My NARS 413 Bleecker makeover

           A blistering 95 degree summer day and a heavy traveling bag couldn’t stop me from making my way to the New York City NARS Flagship store on 413 Bleecker Street. It’s a makeup pilgrimage that any NARS devotee hopes to make. On my recent trip to New York, I finally had the chance to go to 413 Bleecker with my friend and fellow NARS enthusiast, Ponyo.

          NARS 413 Bleecker is nestled on a cozy street full of high end boutiques. A few steps away, you’ll find Marc Jacobs and BOOKMARC, Marc’s bookstore.  Further down the street, you’ll find other beauty boutiques, including Dyptique (absolutely gorgeous), MAC,  and L’Occitane.  It’s nothing like the madness in Midtown. Bleecker street has a neighborhood feel. The storefront was currently promoting the NARS Orgasm line (see below).

         When we entered the boutique, we were greeted by a heavenly blast of cool air. Next to the doorway, there was a black and white framed photo of Marcel, Francois Nars’ late French bulldog who was a well-loved NARS icon.  On the right wall, there was a small mantle displaying inspirational books on art, makeup, and film, including as Francois Nars’ own, and NARS candles as well.  In the center, there were a few small upright displays of recent collections, including NARS Orgasm, NARS Summer 2012, and the NARS Thakoon nail polish collection. On the far wall, there was long and breathtaking display of all the NARS colors you could possibly imagine. If I remember correctly, there was symmetry in the form of at least two iterations of the entire collection so there was room for everyone to play.  A couple screen monitors played the current NARS Orgasm promotional video with Ginta Lapina. And of course, here were artist stations and mirrors galore.

         Since Ponyo and I were overly enthusiastic about this trip, we were the first people to show up. The staff were nice and let us play around for probably all too long. I'm sure we were there for at least an hour, if not two! Even without appointment on a busy Saturday afternoon, Pierette, the boutique manager, generously made time to give us both makeovers. (Those of you who visited the NARS pop-up booth in the MAKE UP SHOW Chicago, may have met her!).
I have to say I loved the result. The image below is the face chart that she created for me. It's absolutely gorgeous. A work of art. I'm going to keep this memento safely tucked away in a plastic sleeve!

          When creating the look, Pierette asked me what I'd be interested in trying. I'm currently trying to build my NARS singles / permanent eyeshadow collection so I asked for a look with a red-toned brown eyeshadow. I had also wanted to try NARS Maldives Multiple and NARS Buenos Aires velvet gloss pencil for a while, so I mentioned that. You can see the result above, and read how to get the look below.

          I decided to keep my NARS Sheer Glow Foundation in Santa Fe on for convenience sake. Pierette cleaned up my existing eye makeup with NARS eye makeup remover, but kept my NARS Larger than Life Volumizing Mascara on. She applied NARS Smudgeproof eyeshadow base and dusted NARS Night Star, a glittery peach as a base color. (Apparently Night Star was a big seller in Chicago). She applied NARS Nepal eyeshadow, a rosy light brown, on my lids and blended in NARS Lola Lola, a red-tinged neutral brown. She finished by lining my upper and lower lashline with NARS Larger Than Life Eyeliner in Bourbon St., a dark plum-purple. I'd never reach for purple liner, but the richness of Bourbon St. combined with Lola Lola was beautiful. She finished with a simple application of NARS Maldives Multiple on my cheeks. Maldives is a lighter multiple, but it looked very pretty alone in combination with the eye. On the lips, she used NARS Buenos Aires Velvet Gloss pencil in combination with NARS Larger Than Life lip gloss in Gold Digger. Every last bit of the look was love. If you have any of these products at home, I'd definitely recommend trying to recreate it. I certainly will. I wish you could have seen Ponyo's face chart too. It was completely the opposite of mine with NARS Habanera eyeshadow duo on the eyes, but equally gorgeous.

           I certainly wished I could walk out with everything on my list; many of those items have been on my long term wishlist for a while now! However, I did limit myself knowing the NARS Fall 2012 collection is around the corner (it launches on July 13 at 413 Bleecker, lucky New Yorkers!). I purchased NARS Lal Mirchi nail polish from the NARS Thakoon collection. It was the one color I wanted from NARS Thakoon, but it happened to be the one color exclusive to the 413 Bleecker or online. It's of course more fun to buy it in store! NARS Chinatown is a NARS film noir classic and has been on my wishlist forever! Chinatown is the perfect deep red. Its availability on Sephora online is on and off, so I figured I should get it now for convenience and sentimental value. NARS Lola Lola was the product I indulged in from makeover. I don't have any red-browns in my collection since that's a color I'm getting into more recently. It's really pretty and I couldn't be happier to add it to my collection!

          So that's it! My dream of making it to NARS 413 BLKR became a reality and it was just as wonderful as I hoped. I owe a thanks to the staff who made it a wonderful experience and a big thanks to my friend Ponyo, without whom I'd probably never have made it there to begin with!!
 Thanks for reading! Have you been  to 413 BLKR? What NARS products are you loving now?

Love, Dovey.