Sticky Nars Case? How To Clean It (Without Ruining It)!

A long time back (almost two years back, in fact), I made a post on how to clean a sticky NARS case. Basically, this involved the use of alcohol to remove the rubberized part that has disintegrated. While it worked, this method of cleaning the case results in any logos or printing on the rubberized surface being removed as well. So unfortunately NARS logos on the compact will be affected, if the part the logo is printed on has deteriorated so much that alcohol cleaning removes the print. However other brands that don't print designs or logos on the rubberized portion of the compact, like Smashbox or Becca, should be unaffected.

Thus, begins the problem - how does a girl with NARS products clean them, without removing the logo? That time, a commenter on my blog mentioned that using a silicon-based lubricant instead of alcohol to clean the casing helps to solve this problem. Then a brainwave struck - I may not have silicone lube, but I do have silica powder! And if the silicone is indeed the magic ingredient, then it shouldn't matter too much whether I get it in a powder or liquid form. Ergo, with my silicon powder, I should be able to de-stickify my NARS compact! So, I set to work.


First, I started off with a NARS case. This here is my NARS Tokyo Eyeshadow Duo. It's been cleaned to remove most of the debris and dust that was stuck to the case, but it's still very sticky to the touch. Yuck.


Then, I got out my secret weapon - silica powder! Mine is decanted into the MUFE HD Powder container, among others, but I really just get mine from Coastal Scents, and I get a huge bag for quite cheap.

I was worried I'd ruin my case even more, I won't lie. But I figured - hey, if it works, it's a great thing, and if it doesn't work, then, well, lots of things I've tried before haven't worked - water, soap, wet wipes, so this will just be one more on the list. So I began, rather cautiously, putting a bit of silica powder on the case. I decided I would go slow, and test a small surface first. So I started with the backside of the case (noone except me is going to see that part), and I rubbed some of the silica powder onto the case.


And then, I inspected my work so far, looking at the back of the casing. Not bad. It actually works! The case may feel a little powdery, but at least it's not sticky and gross anymore. Good thing I used silica powder, since that is transparent. If the powder was coloured, it might have coloured the case too! You can see the right side of the case (which was treated with silica powder) isn't sticky anymore, whereas the left side of the case (which hasn't yet had silica powder applied to it) is still sticky.


Emboldened, I finished powdering over the base of the NARS case. I waited for the world to explode. Nothing happened, and my NARS case was safe. So I put it on the front of the NARS case. And then I began spreading the powder evenly over the casing:


And viola! I had a non-sticky NARS case! And the logo is still intact! And it feels just like a new NARS case too!

The importing thing to note is that you have to remove as much of the debris from the case before you spread powder on it. Any remaining debris will get trapped when the powder is applied and show up on your finished product. I'm not sure how exactly this method works - I'm guessing the silica powder sort of absorbs the stickiness and forms a coating over the deterioriated packaging that restores it to its previous state. And I'm also not sure if you can use just normal powder. I used silica powder because the suggestion by a reader was for silicon-based lube, so it seemed like the right ingredient to use. I imagine some types of normal powder could just cause more dust on the casing, but I can't verify it until I try it out one day.


So there you have it - the most aesthetically pleasing solution I've come across for cleaning up a sticky NARS (or Smashbox or Becca) packaging so far! This doesn't remove the rubberized packaging unlike the alcohol method, and it won't wipe away your NARS logo that's printed on the packaging. I'm so glad the experiment worked out - I would have hated to ruin my NARS duo!

Dupe Search: Taupe Eyeshadow Comparison Swatches!

Woohoo! Don't you love it when I ransack my stash and do comparison swatches? What's more, these are swatches of taupes, glorious taupes! Now to be fair, these are just some of my taupes, definitely not all of them. It started when I reviewed the new Edward Bess eyeshadow single in Storm, and I thought - don't I already have these colours? So I looked through my stash, and dug out the colours that I thought would be most similar to Storm. So in other words, what you're looking at is just those of my taupe eyeshadows that I thought might have some semblance to Storm.



Here are the shades we're comparing today, in order:

1: NARS Belissima II (darker shade)
2: L'Orea HIP Electrified I (lighter shade)
3: MEMEME Beautifully You Eyeshadow Cafe 7
4: First Light Cosmetics Storm Grey
5: Bourjois Stretch Eyeshadow Brun Nylon 09
6: GOSH Glamorous Eyeshadow Grey Brown 7
7: Edward Bess Storm 07
8: Stila Cloud

Isn't it funny how many taupe eyeshadows that are numbered are given the number 7? And on another note, gosh, it's embarrassing how many taupe eyeshadows I've bought over the years of being a makeup fanatic. Anyway, here are swatches of all of them, in that order, with my thoughts on each of them below. By the way, the eyesahdow labelled L'Oreal Sassy is wrong. The duo is actually Electrified:



NARS Belissima II (darker shade) is the only true matte in the bunch, as the rest all have some sort of shimmer. This is a cool-toned grey-brown with hints of purple. Texture is decent, pigmentation is sheer but buildable.

L'Orea HIP Electrified I (lighter shade) is absolutely rockin'! Don't be fooled by the cheap plastic packaging or the drugstore brand - this is awesome taupe goodness. As you can see, it just stands out among my swatches. Its texture and pigmentation are also excellent, and it has a frosty finish that, depending on your preference, can be a good or a bad thing. I've actually reviewed the Electrified duo before and have even previously compared Electrified to a much more expensive Bobbi Brown Heather Mauve eyeshadow.

MEMEME Beautifully You Eyeshadow Cafe 7 is also another cheapy-but-goody. This is cheap, but good, and I really need to get around to reviewing this sometime. It's a brown-based taupe, and thus would be very wearable for warm-toned girls who find a lot of taupes pull purple or greyish on them. It also has slight shimmer, that for some reason isn't showing up in the photo.

First Light Cosmetics Storm Grey is another underrated gorgeous colour. Like Edward Bess's Storm and MEMEME's Cafe, it's a light brown-based taupe, only that it has more shimmer than either. Pigmentation and texture are also pretty good. An EOTD (Eye of the Day) with Storm Grey is available if you'd like to see more of this pretty little thing.

Bourjois Stretch Eyeshadow Brun Nylon 09 is not as similar to Edward Bess's Storm as I initially thought it would be. For one, it's less brown-beige-y and slightly more purple and grey on. They did look quite similar in the pan, however. Texture is good, and pigmentation is sheer but buildable. I've previously swatched Bourjois Brun Nylon before, and also once did an FOTD with it. My, that FOTD was just a year and a half ago, but I think I actually looked visibly younger then. And my photography skills back then sucked.

GOSH Glamorous Eyeshadow Grey Brown 7 is one of those I keep meaning to review, but never get around to it. No fault of the shadow, though. This one has the texture of baked eyeshadows (it comes in a round, hard dome), and pigmentation is sheer but buildable. It leans more grey than most of the other taupes featured here, and also has some sparkles in the eyeshadow.

Edward Bess Ultra Luminous Eyeshadow Storm 7 is a brown-based taupe. Honestly, compared to the rest of the taupes on my arm, it looks a little blah. But since it leans brown, it's less likely to pull purple or grey on warm-toned girls. Pigmentation was sheer, and not the best, but still buildable. Texture was also decent. I'm not going to say too much about this since I just reviewed it in the last post.

Stila Cloud is a taupe that pulls purple and grey, and has a frosty finish that makes it look silver, like how the L'Oreal Electrified taupe looks silver due to the frost finish. I actually should feature this sometime, I have had this eyeshadow since I first became a makeup junkie years ago and it's still with me...Brings back all the nostalgic times when Stila eyeshadows came in little paper pots, and when collecting Stila eyeshadows was the "in" thing of the day. Anyway, this one is cooler-toned that some of the other taupes, and is more purply-grey than some of the other more brown-based ones. It also has frosty shimmer, which some may like and some may not.

So here you go, eight of my lighter-coloured taupes! As a taupe junkie, I love all of these shades and I think they are all different enough to own all, although I'm sure not everyone would agree with me. They're almost like my babies! I hope this post was useful for some of you who wanted a comparison between some taupe eyeshadows.

How To Clean A Sticky NARS, or Becca Compact Case

Edited to add: It has come to my attention that this method of cleaning the case results in any logos or printing on the rubberized surface being removed as well. So unfortunately NARS logos on the compact will be affected. However other brands that don't print designs or logos on the rubberized portion of the compact, like Smashbox or Becca, should be unaffected. I have been told that using a silicon-based lubricant instead of alcohol to clean the casing helps to solve this problem. I've tried cleaning a sticky NARS case with silicone powder to good effect, do read the post if you're interested in an update!

Every girl who has had a NARS item for long enough will know that the sleek, rubberized NARS packaging will eventually become a hot, sticky mess - literally. The plastic starts melting and it basically becomes tacky goo that picks up a lot of dust and is sticky to the touch. And for some reason, it has been my experience that hot, humid climates tend to accelerate the degeneration of rubberized packaging. Often, when this happens, people resort to depotting (removing the metal pan from the plastic packaging). Fortunately, there is a fast and easy way to restore the packaging to non-stickiness that does not require you to depot.

NARS, of course, is not the only brand to use such rubberized packaging. After all, if it looks cool, everyone's going to do it. Smashbox also uses identical material for their packaging, and Becca uses something similar, so here, I'm going to show you how to clean up a sticky compact using a Smashbox case. As long as the material is made out of the same type of rubberized plastic material, this cleaning method will work.

Here is the before picture. You can imagine how sad I was to find my Smashbox eyeshadow trio looking like this:



Yes, it was horrific. It was gross, sticky, and everytime I touched it, my fingers would come off with gooey residue. It needed cleaning, stat.

Before I start, I'd like to mention that two of the more popular methods I've been seeing around - baby wipes and water - don't really work when your NARS or Smashbox case has disintegrated to this level. (Trust me, I've tried.) Both are good for cleaning off the dirt when the case is just dusty but hasn't gone sticky yet. However, once your case has degenerated and becomes sticky to the touch, neither method is particularly useful.

In order to clean your compact, you need alcohol. And I'm not thinking of booze, I'm thinking of isopropyl alcohol. If you're in the USA, rubbing alcohol is sold by the bottle, and it's relatively easy to get one. If you're in the UK or elsewhere, isopropyl alcohol isn't usually sold by itself, so you'll have to settle for surgical spirit, or a similar alcohol-based surgical disinfectant. It may not be isopropyl alcohol, but usually as long as its some sort of alcohol it will do the job. Just make sure the alcohol content is decent - I normally suggest 70% alcohol and above.

So, now that you've gotten your rubbing alcohol, all you need is a piece of tissue paper, and your sticky compact. Pour a little of the isopropyl on the tissue, and start wiping your compact:



You'll notice the alcohol will somehow remove the stickiness from your casing, leaving only behind a shiny plastic surface. It seems like the ispropyl alcohol somehow dissolves the top rubberized layer that was getting sticky, but left the underlying plastic casing untouched.

After a few wipes, this is what your new-and-improved NARS or Smashbox case will look like. Look ma, no stickiness!



However, there are going to be issues with this packaging that will make some people unhappy. For one, it changes the surface of the packaging. Before, the packaging was rubberized and matte in finish, but after cleaning, because the alcohol dissolves the rubberized bits, the casing that is left behind is a shiny black casing that's plastic but not rubberized. I guess this is how NARS, Smashbox and all the lot of them make those casings that look so cool - they get cheap black plastic containers, and coat them with some sort of rubbery material to get that matte finish. So it seems to me like it's the rubbery coating that gets sticky over time, not the plastic beneath it. Wiping the compact with alcohol removes that rubbery top surface.

Here, you can really see the difference. The container on the left has not yet been cleaned, while the one on the right was wiped down with alcohol:



I know some people dislike this cleaning process because they think it cheapens the look of the compact. That may be true, but if you ask me, I'd rather have a clean but shiny (if slightly cheap looking) than a sticky rubberized compact that grossses me out each time I touch it. Of course, it's all a matter of preference, but I've yet to discover a method that removes the stickiness without removing the rubbery layer. I'm hoping I'll eventually find one! But in the meantime, at least I can make sure that my NARS and Smashbox compacts can cleaned and usable again, without having to depot them!

NARS Tonkin Pure Matte Lipstick: Up Close and Reviewed

Last time I featured NARS, I swatched all the Pure Matte Lipsticks, so this time I'm focusing on the colour I ended up with - Tonkin, since I figured some of you would want to see what the matte texture looks like on the lips.

First of all, let me stress the teensy size of these things. If you're ordering online and can't check out the size of these things IRL (in real life), these things are tiny. They're the size of a slim lipbalm tube, and you get all of 2g of product.



I guess the tiny size is okay though, because when you apply these, you ideally shouldn't use too much. Actually, when the lipsticks were demonstrated on me, there were quite a few steps before the lipstick was actually applied. First they removed whatever I was wearing, then they put some moisturizer/exfoliater, then they applied a primer to my lips, and then they applied the lipstick. I think that in real life at home, that's way too many steps for me to take before I even whip out my lipstick, but I have to say that it did look good with all those preparatory steps.

So, I'm sure most of you are thinking at this point - I know I can get the model look by cleansing, exfoliating, moisturizing, and priming, but what would the lipstick look like on if I just swiped it onto bare lips, like I usually do? Well, fortunately I have no aversion to showing it like it is, so here is NARS Tonkin on my bare lips:



It does accentuate fine lines and any dry spots (as you can see from how gross my lips look), so I'd definitely recommend that you engage in some form of preparatory work as opposed to just slapping it on. Also, when applying the lipstick, remember to dab lightly instead of swipe heavily, to prevent the lipstick from looking cakey. The great thing about this is that it's so heavily pigmented that just dabbing on the lipstick will give you pretty good coverage. NARS definitely didn't stinge on the pigment!

I'm not too sure why all the bloggers out there are saying this is so moisturizing despite being matte, because while it isn't as drying as it could potentially be, it definitely isn't moisturizing. It just sat on top of my lips but didn't do anything, if you know what I mean. I guess that's good enough for a matte lipstick.

That said, I do love the colour of Tonkin, although it's texture makes it hard to work with. It's a gorgeous neutral pinky-brown, and although it looked brown in the swatches, it's actually very universally pretty on. I know everyone's all hyped up about Bangkok and Vesuvio, but seriously, Tonkin is the underrated winner of the bunch for me.

I know most of us, in our daily routine, wouldn't be able to spend all that time cleansing, exfoliating, moisturizing and priming before putting on lipstick. But we would be able to slap on some lipbalm before our lipstick. So this is how Tonkin looks with balm:



It does look better, but at the same time, it's no surprise that the balm detracted from the "pure matte" finish of the lipstick. I do think it's still wearable as a matte this way though. It's matte with a bit of a sheen, methinks, although of course opinion will be divided - some will think it's matte enough for them, while matte purists will scream that there's no way this can be considered matte. Ultimately, it all boils down to a matter of preference - some love the matte-matte look, some prefer it a little less harsh.

Wear time was pretty great on this one. It stayed on for as long as I didn't eat or drink, but unfortunately once food went into my stomach, so did this lipstick. I know a lot of people have been touting matte lipsticks as longer lasting than glossy lipsticks, but to be brutally honest, I'm not sure if that's the case. To me it's excellent, but it's not going to last past a meal. It was definitely better than a gloss, but I'm not sure if it functions like a stain.

So if you're reading yet another beauty magazine that has their pockets lined by NARS claiming how moisturizing this lipstick is, don't listen to them - they're obviously lying LOL. However, what I can tell you is that this lipstick has excellent staying power (as long as you don't eat), and that it is richly pigmented, and that Tonkin is a gorgeous, beautifully wearable shade. So if you're willing to try the matte lipstick trend, this is a great one to start with.

(This product was sent to me for review. As you can tell, this review is my honest opinion and I'm obviously not paid or compensated by the company.)

NARS Pure Matte Lipstick Swatches!

NARS has just launched their Pure Matte Lipstick, a set of six shades of matte lipstick. And when they mean matte, they aren't kidding - these are matte, like the 90's kind of matte. But whatever you think of the matte finish, the colour selection is excellent - there is something for everyone, and some of the deeper shades are obviously a nod to the dark, vampy and gothic lips trend for the upcoming Fall/Winter 2010 season. Despite presence of dark shades there is something for everyone here.

NARS claims that they have put moisturizing ingredients into the lipsticks to make them non-drying while still delivering a matte finish, but when I wore them, I did feel like they were a little drying. Not as drying as other matte lipsticks, to be sure, and probably less drying than some non-matte lipsticks I know, but they're not exactly hydrating, if you get what I mean. I guess for mattes, the texture is actually pretty decent.

If you're going to wear these, it's better to prep with some sort of primer or moisturizer beforehand. Also when applying the lipstick it's a good idea to dab the lipstick on lightly, instead of swiping it in heavy motions. The idea is to just use a little bit, because using too much can result in the lip looking cakey. When the lipstick was applied on me, the makeup artist used moisturizer, than primer, then dabbed on the lipstick in order to get that matte-but-still-luminous look that the model has in the pictures.

Here are the shades swatched on my arm:



L-R: Bangkok, Tonkin, Terre de Feu, Volga, Vesuvio, Tashkent

Bangkok is billed as a "soft rose" by NARS, but I think this one is probably going to be a nude for most of us, save the very fair. It's a pretty matte neutral pinky nude that is probably a lot more pink than nude. If you're really fair it will probably be a great MLBB (My Lips But Better) shade, but for the rest of us, it will probably work great as a wearable nude.

Tonkin is my favourite of the bunch - it was actually the shade I ended up with (so expect a review and lip swatch of Tonkin coming up soon!). This looks really blah and brown when swatched, and on the tube, but if worn lightly on the lips is a gorgeous neutral pinky-brown. Very wearable and very universal. I have no idea why NARS calls this a "cinnamon plum" because there isn't much plum in it, and it's not quite brown enough to be cinnamon. Trust me, the colour's better than it sounds, and I think this is one of the more underrated colours of the lot.

Terre de Feu is a "black cherry" shade, and another one I really liked. It doesn't look that dark in the swatch (because it's overshadowed by Volga), but this one is dark. It's a deep dark cool-toned rose shade, but not so dark that I'd call it blackened rose. It's pretty.

Volga is billed as a "deep aubergine", and I more or less agree with the description. It's a deep, dark plum, darker, cooler-toned and more purple than Terre de Feu. Volga is the kind of shade that's been gracing the runways for Fall/Winter 2010. This shade was probably created partially with the trends in mind.

Vesuvio is the shade that the model wears in the promo pics for this lipstick, and it seems to be the one getting the most attention. And I can see why, because it's a stunner of a shade. It's a bright matte red that's more or less quite universal (I do think it leans a tad warm though), and is well-described officially as a "full bodied red". Yup, that about sums it up.

Tashkent is rather boringly described as a "nude beige", and I guess that's more or less about right. It's a warm-leaning nude beige, and if I'm perfectly honest, it kind of reminds me of bandages? This is not my kind of shade, but someone else will probably like it more than I do.

These cost 18GBP for one 2g tube, which unfortunately makes them rather pricey by weight - ah, NARS sure knows that beauty doesn't come cheap! But if you're interested in getting them, they are currently exclusively available at Selfridges. They will be out nationwide in October.