When most people think of NARS Lipsticks, some of the first shades that pop into their heads are those offered in the Semi-Matte line up. These are the hues that most often seen on the runways and in print because they are among the brightest and more dramatic of the hues. None of these hues are for the faint of heart and I most often wear them when I am getting dressed up and going out.
From the NARS website... "A modern semi-matte lipstick that provides full-bodied, velvety color in a highly pigmented and non-drying formula. Long-wearing, full coverage finish. Rich, vivid shade range from neutrals to high-fashion hues. Patented blend of conditioners and antioxidants hydrate, nourish, and protect lips."
This lipstick is tops at providing full pigmentation with just one or two coats and the finish is a full saturated, high pigment hue. I own three shades from this range, two brights and one deep hue. I will go into more details with a review of each shade but I will state that I noticed that the deeper hues last longer and have less transfer onto my coffee cup. Overall this is a long-lasting formula and will be the longest lasting of any NARS Lipstick finish. Each of the shades that I tried did stain the lips, prolonging the time needed between applications. The words "non-drying" in the description are slightly misleading, this formula doesn't dry out the lips but it is not hydrating (mattes usually aren't), I do need to carry a separate lip balm with me when I use these lipsticks because my lips get dry very easily (same for MAC and Illamasqua and pretty much most brands). I am sure that the NARS company tried to make these lipsticks more hydrating than others on the market and to be fair, my lips dry out faster with the Illamasqua and MAC formulas so these are slightly better from the hydration aspect but matte lipsticks will just never be as hydrating as other formula lipsticks.
The makeup artists from NARS advise applying this formual straight from the tube to either clean lips or lips that have been completely filled in already with a matching or nude lip liner. I just apply it right to clean lips, I have no need of a lip liner with a lipstick that is as pigmented and stains the lips as this formula does.
Here is the shade range in the Semi-Matte finish!
- Funny Face - wonderfully fun fuchsia
- Scarlet Empress - perfect jewel-toned blue-red
- Catfight - nude mauve
- Fire Down Below - pure blood red with no blue or orange
- Heat Wave - bright orange-red
- Hot Voodoo - fiery molten copper
- Joyous Red - amber red
- Jungle Red - bright red from the 1950s silver screen
- Morocco - warm cinnamon with a trace of pink
- Pigalle - neutral pink chocolate
- Red Lizard - full-powered red
- Schiap - shocking matte pink
- Shanghai Express - warmed brick red
- Transeurope Express - very deep, pink rose
- Trans Siberian - beautiful ruby rose
- Viridiana - rich burgundy
I bought Funny Face and Schiap first from the Sephora and then I recently added Red Lizard to my collection after getting great results from the first two shades. I started with Funny Face because I wanted a bright pink and I saw it used in an issue of In Styple earlier in the spring. I ordered this shade from the website and instantly wished that I had tried it on in the store since it was a deeper magenta than I was going for. After visiting the store, I bought Schiap because this was more of the hue that I was going for. Funny Face lasts about four hours before it begins to fade and resists eating and drinking well. This hue leaves a vibrant stain on my lips so the pigmentation will continue well on into the day and I don't have to worry about reapplying immediately. This shade is a medium-toned magenta and will work well right now and into the fall months. Schiap is my current favorite lip hue, it is a bright pink that is perfect with both pale skin and a tan. This one is so much fun and I find myself reaching for the tube almost every time that I go out now. This hue can also be pulled off during the day for a more casual and fun look. This shade lasts the least of the three, I get about four hours from it but it disappears faster when eating or drinking and does not leave as vibrant a stain on the lips. This is my favorite lipstick at the moment and I love that it will still be perfectly on trend going into the fall.
Performance-wise, Red Lizard scored a near perfect score in almost pigment and wear category. This shade was at full pigmentation with just one application, this is a slightly deeper hue than most of my MAC lipsticks and is closer in hue to Maneater from Illamasqua. This shade is best for the fall and winter months, I will be using MAC's Hey, Sailor! Red Racer shade for the summer and then turning to this at the end of September. This shade did not budge when I was eating or drinking and left only a nearly undectable deposit on my coffee cup. I get nearly eight full hours from this shade, it also stains the lips and the stain wears on for about another two hours. The only downside of this hue is that this is the one that I need to grab my lip balm first for, it is more drying than the others.
The 16 shades that this lipstick comes in were not fully represented at my Sephora counter, though I see all of them on the website. Scarlet Empress, Transeurope Express, and Trans Siberian will have to be ordered as I do not remember seeing them at the counter (to be fair, there were a LOT of holes in the display and they simply just may not have been in stock). Heat Wave and Joyous Red were too warm for me, I tried every red hue on my hand and these two had too much of an coral or orange cast to them. I had both Red Lizard and Jungle Red in my hand and was debating between the two but I decided that Jungle Red was a bit too warm and that I would get more wear from Red Lizard. I saw the Catfight hue on the website and originally wanted this one but I wasn't a fan of the full nude look when the Sephora associte put it on my lips.
NARS Lipsticks have an excellent formulation and I recommend the Semi-Matte finish to anyone that loves the look of full pigmentation and is not scared away by bright, full bodied hues. I am thinking that I will go into collecting the Sheer Finish next...
photo courtesy of NARS
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