A few weeks ago we talked about the new NARS holiday collection, based solely on the photos and descriptions from the NARS website. I was so excited for this collection and had been anxiously awaiting this release.

Well, friends, yesterday I finally had the opportunity to view the collection in the store, and I have to admit that I'm underwhelmed (which is so rare when it comes to NARS and me. We usually get along). Half the collection I loved, and the other half, well...read on.

Click here to check out my hits and misses>>

HITS

• Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Bettina is a perfect pinky-nude and a staple for creating a natural matte mouth. My previous evaluation holds true.


• Nomad and Lili Marlene Cream Eyeshadows are lovely. Nomad is a shimmery olive and Lili Marlene is a deep slate grey with no shimmer. Both are unique and beautiful. Use them with Urban Decay Primer Potion to prevent creasing.

• Rose Birman lip gloss is a sheer cranberry that I'm liking more and more as the week goes on (as of this morning, I was still on the fence about it). Unlike a lot of the berry shades out there, this one doesn't have a blue undertone in the base, so it stays nice and warm.


• Albatross Highlighting Blush Powder is absolutely stunning; it's pale, nearly white, with a gold iridescence that's glowy without being glittery. I love this for cheekbones, inner corners of eyes, and browbones.

MISSES

• Hindu lipstick is a rare misstep for a NARS lipstick. It's so pretty in the tube - shimmering ruby - but when I tested it, it just looked dirty. It's not that there's too much brown, but the particular brown in there is muddy.


• Moon Fleet lip gloss is a pretty, gold top coat, but the gold glitter particles are too large for this gloss to be elegant. It is just too MUCH.


• Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Walkyrie. On the site it looked like a gorgeous coral-red, but in person it is a boring, flat terra cotta with too much orange in the base.


• Belly Dance eyeshadow quad...what can I say? The photograph most certainly lied. This was what I was looking forward to the most out of the whole collection, but in person it is not what it seems. The green is far too bright and shimmery to work on most complexions, and the aubergine has quite a bit of red in it, so it has the same problem. This might give a great pop of color to darker skin tones, but on anyone else, I can't see it being very wearable.

Have you tried out the holiday collection? What do you think?