Vibrant Blush Week #1: NARS Matte Multiple in Siam

Happy Monday, everyone! Welcome to the first installment of Vibrant Blush Week, where I bring you reviews of some of my newest, most colourful treasures! It's no secret that I'm a blush fiend through and through, and that going slightly overboard with cheek colour is one makeup sin that I'm happy to commit. I've accrued a few new bold blushes over the past little while, so I'll be showcasing them all week on the blog. Hope you enjoy! 

Today's post features a makeup item that shot to the top of my wishlist the first time I read about it. The brand spankin' new NARS Matte Multiples caught my eye instantly, as the texture, pigmentation, and versatility all seemed to be spot-on. While the entire range of shades was tempting, I fell hard for Siam, a vibrant red. 

As the box describes, the Matte Multiples are a "modern multi-purpose makeup stick for cheeks and lips". They can be used dry for a more opaque, saturated finish or applied wet for a sheerer, more subtle effect. 

And here's a peek at the ingredients, if you're interested:

The Matte Multiples, as with their original incarnation, come in matte, black tubes with the iconic NARS logo. They are fairly weighty, but not so much so that it hinders their portability. This is the perfect product to pop in your purse! And yes, the packaging does get messy quite quickly (a downfall of most NARS products), but if you can come to terms with that, you won't be disappointed! :)

Here's a shot of Siam, twisted up a bit. As you can see, in the tube it's a bold, warm, full-on red that rivals the look of most pigmented red lipsticks out there:

When applied full-force on the skin, it maintains its truly red hue. Incredibly vivid! But when blended out, it takes on a softer tone that resembles more of a warm, rosy coral. It's actually a very wearable shade once blended!

Here are swatches of Siam on my inner arm (MAC NC15 skin tone). On the left, you'll see it applied at full strength. The next two stripes show it at increasingly more blended states. The right-most swatch shoes the effect of the blush applied with slightly dampened fingers:

Siam applied (L-R) heavily, blended slightly, blended thoroughly, with damp fingers

And now to showcase what it looks like on my face! Here it is applied with damp fingers. As you can see, the effect is very soft and glowy!

And here is Siam applied a bit more heavily, with dry fingers. Definitely a bolder effect! It does make my cheeks appear a bit sun burnt, but simply a touch of powder over top tones it down nicely. 

Here is Siam applied generously to my lips (please ignore the chappy bits!). I adore the way this looks a lip colour. It leaves the most beautiful rosy red stain that's neither flat, nor greasy. I almost hate that I love this on my lips, as that makes it a bit of a cheat on my Lipstick No-Buy challenge. Whoops! I did buy it primarily as a blush, though :)

And finally, Siam in the context of a completed makeup look! As I mentioned, I'm wearing it applied wet all the way up my cheekbones, dry on the apples of my cheeks, and dabbed heavily on my lips. 

I find Siam to be such a perfectly summery shade and I love the way it looks in natural sunlight! 

Now for a full breakdown of the ups and downs of this product!

Pros

• Rich, saturated colour. A little goes a long way!
• Blends effortlessly onto the skin, even over foundation
• Wet or dry application lets you adjust the level of pigmentation
• Modern matte finish; perfect for those who are shimmer-shy!
• Wears beautifully on both cheeks and lips!
• Should work equally well on both fair and darker complexions
• Handy, portable packaging

Cons

• Begins to fade after 5-6 hours (luckily this does touch-up nicely)
• Can be a touch drying on the lips (a dab of lip balm before or after solves this)
• At about $50 CAD, this is no budget buy!

So, as you can tell, I'm pretty happy with this product! It was at the top of my wishlist and it surely didn't disappoint. The formula is incredibly easy to work with and the shade is so spot-on, especially for Spring and Summer. I really have a soft spot for products that look terrifyingly bright in the packaging but are actually quite pretty and wearable on the skin. This fits that bill perfectly!

I hope you enjoyed the first installment of Vibrant Blush Week- next up, an offering from Hourglass!

Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful week :)