NARS Audacious Lipsticks in Anna + Audrey

L to R: NARS Audacious Lipsticks in Audrey and Anna

I picked up these two NARS Audacious Lipsticks last autumn when the hype surrounding the launch of the new Audacious line was real. I then never got around to actually reviewing them because, you know, I moved to a new country, started a new job, etc. Excuses, excuses! One bonus that has come out of my blogging failures over the past year is that I've had plenty of time to wear both of these shades and to form some solid opinions about them!

NARS Audacious Lipstick in Audrey

Out of the whole collection, these two shades were the most appealing to me when I swatched them in store at Sephora. Anna is described as a smokey rose, while Audrey is listed as being a red currant shade. I can easily say that Anna is my favourite of the two. It is neutral enough to be worn to the office, but the colour is like nothing else I own. It has a really unique purple undertone to it, but it doesn't go so far as to start pulling fuchsia on my lips—which is a feat in and of itself. Audrey is also a lovely colour (much more appropriate for autumn/winter, though, so I'll probably not get much use out of it over the next few months) but it is far less unique. Bite Beauty High Pigment Pencil in Cranberry looks very similar to it on my lips, and I much prefer the formula of the Bite over NARS. Audrey also really benefits from the use of a liner—I didn't use one in the photo here, as I wanted to show its true colour, but it was hard to get a clean line around my lips.

NARS Audacious Lipstick in Anna

Hands down the NARS Audacious formula is one of the most opaque and pigmented on the market. You really only need one swipe to get full coverage. I find that they are a bit tricky to apply, though. Something about the gel formula makes them tug at my lip when I first start to apply the colour. And I don't find them to be particularly long-wearing, either. My Marc Jacobs Lip Crème in Je T'Aime (a fairly deep pinky red I reviewed here) lasts all day on my lips, whereas I find myself having to reapply the NARS shades every couple of hours. 

The most egregious sin of the NARS Audacious lipsticks, however, is that they are very drying on my lips! I don't have particularly sensitive lips, but these get progressively more uncomfortable and drying as the day goes on. By the time I take off these colours, my lips are in need of some serious hydration. That makes it a bit of a challenge to wear them two days in a row, which is a bit of a shame! For what it is worth, however, I think that Audrey is a bit more drying than Anna. 

L to R: NARS Audacious Lipstick in Anna and Audrey

Because of their drying formula, I probably won't be picking up any more of the NARS Audacious lipsticks (unless I decide to order the shade Julie, which is exclusive to the NARS website and either Barney's or Saks. Or it could be Neiman Marcus for all I know!) Anyways, there are so many beautiful lipsticks out on the market that unless you are super captivated by one of the shades, which I admit are gorgeous, I would personally pass on the NARS Audacious lipsticks. They are available at a variety of retailers, including Sephora, for $32.

Do you have any of the NARS Audacious lipsticks? Which shades are your faves? If you have any tips for how to make them feel less drying on the lips, please let me know below! And don't forget to follow me on  Bloglovin, Instagram, and Twitter!