NARS’ New Collection Pays Homage to Mr Nars’ Favourite Place

March 17 | 4 minute read

Words by Izzy Wight

As a child, French-born beauty legend Mr Nars spent many “magical summers” holidaying with his family in Biarritz, a bucket-list-beautiful seaside oasis on France’s Basque coast. “Its effortless allure and coastal beauty never fail to inspire me,” he said.

Once the chosen summer destination of actual royalty (Napoléon III and his wife Eugénie would vacay there in the mid-19th century), Biarritz is now known for being a) Europe’s birthplace of surfing, b) ridiculously picturesque and c) the inspiration behind NARS’ new Hot Escape collection.

With its chic summer crowd and rainbow of striped umbrellas dotted along the shore, it’s easy to see how Biarritz influenced François in this limited-edition release. A perfect ode to those famous umbrellas, the Hot Escape collection is housed in coastal shades of sunshine yellow, sea blue and coral pink. Cute enough to buy for the packaging alone – but it’s what’s inside that we really want to talk about!

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The collection brings together four shades (Light, Medium, Medium-Deep and Deep) in its Hot Escape Cheek Palette, a multitasking quad featuring some of NARS’ most-loved blush and bronzer shades. If you’re a regular traveller or just someone who likes to keep their makeup bag compact, this palette is the one. The matte and shimmer blushes add flush and dimension to the cheeks, Laguna Bronzing Powder gives just the right amount of sunkissed colour (you can also sweep over the eyelids for a natural-looking shadow) and an illuminating highlighter finishes the look for a lit-from-within glow.

Like the bleu (that’s French) waters of Biarritz, the Hot Escape Afterglow Lip Oils glisten under the sun. Unlike the Atlantic Ocean, they also nourish, soothe and come in four coastal-inspired shades – Wondrous, a sheer berry hue, Laguna, a deep bronze, High Life, a true glossy pink and the famous Orgasm, a peach shade with gold sheen throughout.

Finally, Hot Escape debuts eight shimmering new Total Seduction Eyeshadow Sticks. The ultra-creamy, transfer-resistant colour makes for the easiest warm-weather eye look – try Ablaze (a champagne shimmer) all over the lid with Mind Games (a deep burgundy) blended into the crease.