Nars Pure Matte Lipstick in Terre de Feu, Swatches and Review

Nars recently came out with the Pure Matte Lipstick line. The advertisements are actually all over NYC, and problems with the (glossy??) presentation aside, this lipstick is pretty damn awesome. This is a legitimately moisturizing matte lipstick. Whoa, right? When is matte ever synonymous with moisture? Well, Nars really did it. Pure Matte isn't actually the most moisturizing lipstick out there, not by a long shot, but it's definitely the most moisturizing matte that I've ever found. I've long been a fan of the Velvet Matte Lip Pencils, and this formula definitely beats it.

As for the other aspects of the formula, it's a total win. Pure Matte is extremely long lasting, and totally smooth in application. I don't even need a lip liner to make this lipstick look totally bold and perfect. And talk about pigmentation. A little goes a long, long way. One tube of this lipstick could seemingly last a life time. Even though the pigmentation is through the roof, it doesn't get everywhere, it stays on the lips without a much transfer. I kind of really love the matte lip look, and it's super exciting to find such a great formula. I hope Nars releases more colors, like maybe a matte hot pink. Though it might be a little out of even my comfort zone, I might have to try the deep eggplant color that supposedly limited edition for Fall 2010.

Below is a swatch in full sunlight. Ah, mattes are so ridiculously easy to photograph. Maybe I'll only review matte things from now on, and have nothing but accurate, beautiful swathes...

I bought Terre de Feu to emulate a certain J Crew look. This is the effect that I was going for: in the November J Crew catalogue, the below model was rocking this awesome berry red color. Gazing at these pictures, I went wild with lemming, and I knew I had to reproduce it. I have absolutely no idea what the color or brand of the lipstick is in the photo shoot, but J Crew has been using a lot of Nars products lately (they've recently featured Nars Lipstick in Funny Face), so Pure Matte in Terre de Feu probably isn't that far off. 

Photo credit: J Crew (obviously)