Nars Lip Pencil in Rikugien and Cruella

I reviewed both Nars Lip Pencil in Rikugien and Cruella for a week. Each pencil was worn on top of a light application of ChapStick. These products were gifted to me from Sephora for my birthday as part of being a Beauty Insider. They came packaged in a cute cardboard box and the product is a bit larger than a traditional sample size lip product. These are not retractable lip pencils, they require a lip sharpener in order to obtain more product once you run low. I like the size and bulk of the pencils; they are easy to hold and a perfect size for throwing in a makeup bag. I also really appreciated that its easy to identify each color with the corresponding colour at the tip of the pencil.

Nars Lip Pencil in Rikugien

This is a mid-tone dusty rose-pink colour. The texture is described as a satin with what appears to be micro shimmers. On my deep completion and highly pigmented lips, I found this shade difficult to pull off because the colour payoff was not rich and intense. When I wore this colour it looked like I had nothing on my lips. There is a slight slip to the product which contributed to the product moving around on my lips. I definitely would not describe this product as moisturizing. Rather, I found that Rikugien sat on top of my lips and accentuated the dry patches. It transferred easily and as a result I had to  reapply it throughout the day.  Personally, this was not my favourite colour to wear. In my opinion, if I wanted the colour to show up on my skin tone I would have to fill in my lips with a lip pencil in a similar shade. I did enjoy the fact that this is a mistake proof shade; I literally could put this on without a mirror and not worry about colour going all over the place because the colour didn’t show up boldly on my skin tone. I would not reach for this product on an everyday basis because it doesn’t provide the look I am going for when using lip products.

Nars Lip Pencil in Cruella

This is a deep rich red matte lip colour. On my deep completion and highly pigmented lips, this was a dream to wear! The colour payoff is true; what you see is what you get in one simple swipe. It is rich, intense and a very flattering red to wear. When I wore this product it did not feel drying, I could purse my lips together and the colour did not shift. There was product transfer but the colour stayed true and bold. I needed to reapply this product once I finished eating lunch because it began to breakdown due to the oils in my meal. The texture of Cruella feels like silk; it is not moisturizing yet it isn’t a drying lip product either. I love this colour and it is a nice additive to my red lip collection.

Have you tried out these or any other Nars lip pencils? What was your experience with them?