NARS Power Matte Lip Pigment | Review, Swatches | By Georgia Grace

A new matte lip formula has arrived! The NARS Power Matte Lip Pigment ($26 for 0.18 oz.) is a lip pigment (that’s really the best way to describe it because it’s neither a lipstick nor a lip gloss) with a thin, initially runny, slippery consistency that spreads smoothly and evenly over the lips and in a few minutes dries down to a velvety, beautiful, insanely long-wearing finish. It comes in 20 shades, and I’ve got 17 to share with you today!

I am really pleased with the variety of colours that are in the initial line-up, and I would love love love to see NARS expand the range in the future with more options…particularly in the warm, coral department and in the light nude range. NARS states that you should shake each tube vigorously before opening and applying, in order to make sure that the pigments are evenly distributed in the matte base that they are suspended in. I also love the unique, pointed applicator, which is extremely helpful in precisely applying the initially liquidy pigment to the lips (especially around the outer line of the lips). In my testing, the longest I’ve worn these has been 14 hours, and by that time, every colour I’ve worn has been going strong strong strong. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if these could last comfortably for 24 hours. Even in the middle of my lips where it was starting to wear off from all the eating and drinking, it was hard to tell unless I looked closely because it left behind most of the pigments in a stain…this stuff is just crazy long-wearing.

And now on to swatches! In the first group are the nudes, mauves, pink and a bright red:

• Get It On: neutral beige nude
• Walk This Way: medium rose pink
• American Woman: medium rosewood pink-mauve
• Slow Ride: rusty, burnt sienna
• Save the Queen: medium mauve
• London Calling: medium-deep, mauvey purple
• Low Rider: bright, hot pink (more of a cool tone, less warm than in the lip swatch)
• Get Up Stand Up: bright, hot pink fuchsia (not warm coral like it appears in the lip swatch)
• Light My Fire: bright, tomato, true red (not nearly as orange-y as it looks in the lip swatch – definitely a bright, but true red)

Both of these are more cool in tone than they are reading in the swatches – especially Get Up Stand Up. Low Rider is a bright, hot, barbie pink – it has less warm yellowish tones than it does in the lip swatch. And Get Up Stand Up is a cool, bright, hot pink fuchsia…it is NOT a warm coral hot reddish pink like it appears in the lip swatch. I tried everything to get my camera to get an accurate photo, but it kept showing up like this – so I just want to make sure you are aware so you don’t end up buying it and then wondering why it looks so different than in the swatches!

^^ Like I mentioned in the note above, Light My Fire is not this orangey (I wouldn’t mind if it were though!). It’s a bright yet true red, not an orangey-coral red. 

Next up, we have the darker hues:

• Dont Stop: true red
• Starwoman: deep, slightly rusty red
• Give It Up: bright magenta
• Warm Leatherette: deep, rich magenta
• Under My Thumb: deep, raspberry red
• Rock With You: vampy, blackberry, wine red
• Done It Again: vampy, blackish-brown
• Wild Night: vampy, cool, blackish-purple

I absolutely love the formula of the new Power Mattes – as far as matte lip products go, these are as good as it gets. My favourite shades are Get It On, Low Rider and Light My Fire. There are 3 more shades that I didn’t feature here, one of which is available at Sephora (Paint It Black) and two more which you can find exclusively on NARS’ website here (Just What I Needed (nude), Just Push Play (deep, rusty red)). If you love matte lips that last forever, I definitely recommend trying out the Power Matte Lip Pigments!

xx Georgia Grace