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Some products sell well. A very small number end up in the beauty history books. This is the story of the one with the most famous name in makeup.
Beauty products come and go. NARS Orgasm has been a common thread running through our lives. It’s probably the one beauty product we’ve all bought at some point. It’s the hardworking favourite of makeup artists and beauty editors. And it’s the blush mothers buy their daughters before prom, and that grandmothers still send someone to the counter to restock.
I’m no exception. Orgasm was the first blush I ever bought. I was 13, it was 2008, and I was on my first trip to the States. NARS was all the rage, and I came home with Super Orgasm: the glitzier, extra-shimmery version, with a name that was not remotely age-appropriate.
It was one of my most prized possessions. I wasn’t allowed to wear it out of the house, so I spent hours at home doing my sister’s makeup and my own. The rest of the time, it sat on full display on my desk, like the trend symbol it was. Part of the thrill was that you couldn’t just buy it. NARS didn’t launch in Norway until September 2018. Until then, Orgasm was something you brought home in your suitcase. I kept mine well past its expiry date. I couldn’t bring myself to throw it out.
Almost two decades later, it still has a spot in my makeup bag. Here’s how one little blush with a very naughty name ended up in the beauty history books.
First came the name
Most cult products start with a colour. Orgasm started with a word.
François Nars trained at the Carita makeup school in Paris and made his name in New York in the 1980s, working with the big magazines and designers. In 1994 he launched 12 lipsticks at Barneys New York. Five years later, in 1999, came the blush that would put NARS on the map for good.
“
I actually first created the name, then the shade. I wanted something shocking.
François Nars, to Allure, 2019
According to the brand, he kept a running list of names about pleasure and passion. The logic was simple: a natural blush comes from emotion, so a blush should be named after one. Orgasm was one entry on that list. The peach-pink powder with gold shimmer was created afterwards, to live up to a name that had already been chosen.
It worked. Nars has said he never imagined Orgasm would get as big as it did. He has also said the name was the point.
“
I want people to remember the names, and you can’t forget this one.
François Nars
He was right. Ask anyone who has ever set foot in a Sephora.
The legend
NARS Orgasm Powder Blush
Peach-pink with a fine gold shimmer. The blush that started it all.
Shop at SephoraThe shade that changes on every face
A cheeky name gets you noticed once. It doesn’t keep you a bestseller for almost 30 years. The shade does that.
In the pan, Orgasm looks a bit alarming: coral-pink, flecked with gold. On the cheek, it melts into something much softer, more lit-from-within glow than glitter. The trick is the balance. It sits right between peach and pink, with a fine gold shimmer running through it.
That balance is why it works on so many skin tones. NARS’s director of US artistry, Niko Lopez, explains it like this: on fair skin it reads pinker and fresher, on medium skin the peach warmth comes through, and on deep skin the gold catches the light. He doesn’t even love the “universally flattering” label. As he puts it, “it’s less that one shade suits everyone and more that the shade shifts identity depending on who’s wearing it.”
The fan list speaks for itself. Kim Kardashian has called it her all-time favourite blush, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas named it hers back in 2011. NARS says one Orgasm product sells somewhere in the world every 20 seconds. And our favourite bit of trivia, from The Guardian: the amount of Orgasm sold in a year once weighed as much as a Lamborghini.
The newest fan is also the newest face. In December 2025, NARS named Kaia Gerber its global brand ambassador, and François Nars shot her first campaign himself. Gerber’s own Orgasm story sounds a lot like mine: she asked her mum for the blush when she was 12, and grew up in what she calls a “Nars Orgasm blush household” (Harper’s Bazaar India).
From one blush to a whole empire
One blush became a franchise. Orgasm is now NARS’s top-selling shade across five product lines. Here’s how it got there.
1999
The original
The powder blush launches and quietly becomes a makeup-artist kit essential.
2005
The lip gloss
The first spin-off, and an instant mid-2000s favourite. It turns out the gold-flecked peach works just as well on lips. Shop the Orgasm lip gloss.
2007
The Multiple Orgasms
Orgasm comes to NARS’s cult cream stick for cheeks, lips and eyes. Yes, a Multiple Orgasm. NARS knew exactly what it was doing.
2008
Super Orgasm
To mark almost ten years, NARS releases a more intense version with bigger flecks of gold glitter. (This is the one 13-year-old me came home with.) A limited-edition Orgasm nail polish appears too.
2009–2011
The celebrity era
Gisele Bündchen calls the Orgasm Multiple a must-have, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas names Orgasm her favourite blush.
2018
More, more, more
The collection expands with a lip balm and an illuminating loose powder. Meghan Markle reportedly wears Orgasm for the royal wedding.
2019
The 20th birthday
A limited-edition anniversary collection brings a jumbo blush in a pink compact, an oil-infused lip tint, a liquid highlighter and the Endless Orgasm palette.
2024
The reformulation
At 25, Orgasm gets its biggest update yet: a new formula that lasts up to 16 hours, a more rectangular, refillable compact, and new sister shades. These include Orgasm Rush, a deeper bronze-rose, and Orgasm Edge, a matte peach-pink.
2025
A new face
Kaia Gerber becomes NARS’s global brand ambassador, a lifelong Orgasm fan who first asked her mum for the blush at 12.
2026
The next generation
NARS opens its first-ever consumer Orgasm pop-up in New York for National Orgasm Day on 31 July. Gen Z is finding Orgasm all over again.
Why it’s still worth it, and our verdict
Trends move fast. Orgasm has outlived every single one of them.
Contouring, concealer lips, over-plucked brows, under-eye liner, frosty tones, toasty makeup, cloud skin: they all come and go. Orgasm has survived them because it doesn’t ask you to follow a trend. It just makes you look like you’ve had a good night’s sleep and some very good news.
It isn’t perfect. The original powder could feel a little dry and sometimes needed a few layers, especially on deeper skin tones. The 2024 formula fixes a lot of that. If the classic shade looks too light on you, try Orgasm Rush. For a softer, glowier finish, use a big fluffy brush. NARS artists also like dusting it on top of a matte blush as a highlighter.
Our verdict
A true legend, and one of very few products that has lived up to its hype for almost 30 years.
It was my first blush, and I’ve never fully let it go. If you only ever buy one cult blush, start here.
Just building your makeup bag? Our guide to the best makeup for beginners covers the rest.
Shop the Orgasm family
One shade, four more ways to wear it.
Insatiable Liquid Blush
The iconic shade as a long-wearing liquid with a dewy, shimmering finish.
Shop at Sephora
The Multiple in Orgasm Crave
The cult cream stick for cheeks, eyes and lips. Yes, a Multiple Orgasm.
Shop at Sephora
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