Rave: NARS Cactus Flower

I’ve
had my eyes on Cactus Flower from NARS for such a long time (it must be about a
year now.) I finally caved in and bought it whilst perusing the NARS counter in
Liberty’s a few weeks ago.

It’s
a super bright orange-red with a strong gold shimmer that is simply stunning to
look at, but I imagine scares many people off at first glance.

As
soon as you swatch it, you can see that it’s a lot more wearable than it looks
in the pan, giving you a very natural, fresh look with something of a ‘glow’
(thanks to the shimmer!) You can build it up to achieve an intense red, but it
is easy to apply a sheer layer for everyday.

The
consistency is very much a cream-to-powder formula, so despite being a cream,
it can actually feel a tiny bit drying on the skin if you’re prone to dryness
but overall… it’s simply stunning.

Left: Blended, Right: Unblended

As
always from NARS, the packaging is divine. Yes, it’s gets a little dirty
looking after it’s been hanging around in your makeup bag for a while but I
still love it.

I’m
so happy I finally caved in to this one! I can imagine this will become one of
my make up staples of 2012.