My NARS Summer 2011 Makeover!

NARS Summer 2011 Promo Pic

While sitting here, stricken by a fairly nasty flu, I thought: how to make the best of this sick, lazy afternoon? Blogging, of course! I went for an extremely fun makeover yesterday afternoon and, despite my maladies, couldn't wait to share the details with you all here :)

The event I attended was a special promotion at Holt Renfrew to highlight NARS' Summer 2011 collection. As you can see by the promo picture above, this collection was characterized by tropical eyes, warm cheeks, and nude-ish lips. Assisted by a very friendly and helpful makeup artist, Sarah, I had my makeup done and arrived home with a bag of treasures:

My makeover haul!

I bought three items from the summer collection and, let me say, it was hard to narrow it down to three! I would have been happy to walk away with all of the new products. The first goody I picked up was an Eye Shadow Duo called Dogon, a mid-tone taupe with greenish-silver shimmer (which doesn't show up so well in the picture, but trust me, it's gorgeous!) paired with a shimmery black.

NARS Dogon Eyeshadow Duo Summer 2011

Dogon Closeup

The second item I bought was Powder Blush in Taj Mahal, a permanent item that made its way into the summer collection because it fit so well with the other products. It's a vivid orangey-tangerine shade with gorgeous (but not over the top) gold shimmer. It is VERY pigmented, so must be applied with a light hand!

NARS Taj Mahal blush

Closeup

The last item I bought was a new Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Bolero, a matte nude-melon shade.

NARS Bolero Velvet Matte Lip Pencil Summer 2011

So here's what I looked like before the makeover... I'm only wearing my normal base products (foundation, concealer, powder), brows, a hint of bronzer, mascara, and lip balm.

Pre-makeover: Base products and lip balm

And here's what I looked like after the makeover! For the eyes, Sarah used the three colours from the new Cap Ferrat Eye Shadow Trio (pictured below). She used the lightest, sea-foam shade all over my lid, then used the darker green and turquoise shades in the outer corner, crease, and on my lower lash-line to create a pretty mermaid-esque smokey eye. Then, using a liner brush, she lined my upper eyelids with the black shade from the Dogon duo. For the cheeks, she first applied NARS Powder Blush in Sex Appeal, a pale, nude peachy blush, and later amped it up with a bit of Taj Mahal over top. For the lips, she first applied Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Bolero and topped it off with NARS Lip Gloss in Giza, a shiny nude-peach colour.

Post-Makeover!

Made-over eye closeup

NARS Cap Ferrat Eye Shadow Trio Summer 2011

Closeup of NARS Bolero Velvet Lip Pencil + NARS Giza lip gloss

And here's a shot of what Bolero looks like without gloss on top. I love its pale pinky-melon hue, but I agree that it looks best with a touch of gloss on top, to add dimension.

Close-up of NARS Bolero on it's own (no gloss over top)

And of course, because I wanted to play with my new goodies right away, I instantly took out my purchases and added a few touches to my look. First, I applied the taupe shade from the Dogon duo in my crease, to add depth. Then, I added a bit more of Taj Mahal blush on my cheeks because I couldn't resist its bold, tangerine colour. When I first applied it I looked more clownish than cute, but after buffing it out with some translucent face powder, I thought it looked great! Finally, I added a touch of golden-orange gloss over top the Bolero lip pencil, to punch up the colour a bit. Here's the final result:

Post-makeover with my own tweaks added

Eye shadow closeup: NARS Cap Ferrat Trio with Taupe shade of Dogon in crease and Black shade of Dogon as liner

Ta-Da!

Thanks for reading, everyone! Let me know if you have any questions about the products or makeover process. Now I'm off for a flu-induced afternoon nap... Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz