NARS and Urban Decay lip pencil swatches

It's the time of the year for bright and light lip color, and I'm trying out a fun new way of applying them. I first bought one of NARS lip pencils/crayons a year or two ago (can't remember).  That was a matte pencil.  This year they came out with their satin lip pencils, and they've been very popular.  Almost everyone I talked to loved Yu, their bright pink one.  Since I already had several bright pink lipsticks, I told myself I didn't need more, so I bought another matte one in a dark pinkish-red (Never Say Never, the name of a classic 80's song by Romeo Void).  It was a nice color, but a little drying. Easy enough to remedy - I just put lip gloss over it.  But the idea behind these is that it's an all-in-one product, it should be good enough by itself.  So I decided to experiment with a Velvet gloss one named Baroque (a sheer brownish-red), and a Satin one in a dark fuschia named Luxemborg.  

Never Say Never matte lip pencil  taken on my iPhone and pretty blurry

Never Say Never matte finish pencil (see above also)

Nars Baroque, a gloss finish pencil, and Luxemborg, a Satin finish pencil

NARS Velvet Gloss lip pencil in Baroque

And of course, I broke down and bought the bright pink Yu.  It's the bottom swatch on my hand.

NARS Satin finish in Yu (sorry, another phone photo.  So hard to focus it on yourself  AND click the button while holding the phone!

And then I saw that Urban Decay had similar "fat pencils" that were $6 less than the NARS ones, so I bought 2 of those to compare.  The Urban Decay ones don't come in the different varieties of finishes (yet).  They're all "super-saturated high gloss" finishes.  It takes a minute bit more force to put them on than the NARS, but that's about the only difference in application.  They're a little tackier than the NARS Velvet Gloss ones in texture.  They both look fabulous.  I am crazy for these lip pencils!!  So easy to put on, and such gorgeous colors.  The photos below show a NARS Velvet Gloss pencil on my top lip and an Urban Decay one on the bottom lip.  The colors aren't meant to be similar - the top one is darker.  But look how luscious they both make my lips look!

NARS Baroque Velvet Gloss pencil on top lip, Urban Decay Love Child pencil on bottom.   Same for the next 2 photos.

Here are swatches of 3 of the NARS pencils and 2 Urban Decay pencils:

From left to right, COUNTER-clockwise:  Nars Gloss Baroque, Nars Satin Luxemborg, Nars Satin Yu, Urban Decay in Crush, Urban Decay in LoveChild

And here's a look at Urban Decay's bright pink, Crush, on my lips.

Urban Decay lip pencil in Crush

Another thing to note about the Urban Decay pencils is that some have metallic in them, making them extra-pretty.
Now, the few downsides to these other than price.  First, I find them harder to apply without a mirror than regular lipstick.  First, the line you are drawing is thinner, and therefore has to be more exact, and second, I've been putting on lipstick for decades, so it comes more naturally.
The second downside is the need for sharpening the pencils.   The Urban Decay ones seem to need sharpening more often, probably because they're glossier.  I used Lovechild only two times before it needed sharpened.  And that's not "it would be better if sharpened but it still is usable".  It was a "I can't use this again until I sharpen it."  Not a big problem at home, but what if you're out.
Those negatives aren't so bad that I won't buy the pencils (I have ordered more already), but I will think about how sharp they are and how long I'm going to be out before I choose to wear them.
Overall, I really love them, and I highly recommend them.  Buy one!  Or all of them!  You'll be glad that you did.
They're available at Sephora, at each company's web site, and possibly at other stores  (Nordstrom online has the NARS pencils)..