If you’ve read a beauty blog or watched a beauty YouTuber in the last month you’ve probably heard of the NARS Audacious lipsticks.  You have probably also heard that they are absolute perfection. You may have even been convinced that you NEED these lipsticks in your life (I was! I’m impressionable like that). Now that I’ve had this lippie for a few weeks, I’m feeling a little underwhelmed to be honest.

Before I explain why, here are some pictures!

Let’s start with the stats:

• $32.00
• .14oz/4.2g
• Sold at Sephora or the NARS website

My experience with this product:

This applies as a satin finish and is almost completely opaque in one pass over the lips. It did not settle into my lip lines and it did not bleed. The texture reminded me a bit of the Rimmel lipsticks (the ones by Kate Moss), there was almost a slightly gritty texture at first and it didn’t feel particularly creamy or smooth once it was on.  It felt light weight and comfortable for the first 30 minutes of wear time. For me, at the 30 minute mark, the edges of my lips start feeling dry and a little itchy. Typically if I’m wearing a lipstick that is incredibly drying I notice it on the inner portion of my lips first so this is a bit odd. Within the first hour, any shine that was initially visible has faded for the most part and while the color itself has faded a bit, it is still visible, so not totally worn away.  One of the big things that I’ve heard over and over is that this line of lipsticks doesn’t leave a ring around your lips but for me it does. Obviously, everyone is going to experience something a bit different depending on a number of different factors.

My biggest disappointment with the Audacious lipstick is the comfort of the product. Initially it’s quite comfortable (although, it doesn’t feel luxurious and I think that for the price it should) but very quickly it becomes very dry feeling.  Like a super drying matte lipstick but without a matte finish. As soon as I reapply, everything is copacetic for about 20-30 more minutes at which point, my lips start feeling like a good gloss would be nice. On the plus side, this never once made my lips LOOK dry so that’s good. It also didn’t leave my lips wrecked. They were a little dry after an entire day of wearing Anita, but not incredibly chapped. I was expecting them to be so that was a surprise.

So I’m going to sum up in bullet points because I can. And because bullet points are cool.

Pros:

1. Opaque color
2. Nice shade range within the line
3. Magnetic packaging which is always snazzy
4. Anita is a really pretty shade that I will get a lot of use from
5. Doesn’t ever get patchy

Cons:

1. High price tag
2. Smells like lipstick
3. Tastes strongly of lipstick
4. Not a smooth consistency
5. Feels dry during the majority of wear time
6. Does leave a bit of a ring around the lips (to be fair, this sort of thing is sometimes shade specific and may not be true of other colors in the line. With this shade it isn’t particularly noticeable on me, but I’m aware of it because I can feel the product lingering on the edges of my lips in an uncomfortable way)

In all actuality, I feel kind of indifferent to this product. I don’t think it is worth the hype that it is getting but I’m sure I will get a lot of use out of the shade that I own although, I will likely have to wear it with a gloss to increase the comfort level.

I hope this review was helpful and coherent (it might be very confusing actually…it’s been a long week and my brain is getting ahead on the Halloween business and is going into full zombie mode).

Please keep in mind that just because I’m not a fan of this, doesn’t mean that it won’t necessarily work for you. In the same vein though, just because everyone else is loving something, doesn’t mean that you will! Life just likes to make things interesting that way! 🙂