NARS Audacious Lipsticks review, swatches: Jane, Natalie, Anita

One swipe, 100% coverage. Forty shades of great. 

Forty shades of great - that is what the NARS Audacious lipsticks offer. Full coverage in one swipe, in 40 colours from corals, pinks and mutes to browns and reds. I am probably the last blogger to talk about the lipsticks that created such huge waves in Fall 2014, but better late than never. 
I only have one-tenths of these lipsticks (four). Of these, I am showing you three, keeping my favourite (dusty rose, obviously) for later. Left to myself, I would have settled for dusty rose alone; the other three were imposed upon chosen for me by my "can't-you-wear-more-colour" Mum and Sis. And, I love all these shades!

Check out my review and swatches of NARS Audacious lipsticks in Anita, Jane and Natalie.

Packaging of NARS Audacious lipsticks

Inside the typical black NARS lipstick cases, these come in somewhat heavy metallic cuboid (?) tubes with metallic closure.

Jane is a "terracotta" - think of an ornate terracotta sculpture you see in all those handicraft stalls. That's the shade. I LOVE it. I'll show you a pairing I did with a peachy eye soon.

Natalie is the brightest pink in my stash - I repeat, in MY stash, where 99% lipsticks are exactly the same shade of muted dusty rose. This is good for pairing with one of those matte slates in the IT Cosmetics palette, swatched here.

Anita is supposed to be "antique rose", and half a shade deeper than Vanessa. This is one of the most neutral-nude lipsticks in my stash. I have heard mutterings of "anaemia" when I wore this, and a doctor pal suggested iron capsules.

Formula and pigmentation of NARS Audacious Lipsticks

These are pigmented beyond belief. More pigmented than Estee Lauder Pure Colour Envys or UD Revolutions; beautiful lipsticks.
Formula is not too hydrating. It can be drying unless your lips are nicely prepped, especially some of the shades. The colour also tends to settle in fine lines. I had problems with Natalie, but not as much with Jane or Anna.
Here is the ingredient label:

Staying power comparison of NARS Audacious Lipsticks

Staying power is about four-ish hours with fading proportionate to greasy or liquid food intake. The colour does not fade evenly but settles in lines. Lorac Pro Mattes (reviewed here), Rouge d'Armanis (reviewed here) and Lancome Rouge in Loves last longer. Estee Lauder Pure Colour Envy (reviewed here), Givenchy Le Rouge (reviewed here), Bobbi Brown (Reviewed here) and the UD Revolution lipsticks (reviewed here) do not last as long as NARS Audacious.

Swatches of NARS Audacious lipsticks in Anita, Natalie and Jane

One swipe each, natural light. From left: Anita, Natalie and Jane

On-lips swatches, without primer, liner or lip balm:

Jane is my new love. Natural light:

Anita is perfect for day-wear. Photo taken with swishy new prime lens.

Natalie was the driest of the three:

Verdict

I love the NARS Audacious lipsticks far more than the Pure Color Envy, Revolution, Le Rouges and even Bobbi Browns (links to reviews of each are further above in this post). These are insanely pigmented and staying power is decent enough for bullet lipsticks. My only gripe is that the NARS Audacious lipsticks can be a bit drying and have a tendency to settle in lines. I tend to prefer proper matte (such as the Lorac Pro mattes) and long-wearing liquid lipsticks (such as Chanel Rouge Double Intensite), but right now, these are my favourite bullet lipsticks.  

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