In my Five High End Products post I told you that I am totally LOVING my new NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella. Now that I’ve had several chances to wear it, it’s time for a full review!

NARS Cruella is a chubby lip pencil.  The packaging is pretty standard – there’s really not much to say about it.  This is a pencil you sharpen – not a twist-up. It seems firm enough that I won’t have trouble sharpening it, but I haven’t needed to yet, despite wearing it several times.  (As a side note, I use the Urban Decay Grind House pencil sharpener. It’s $10, which seems a bit pricey for a pencil sharpener, but it works beautifully on all my soft and creamy pencils.)

The texture of the Velvet Matte pencils is different from other lip pencils that I’ve used. It’s not quite dry, but it’s certainly not glossy either. I can understand why they call it a velvet matte – I would describe the texture as soft and velvety.  It’s very creamy, but has a matte finish.

cruella

This is incredibly long-lasting; it might even beat out my beloved -->Sleek Pout Paints --> as the most long-lasting lip product I own.  When I wore it out to dinner, it lasted through sushi, salad (with oil-based dressing), and champagne fairly well; it faded a bit, but didn’t smear, smudge, and the fading was even so it still looked good. When I accidentally fell asleep in it, I woke up the next morning with perfectly-applied red lips. The wear time is just plain fantastic.

Cruella is, for my coloring, a really perfect true red.  The NARS website describes it as a passionate scarlet red, and I can get behind that description as well.

cruella

Overall, I really love this product, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a long lasting, matte red lipstick!

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