Review: NARS Lipstick 'Dolce Vita'

It's happened. 

I have officially found my holy grail lipstick. The perfect lipstick that has the most amazing combination of all things necessary to appease this self-proclaimed lipstick snob.  I'm a brat when it comes to my lips, but I've been willing to put in the time and effort it takes to make me happy. What makes me happy? A mix of color, moisture, and wear time. I've found the perfect blend in NARS 'Dolce Vita.'

This color is a perfect mauve and creates that awesome 'my lips but better' look for me. It is also so luxuriously silky that it kind of feels like I'm applying a balm upon application.  

Even though this color is quite glossy, it doesn't lack at all in color.  One swipe across my hand left this trail of pigment and as you can see, it swatches true to the color in the package.

Speaking of packaging, this lipstick comes in NARS' famous matte black packaging with simple white lettering:

The packaging is classy and looks nice, but beware.  The matte black rubberized plastic is a magnet for dirt and grime! This stuff gets dirty fast if you don't keep it safely tucked away in your purse and keep any dirty phalanges off of it!

This color is perfect for deepening up my lips enough to the point that you can tell I'm wearing a lip product, but its natural enough that it isn't distracting.  The color perfectly matches the darker pigmentation I have in my natural lip color so its fantastic for masking those small imperfections.  This is one of those lipsticks that I could probably apply with out a mirror if necessary due to the fantastic color and silky application.
Dupe Alert: MAC 'Twig'  This lipstick is the same exact color as Dolce Vita, BUT it is not the same finish or feel. It is a satin finish but I find it to be rather drying on my lips unlike the moisturizing effect of Dolce Vita. For this reason, Twig is only a color dupe and not a complete dupe for Dolce Vita.

This lipstick is a fan favorite from NARS and now I can see why. This is a product I'll definitely be repurchasing despite the hefty price tag. NARS lipsticks go for $26.00 for 3.4g of product. Compare that to a MAC lipstick that costs merely $15.00 for 3.0g of product, and you can see that this lipstick is definitely not easy on the wallet. For that reason, I don't think I'll be investigating too many other NARS lipsticks, but this one will have a spot in my makeup collection indefinitely!

xxSJ