 A big magenta carries the same mana as a classic red; assertive, trend-resistant and cross-seasonal. Few shades are as explicitly beautifying. It embiggens your eye colour and can even make a shitty dye job look better (I should know). Janet is magenta done right; a rich, vivid and joyous embodiment of all those good things.  I know what you're thinking. But I already have MAC Show Orchid and that's my pinky blue OG! Is it, though? The various Nars ranges have weaned me off many of my former MAC and UD favourites. I may be aging out of the latters' target demo but I'm also a lot more fucking discerning these days and all those trashy sentimental favourites seem to have lost much of their charm. It comes down to comprehensive quality. On the face, Show Orchid and her slew of UD equivalents look so shrieking, greasy and candied beside Janet. SO is more fuchsia, to be sure, but one is strong and the others are just... loud. I'm reminded of the difference between PJ Harvey and Courtney Love.  | I didn't realise just how many iterations of this deep magenta I already owned before buying yet another one. There is no end to my depravity.  At this point I should caution that it is ubermeta-awesome on the right face. Just like a bold red, fuchsia-magenta can veer hard into visual nails/chalkboard territory when it's smooshed where it don't belong. The more strident and less balanced the shade, the greater the potential for horror. A blue pearl ups the hazard level even further; MAC Violetta on just about anyone is a perfect example of this gruesome phenomenon.  Quality, bitches. Quality. I was fortunate to strike an overcast day to photograph this shade as direct sunlight blows it out of gamut. These pics are pretty accurate, recording the temperature shift away from pink with the change in light. Note the strong blue cast apparent in the bullet shot to the left there. This blue derives almost entirely in the pearl itself which is milled down to the kind of powdery nothingness that eliminates any gritty mouthfeel or impression of glitter, providing a moderate serving of violet duochrome over the true magenta base. It may be hard to imagine, but this is a relatively sophisticated look, rooted in the careful selection of the two adjacent shades- that vital thing other, lesser versions get wrong. |
Texturally Janet is a 90% opaque, medium-sheen satin which doesn't bleed, stays put and applies evenly straight from the tube. There's no caking or drying, two minor blights that knock points off the muddier, stodgier UD After Dark. My only real technical gripe is the typical Nars Audacious line's consistent skipping on the midst of my turned-out lower lip, but this shade will cover there if you take the time to drag it slowly over that area a couple of times.
We have Nars Janet (left) and MAC Flat Out Fabulous (Retro Matte) for comparison in the triptych below. Trying to get Janet's blue duochrome to show up without the sensor splitting it into glitter is next to impossible. The pic at far left if probably closest.
We have Nars Janet (left) and MAC Flat Out Fabulous (Retro Matte) for comparison in the triptych below. Trying to get Janet's blue duochrome to show up without the sensor splitting it into glitter is next to impossible. The pic at far left if probably closest.
And now for the caveats. If you can't werq much blue, don't take a punt on Janet hoping your lip colour might bend her in your favour. It won't. Also- magenta's ability to blow up one's defects needs consideration. This colour clashes horribly with my cheek capillaries and I have to correct that shit before we are simpatico. It's not a casual slap-on shade unless your skin is all dewy perfection and your undertones are unicorn-compatible.
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Many of us love magenta but need assistance if we are not to look unwittingly editorial. I've learnt some tricks. Most importantly- hide yo problems: go for a medium coverage foundation or at least take your time with a good concealer. If you really covet that low-information, freshly pissed-on in a fuck tape realness, by all means go hard with the ditchpig contouring and industrial highlighter. I can only advise against it. Related: magenta + asphaltic Instagram dirge-brow = mistake. Stick with a minimal, tightlined, mascara-heavy eye. If you don't have a truly appropriate blush to hand, don't just slap on a peachy random or you may discover there are worse things than looking a bit monochromatic.
Finally, don't succumb to the temptation to pencil a magenta outline, even in the utterly, inconceivably unlikely event your liner matches perfectly. In fact, wipe a fingertip lightly around the edge of your application or do the same with a transparent primer stick to blur it out a wee bit. Extra wearability is achieved just by taking down that margin contrast.
But whatever. I love Nars Janet. She can sit on my face any time.
Finally, don't succumb to the temptation to pencil a magenta outline, even in the utterly, inconceivably unlikely event your liner matches perfectly. In fact, wipe a fingertip lightly around the edge of your application or do the same with a transparent primer stick to blur it out a wee bit. Extra wearability is achieved just by taking down that margin contrast.
But whatever. I love Nars Janet. She can sit on my face any time.
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L2R all MAC unless stated: Russian Red, Nars Janet, Urban Decay After Dark,
Bite Beauty Beetroot, Girl About Town, Rebel, D for Danger
Bite Beauty Beetroot, Girl About Town, Rebel, D for Danger
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