NARS | NARSissistCheek Kit Palette | Review
Hi lovelies!
Now I don't know about you, but since starting out on this little venture called blogging, my make-up collection has probably doubled. Having been a Benefit devotee for years, blogging and my unhealthy obsession with YouTube have gently nudged me out of my cosy little pink packaged, vintage branded comfort zone and into the realms of other cosmetic brands. NARS is one of those brands that i've lusted after for what feels like ages, but yet again, being from deepest, darkest Devonshire means that most brands outside of your Benefits and your Clinique's are the reserve of the likes of beauty emporiums like Space NK (the closest one of those being a 2 hour drive away in Bristol). There is of course a simple solution of buying online, but with the usual higher end brand price tags, I wasn't willing to splash the cash without testing shades and things first.
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| (Narsissist Cheek Kit - £35 - Space NK) |
I had a little peek on Space NK after Christmas though and this little baby caught my eye, not only containing two of the colours that i've lusted after for months but also promising to ease my sadness about missing out on the infamous One Night Stand Palette. The Narcissist Cheek Palette consisting of the coveted Orgasm blush, blogger fave Laguna bronzer and an exclusive limited edition highlighting blush called Devotee. The perfect contouring trio. For around the £35 mark it seemed like a fab deal, especially when you consider the fact that the full sized blush and bronzers retail for around £20, and in this little kit you were getting three of those. I couldn't help myself and made an order.
Now as you imagine, I was worryingly excited for my palette to arrive (which it did in absolutely record time so kudos to Space NK for that one) and as soon as it did I was seen sat cross legged on my bed like an excited child on Christmas morning ripping into the box like a mad woman. I was initially pleasantly surprised when I took the box out as it looked much bigger than I was expecting. During one of the bloggers chats someone had mentioned how they'd received theirs and it was very, very small, however, as with most things this was a false sense of excitement due to the Russian Doll effect. The surprisingly big outer box actually contained quite a lot of other cardboard packaging, the travel sized brush and in the very middle of this, the proportionately teeny palette.
Now i'm not sure whether this is a criticism of the palette or not as you are still getting three shades that would ordinarily cost you over £60 to buy separately, however for it's £35 price tag, the 'fit in the palm of your hand' Narcissist kit did seem very, very small. I obviously wasn't expecting full sized pans of the products but I must admit that I would have expected them to be much bigger than they are. It's also a little bit cheeky (see what I did there?!) as the pans themselves are so small that any brush other than the travel one included with the kit swamps them which means that unless very careful, any other brushes tend to sweep across multiple shades, which for contouring is never ideal. The brush itself is a good quality and a handy size but honestly, I wouldn't reach for it over other brushes in my collection. It's handy to throw in my make up bag when i'm out and about. Now all of this could have just been a case of me not taking much notice of the size of it when I ordered so do take this with a pinch of salt. One of the only positives about the size of the palette is the fact that it is a good size for popping in my travel make-up bag when I'm off to Dans for the weekend.
Aside from the size issue, in terms of the products themselves, they are utterly fab. Super pigmented and exactly the kind of formulation that you want from a really good blush and bronzer. They blend well and compliment my skin tone, which I must admit was something that I was a bit concerned about with the Laguna bronzer in particular. Laguna in the pan does look dauntingly brown and just gave me visions of the overly orange 'trying to look tanned but ending up tangoed' looks of my early teenage years. When applied though, the 'diffused brown powder with golden shimmer' gives a gorgeous healthy glow, less Towie, more St Tropez, which is most certainly the look i'd prefer! I've been applying it either as a contour colour or lightly dusted over the areas of my face that would naturally catch the sun and it's definitely given me a little taste of glowy summer skin despite all this rubbish weather we've been having.
Similarly, Orgasm in the pan looks fairly bright. Described as a 'peachy pink with golden shimmer' it looks absolutely gorgeous on the skin. It's a hard push to get me to venture away from my holy grail Coralista blush from Benefit but we might have just achieved it with this one. It's a perfect all year round colour giving a really subtle but healthy looking flush to the skin, for someone as naturally pale as myself, its sometimes a bit tricky to find a blush that doesn't look clown like when applied but this one is absolutely perfect and the perfect partner for Laguna. It's such a pretty colour and while i'll always be a fan of the summery coral tones of Coralista, it might just have to take a bit of a backseat until the sun reappears in favour of peachy pink.
The highlighting shade, Devotee, is good, but of the three I wouldn't say I was massively enthused with it. It gives a really lovely subtle highlight, which works perfectly applied along the cheekbones and brow bone for a little bit of definition, but having been utterly devoted to MAC Soft and Gentle Skin Finish recently and loving the way it makes my skin look, Devotee was only ok in comparison. It is by no means a bad product, it gives a lovely and super subtle finish, but it wouldn't be the first one i'd grab from my make up drawer.
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| (Left - Right: Devotee, Orgasm, Laguna) |
Thanks for the handy review, I was tempted by this instead of the cheaper Sleek contouring kit, but at £35 for quite a small product I think I might wait for something better.
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