pencil is–though it lends to easier application, these are so soft that they don’t do well if the temperature is 70 degrees or higher and end up rather melty. Jumbo-sized pencils like these can waste product when sharpened, and the softness of the pencil seems to exacerbate that problem.
Iwish NARS had gone with twist-up packaging, like Clinique, which would make these more convenient (no sharpening required) and eliminate the waste. The amount of waste does seem to vary from sharpener to sharpener, and I usually reach for Urban Decay’s Grindhouse, which gives me minimized waste, but there is still some.
NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil Review, Photos, Swatches
NARS Club Mix Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil
NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil
NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil
Baroque, Club Mix, Frivolous, Happy Days, Hopi, New Lover
Baroque, Club Mix, Frivolous, Happy Days, Hopi, New Lover
Baroque, Club Mix, Frivolous
Happy Days, Hopi, New Lover
Baroque, Club Mix, Frivolous, Happy Days, Hopi, New Lover
Baroque, Club Mix, Frivolous, Happy Days, Hopi, New Lover
Baroque, Club Mix, Frivolous, Happy Days, Hopi, New Lover
Baroque, Club Mix, Frivolous
Happy Days, Hopi, New Lover
NARS Baroque Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil
NARS Club Mix Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil
NARS Frivolous Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil
NARS Happy Days Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil
NARS Hopi Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil
NARS New Lover Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil
I know what you mean about waste. Whenever I sharpen, seeing the trace amounts of product going away with the pencil sharpenings always breaks my heart a little.
Regarding the sharpening issue, I had the same thought when first trying these Christine: I wished it was a twist up pencil (for convenience and reduced waste). I bought a few of the Clinique chubby pencils instead for this very reason — which I use all the time and love. Of course, I am now staring at some very worn-down tips on those, and have been contemplating sharpening them just to get more precise application!
I recommend you read Beauty and the B*llshit’s blog post on makeup pencil technology:
http://beautyandthebullshit.blogspot.com/2011/03/pencil-pornication-sequel.html
She explains the downsides of automatic pencils very well, which is particularly relevent to the Nars gloss sticks. Because they are so soft, they need the support of the hard pencil casing; otherwise, they’d be prone to breaking right out of a twist-up casing (becoming totally useless). Anyways, it’s a perspective I hadn’t really considered before I read that. 🙂
My goodness, this blogger sounds amazingly knowledgable and shares some very interesting information.
Her blog is great — it’s worth reading through her archives. She used to work as an exec in the cosmetics industry, so it’s a great insider’s perspective.
Anyhow, sorry for the thread jack! I just thought that particular article was relevant to Christine’s review. 🙂
NARS really rocked the color selection on these pencils. They look gorgeous!
OMG! Baroque Velvet looks so gorgeous, I can hardly believe that colour came out of a pencil!
The color I wanted was Frivulous but way too sheer. I was fine wth Club Mix but eh..the tip kept falling off and stuff..it’s buried somewhere
Can you list the alternatives of products with the same type of consistency..I tried these cos I hate stickiness for my lip products
Those are so gorgeous. But yeah, getting little mushy bits of pencil on my sharpeners makes me cringe. So messy.
NYX has a round lipstick called “Rose Bud” which looks a lot like New Lover
I was just going to post that, it’s one of my faves.
The texture and pigmentation of these is very impressive! But yeah, I’m not crazy on the delivery system they use. A pencil is handy, but when the product is soft like you say, I don’t really think it’d be suitable for that format.
I’m so glad you list the amount of product you get in your reviews. I never really paid attention before, but thanks to you I’m more aware!
These are really pretty, but the waste issue and the fact that you have to sharpen them in general makes them a pass for me.
Ditto! Really lovely color but I’ll pass!
I bought happy days a few days ago and I love it, I am though, dreading when it is sharpening time. But the texture is amazing and I love the color.
New Lover is beautiful.
I’m so conflicted over these now! I love them in stores and I actually had club mix on my list of products to purchase, but now that you’ve mentioned they get melty in high heat, I might have to rethink that. I live in New Orleans and these might not be the best product for this summer. I’ll still probably get it anyway, just because I love the color so much!
these look pretty nice… thanks for mentioning that u think they may melt… i’ve had makeup that melted under this Caribbean heat before and it’s not a pretty picture.:-(
Oh, yeah! If you’ve found normal lipsticks to melt, these would be worse 🙁
Canadian company Annabelle just released some “Lip Crayons” that seem very similar to these in their summer collection. Since they cost only $10 a pop, I’ll definitely be more likely to try them. At least when I sharpen my money away, it’ll be less of my money.
does anyone know of a good dupe for happy days? not the product, just the color. any lipgloss would do. thanks!
Le Sigh. They look gorgeous on your lips and I naturally I crave all of them:/
Love the look of these! They seem like they’d be complementary to a variety of skin tones. I really like Hopi.
I have “New Lover” and “Happy Days” and I love them.
I do agree that the sharpening of it waste product. Plus the product itself is so soft and creamy it waste easily.
Still nice though.
omg every single one of these are perfect!! such a shame about the packaging tho :{
Wow these look awesome, but I agree sharpening lip products sucks. Given how $$ Nars products are, that makes the expense extra painful. New Lover and Club Mix look too pretty to pass up though, so i’ll likely grin and bear it.
Oh my. These are beautiful! All of them!
I need a new lover…….. 🙂
new lover and happy days for me…. everything looks good on ur lips
Oh my, these are gorgeous…I want all of them! They look so fabulous on you. Sucks that you have to sharpen them though.
Baroque looks really cute! I’d be sad every time I wasted product when sharpening though. I suppose one could stick the pencil in the freezer for a few minutes to firm it up before sharpening. But I’d like this more if it was an automatic plastic type pencil instead.
new lover and baroque look so nice on you!
Baroque & New Lover looks so gorgeous. Loved all of them though 😛
I snagged New Lover, Baroque, and Club Mix when these first came out… unfortunately, the cap of one came off in my purse! Not cool! Other than that, I love these. It’s a great innovation!
OMG! I did not expect that from a pencil! Beautiful!
I love the colors! But sadly, I am not too fond with the thought of sharpening a gloss.
They look quite nice!
Melty above 70? Count me out. It’d never last the Los Angeles summer! 🙁
Gah! All of these shades look amazing on you! I want them all! I think this is a first for me! -_- this is not good lol
It’s really too bad about the packaging and the softness/melting issue, because, like everyone else, I’m hard-pressed to say which looks most beautiful on you. This is one of the only series of lip swatches I’ve seen where every color is a complete home-run for you (and makes me covet each one for myself, even though I’m fairer and have more pigmented lips than you). I *think* I like Hopi, Club Mix and Baroque best. Love your eye-makeup here, too.
Those are GORGEOUS, but I wish they didn’t need to be sharpened 🙁 A twist up pencil would be SO much better.
I bought one a few weeks back and I’ve loved it since. But sharpening it is a waste for tight budgeted students.
Has anyone tried depotting on these yet? I don’t wanna risk depotting it out if it doesn’t work or seeing the tiny traces of lip pencil on the sharpener because of it’s price tag- but they look too grogeous (*eyes Happy Days and Frivolous*)
I wonder how these are compared to Hard Candy Visibly Wet lip gloss pens….
I like the color frivolous, don’t know if I would spend 24 dollars on it though
Tip for everyone….throw your pencil in the freezer for about five minutes then sharpen. I have lost almost zero product doing it this way.