  Like walnut, stained oak, sombre mahogany ply or possibly wenge, (above). If you blended the tones in this grain to a solid colour, you'd probably end up with Deborah, at least as it appears in the tube.  | The best kind of gourmet hot chocolate is the sort of thing that Nars Audacious Deborah brought to mind once I had liberated it from the box. It's a true horse-brown, as in a bay or a dark liver chestnut. The image directly below is probably the most accurate I could manage without desaturating too far, because camera sensors just love to turn brown into red, as you can see in the sunset pic to the left there. Deborah isn't that warm, or at all red. Think dark fudge or bitter cocoa powder- emphatically brown.   The swatches tell the real story. They're taken in outdoor, slightly cool daylight because it lets brown be great, unlike yellow flash or indoor bulbs; I like to include a bit of surrounding stuff so you can gauge the conditions for yourself. But anyways- Deborah, my first Nars Audacious shade. The internets weren't lying when they raved about the formula; it's a silky low-to-medium-sheen satin with divine, matte-style pigmentation. The swatch is one darn pass! Look at the mind-bogglingly even colour deposition. Most browns turn freaky and splotchy when you try to work them with a brush but Deborah lets you do as you please. And so it bloody should for $60 NZ. Which begs the question- sixty effing dollars? |
Broadly speaking, you and I both know luxury brands are shamelessly jacking our discretionary and that's all there is to it. There isn't a lippy on earth we should be paying that kind of money for. But if you're asking if Deborah is $60 worth of lipstick within that outrageous context, then yes, to be fair, I got what I paid for. The packaging is solid and grown up, there is a decent amount of product, the quality is absolutely there and I could detect no objectionable characteristics. There is the slightest scent of ripped cardboard upon application (it's the waxes) but it doesn't last.
MAC Photo is yellower and more sheer. Deborah is far more editorial than grunge. It's more... modernist interior, if you know what I mean; in a word, sophisticated, and I'd go so far as to say a bit of gravitas is definitely required to wear it successfully, so probably not something for your tween niece, lol. It's a fully adult thing.
Brushed on thinly, Deborah yields a medium chestnut warmed by the underlying blush of your lips. This is much prettier than brown phobics might imagine and will read quite neutral on some deeper complexions. In fact, its refined tonality will make it useful to a wide spectrum of African and Subcontinental connoisseurs looking for something a bit more high-concept than your average beigey day shade.
Brushed on thinly, Deborah yields a medium chestnut warmed by the underlying blush of your lips. This is much prettier than brown phobics might imagine and will read quite neutral on some deeper complexions. In fact, its refined tonality will make it useful to a wide spectrum of African and Subcontinental connoisseurs looking for something a bit more high-concept than your average beigey day shade.
 | When worn at full opacity, Deborah returns to the sort of hardcore hardwood tone apparent in the tube, and in shade or at night can look quite off-black; there's definitely a moderate goth factor happening if the rest of your skin offers a high-contrast situation. I have a slight issue getting it to adhere to the inside-centre of my bottom lip when I slap it on like this, but it's not the worst offender in that way and it can be resolved with persistence. As far as wear goes, after a hot lunch Deborah is half-faded in an acceptable way and has bled very, very slightly Maybe because I've been on such an extremely red bender for the last year or so, or maybe it's the change of season, but I'm really feeling these browns at the moment. |
They seem so contra and insolent after so long in the fashiony wilderness. While everyone else is doing Dragon Girl et al (yawn), I'm all like, futuristic, yo. And haven't gotten any chocolate starfish jokes yet.
MAC Chili, Nars Deborah, MAC Del Rio, MAC Photo
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