NARS Tainted Love Set

NARS has made some fabulous sets this season, none nicer than the Tainted Love Set ($59). A $78 value, Tained Love will ignite your passion for pink. Angelika Lip Gloss pairs with a new, limited-edition Angelika Multiple to enliven your eyes, lips, and cheeks in a cotton candy hue with shimmering silver and gold sparkles. To coordinate, your nails make a statement with vibrant, shocking pink Schiap. An $80 value, Tained Love was irresistible - for me - and I don't usually wear nail polish. The Nail Polish going to a good home. I had to add the Angelika Multiple to my collection.

At left is a photo of each piece nestled in the packaging - before I pulled them out and started to play. These aren't mingy little samples - you get a lot for your money.

The Angelika Multiple and Lip Gloss are shown on my arm below right. My photo was taken in sunlight indoors. I applied both products directly from their tubes, and I did not blend out the Multiple.

You can see the pretty sparkles in the Angelika Multiple swatch at right. You also see some brilliance from the sunlight gleaming on arm, but there are definitely micro-sparkles in the color. Not too many - not enough to make you look like a disco ball - but they are visible. The Angelika Lip Gloss, part of the Spring 2011 Collection, is a gorgeous, cool-toned candy pink. It has a lot of pigment, which will give you color without lipstick underneath. Nice pinks!

I doubt I need to tell beauty mavens about the Multiple or NARS Lip Gloss. The Multiple is François Nars' original multipurpose stick for eyes, cheeks, lips, and body. I have just about every color. The Lip Gloss is an acquired taste. Once you acquire it, you'll find yourself acquiring a lot of pretty glosses!

Here's another shot (at left) with much less sunlight on my arm. Hopefully, you can see the richness of the girly-girl pinks. They are extremely flattering.

The Nail Polish coordinates beautifully with the Multiple and Lip Gloss. NARS Nail Polish is free of toluene, formaldehyde, and DBP. It still gave me a jolt of scent when I applied it, but that "unpleasantness" went away very quickly.

It's been a long time since I applied polish. I didn't stop because of the fragrance; I stopped because wearing nail polish was incompatible with gardening. NARS Nail Polish offers a long-wearing formula that provides a tough, durable chip-resistant finish and has added ultraviolet protection to prevent polish discoloration. Who knows? Maybe if I had tried it while I was actively gardening, I wouldn't have sworn off polish, which usually chipped on the first day I wore it.

Schiap is shown on my nail at right. This photo was also taken indoors in bright light. I didn't have any Scotch tape handy, so I painted a stripe on my nail (and removed it with Deborah Lippmann's The Stripper). That's one pass on my nail. It covers well, but you could add a second coat for more vibrant color. The polish is an elegant, glossy pink - guaranteed to draw attention to your hands - or toes!

What do you think? I love this set - even the polish (I have to remember to give it to its promised recipient). I bought my Tainted Love Set at Neiman Marcus, where it sold out the instant it arrived. It's also available at the NARS Web site and Nordstrom.



Photo at top courtesy of NARS