40 days and 40 Nights of Beauty Cult Classics
Day 24, Nars Dolce Vita Lipstick by Leah aka Griffie

When Annie asked me to write about Nars Dolce Vita for forty days and forty nights I had to say yes. I love a good lipstick, and Nars is my favorite makeup line. Nars is particularly well known for its matte red lippies, which will be discussed briefly and for two cult classic “lippie” colors, Gipsy and Dolce Vita.

I have seen Dolce Vita (DV) described as mauve, red, and pink. To my eye Dolce Vita is a warm, corally, fleshy pink. The Nars website describes it as “dusty rose”. DV is not an exciting color, but it is a work horse, a no brainer, an "I look this beautiful naturally" color. It is a sheer color, with no shine, distinguishing it from its color twin, Clinique Guava Stain. I have yet to meet the girl that DV does not look good on.

Dolce Vita wears through several cups of coffee, which I find to be satisfactory wear, it only takes a second to touch up after all. In my experience it is not drying, but it is not particularly emollient either. So if your lips are dry, put on a bit of chapstick first. When DV wears it wears evenly. Nothing bothers me more than visible lip line (vll). Seriously, when I see those little lipstick rings on women it is all I can do not to pass them a jar of Vaseline. VLL is an epidemic, but that is another story for another time.

Packaging is the typical Nars packaging. I tend to agree with everyone else that the matte black rubber is beautiful at first, velvety and soothing. However, it is a dirt magnet, and the matte finish wears off and the casing starts to look like it is in the peeling stage of sunburn.

Now, I said I would touch on Nars’ red lippies. The Nars matte reds are cult classics in and off themselves. They are part of what I call the Viva Glam revolution, remember the RuPaul ad campaign? Nars makes some of the best reds in the style of Viva Glam, but I find the look to be a little tired at this point so…

Dolce Vita is a classic because it works for so many women. It is easy to wear, and always looks appropriate. In the tube it is not a life changer, but once you have it you will never be without it. It adapts itself to a variety of blushes and eye shadows. It is the cashmere hoodie of the lipstick world and every girl should have a cashmere hoodie.

Disclosure: This product was purchased by the reviewer, Griffie.