 | Even though I have no idea how I'm going to sharpen this little fatty, it is delicious, isn't it? EDIT: I just picked up the Nars sharpener and it's great, actually; problem solved.  Purchasing Walkyrie Velvet Matte pencil brings my Nars collection to a grand total of three, mainly because of the heavy overlap between this brand and a lot of MAC shades, with the latter already making up the bulk of my lipstick stable. Don't know about you, but at this price point, I can't afford (too many) dupes. Below- Lol, sorry about the scary fist; it was a panic response to all those beige-bunny neutrals. I ran off and ordered Mascate immediately just to kill the idea that I might start shaving my legs and wearing flesh coloured pumps. Ha ha ha... no. |
Okay- good v bad. First the good, namely: the colour. Chromatically, Walkyrie is difficult to characterise but here goes- caramel + the dust from an old terracotta pot mixed with antique tea-rose; more specifically, half toasty, half rosy. Relatively neutral-to-slightly-warm. Like MAC Del Rio, (which is darker and cooler) there's more than enough colour in this shade to lift it out of zombieface territory, leaving you with a mouth that is at once work-appropriate and sophisticated. So you look more like a boss than someone who photocopies their arse after a bump in the loo and two glasses of cheap white. I'm not saying the two don't overlap, I mean, they would if I was ever in charge of shit; lucky I'm an anarchist, eh?
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Walkyrie may not pack quite as much visual punch as its feminine namesake but the opacity and saturation mean it can still be quite a lot of look, so we're not talking shy, sheer or MLBB, at least on pale punters. Tanned girls might find it more of a regular-nudie sort of thing, but deep-dark ladies could possibly be dealing with a no situation. Personally, after test driving Walkyrie in my capacity as a virtual stranger to melanin, I'm really sold on this shade. It just sits so darn well on my face, complimenting everything, fighting with nothing. Redheads should get onto it immediately. If you're rocking more skin colour, I would choose MAC Del Rio for the same effect.
And now for the not so much bad as challenging: texture. I find Nars mattes lighter in texture than the general run of MAC, broadly speaking, and like one of my other Nars pieces, Terre de Feu, it goes on fine straight from the pencil. There is a faint honeycomb scent but it's pleasing. On the mouth this Velvet Matte formula is suede-like and absolutely sheenless and you know what that means; these sticks are much waxier and less 'fudgy' than the Pure Mattes, closer to the hard-wearing feel of one of the softer traditional lip liners than a lipstick, i.e. quite inert and pretty unforgiving. Applied with a heavy hand, they'll stick to every crack and peel and the degree to which that will bother you depends on the condition of your lips and your general matte tolerance. Put it this way- if you can't handle MAC Ruby Woo, I'm not sure Nars Velvet Mattes are going to turn that frown upside down.
And now for the not so much bad as challenging: texture. I find Nars mattes lighter in texture than the general run of MAC, broadly speaking, and like one of my other Nars pieces, Terre de Feu, it goes on fine straight from the pencil. There is a faint honeycomb scent but it's pleasing. On the mouth this Velvet Matte formula is suede-like and absolutely sheenless and you know what that means; these sticks are much waxier and less 'fudgy' than the Pure Mattes, closer to the hard-wearing feel of one of the softer traditional lip liners than a lipstick, i.e. quite inert and pretty unforgiving. Applied with a heavy hand, they'll stick to every crack and peel and the degree to which that will bother you depends on the condition of your lips and your general matte tolerance. Put it this way- if you can't handle MAC Ruby Woo, I'm not sure Nars Velvet Mattes are going to turn that frown upside down.
On the upside, after a sloppy cup of tea there's no bleeding at all and hardly any loss of colour, so top marks for stickability and that really is a fair trade-off in my opinion.
Having worn it for a month or so now, I'm very pleased/bordering on a bit obsessed with Walkyrie because it's such a confident, flattering shade, the kind of thing that can salvage your entire look even if you're suffering a case of ogre-face (everyone over thirty knows what I'm talking about and everyone under thirty will find out soon enough, lol). It has a cinematic, vintage quality and you won't see it on every second trick floating past. After getting a bit further into the pencil, the texture isn't close to being a deal breaker for me, and will probably concern only those averse to mattes in general. I think the leading end of these pencils may dry out in storage and provide a slightly inaccurate impression of their overall feel at first. Not too sure if any of Nars' current lippies are being retired in favour of the new Audacious lipsticks but you might want to keep an eye on the availability of your personal faves.
Having worn it for a month or so now, I'm very pleased/bordering on a bit obsessed with Walkyrie because it's such a confident, flattering shade, the kind of thing that can salvage your entire look even if you're suffering a case of ogre-face (everyone over thirty knows what I'm talking about and everyone under thirty will find out soon enough, lol). It has a cinematic, vintage quality and you won't see it on every second trick floating past. After getting a bit further into the pencil, the texture isn't close to being a deal breaker for me, and will probably concern only those averse to mattes in general. I think the leading end of these pencils may dry out in storage and provide a slightly inaccurate impression of their overall feel at first. Not too sure if any of Nars' current lippies are being retired in favour of the new Audacious lipsticks but you might want to keep an eye on the availability of your personal faves.
L 2 R: Nars Walkyrie, MAC Del Rio, Hot Tahiti, Taupe, Riri Bad Girl (LE) bright warmish daylight.
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