Review of Nars Pure Matte Lipstick Carthage
By Contributor: Samannita
So finally I raise my standards a bit from MAC to NARS..yes the addiction to try high end brands is making my bank account zero but it feels like bliss. While ordering my first Nars lipstick I was a bit excited and at the same time was a bit afraid as I didn’t want my expectations to get hurt plus whether spending so much of money on a lipstick is a wise decision or not. But being a new customer I got some discount so I took the risk to try it out. I got my parcel within 2 and half weeks of ordering it, pretty fast I must say. Narsssssssss!! Yayyyyyyyyyyyyy, finally my first lipstick from NARS in Shade Carthage has just arrived all over from Sweden through Strawberry.net and I will review and swatch it today.
Nars Claims:
- This extra rich lipstick provides bold color
- Glides on effortlessly with comfortable wear
- Long wearing for hours
- Contains wild mango butter for super moisturizing benefits
- Keeps lips soft & smooth, while repairing dryness & scaling
- Enriched with vitamin E & Açai oil to fight against free radicals
Coming to the packaging, the lipstick comes in black slim case with twist up style. The packaging is little bit similar to Faces ultimate pro lipsticks but NARS printed on the lipstick tube makes all the difference I guess. The lipstick is paraben free so thumbs up for this.
The texture of the lipstick although claims to be matte but I found it creamy matte which doesn’t let your lips dry and at the same time gives full coverage. And the lipstick glides smoothly on lips. Being slim in packaging the lipstick is just perfect for applying on thin and thick lips as one can apply it with much ease , I personally sometimes skip lip liner as the lipstick does that job perfectly on my lips.
The shade Carthage is a bright fuchsia pink which can be worn mostly at night or on a date! It suits Indian skin tones quite well.
The lipstick has no smell at all so another thumbs up for this. I have to confess that although it is matte but after having heavy meals, it hardly stays on my lips which means it is very easy to remove and when a lipstick is very easy to remove atleast I don’t consider that lipstick to be true matte at all. So in my terms it is creamy matte but not pure matte.
The staying power of the lipstick is just like MAC means 5-6 hours. The only problem I have with the lipstick is its medium pigmentation so one needs to swipe it multiple times to get the actual shade
Swatches in natural light
My lip swatches with it
Good points of NARS Carthage Pure Matte Lipstick:
- Nice attractive packaging
- The shade is nice, bright and bold which will suit from fair to medium Indian skin tones
- The staying power is 5-6 hours.
- Slim lipstick thus easy to apply on lips.
- The texture is creamy matte so it glides so smoothly on lips.
- Doesn’t bleed or feather.
- No smell.
Bad points of NARS Carthage Pure Matte Lipstick:
- Very pricey.
- Availability is an issue in India in most cities.
- Medium pigmented so I’ve to swipe 3-4 times.
- Hardly stays after heavy oily meals.
Price: Rs.1815 but I got a discount so costed me Rs.1784
VNA Rating: 3.5/5
My recommendation: NARS Carthage Pure Matte Lipstick is a bright fuchsia pink. I know people expectt Nars to get a 5/5 rating but trust me I found that this particular lipstick doesn’t live upto my expectations keeping in mind the price I spent. So it is good to invest in a MAC rather than Nars as quality wise I think Mac wins. Still I now Nars is Nars just like Mac is Mac!
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