I am very excited to write my first post about a Nars product. Yes, it is hard to believe but true. You might know that I am a worshipper of Nars Pro-prime and mention it very frequently but up to date I have never purchased a eye shadow duo from the brand. I blame the absence of Nars stores in Germany and my contact with the brand being limited to my visits. I was indifferent and my pocket was happy until I have heard a loud applause for one of their new duos from Spring 2014 Color Collection, called Kauai.
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| Nars Duo Eyeshadow in Kauai |
Properly named after a beautiful island in Hawaii, Nars Duo Eyeshadow in Kauai resembles the golden sand and deep blue sea. Actualy this sea is even more purple than blue, which is one of the reasons why this combination was hard for me to resist. Beauty Blogosphere was full of raves so I went on and pulled the trigger.
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| Nars Duo Eyeshadow in Kauai |
Kauai is composed of two shimmery eye shadows. The texture is buttery smooth and insanely pigmented. I found these to be not frosty but rather "foil" like if they would be nail polishes (I hope that it makes sense). Let's call them metallic for the time being ;-) They actually reminded me a little of Urban Decay eye shadow texture but with these I didn't experience fall out and on my lids they didn't accentuate fine lines.
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| Close-up: Nars Duo Eyeshadow in Kauai |
First shade is a metallic gold with cooler undertones. I love the fact that it is not that yellow. I think this type of gold would look fabulous with blue eyed beauties among you. It is not hard to guess that my favorite shade is the second one, a metallic purple which also leans natural to cool. This one almost swatches duo chrome and looks brownish at some angles (look at the bottom of my arm).
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| Swatch: Nars Duo Eyeshadow in Kauai |
But the magic happens when these are layered to reveal that gorgeous multi facet taupe with gold and purple shimmer. I was very much impressed with how easy it was to layer them without the eye shadows turning muddy.
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| Swatch: Nars Duo Eyeshadow in Kauai, shades alone and layered |
Below I went for a classical replacement, gold at the inner corner all the way to the middle, then purple at the outer corner and they meet in the middle to be mixed and layered. Over Nars Pro-prime, these wore all day without creasing and fading. It is colorful yet not over the top so I can wear it easily at work. I complimented this look with Guerlain's Amber Silver pencil on the lower lash line.
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| In-action: Nars Duo Eyeshadow in Kauai |
Final thoughts: A different take on Spring with gorgeous metallics, a great alternative to all the pastels out there. Formula is also superb. I am very much impressed with my first Nars Duo.
Any recommendations for my next Nars Duos? Which one is your favorite?
Ugh Sara, I kinda really need this now! I don't own a lot from NARS at all! I do have Paramaribo from a couple of years back and it's fantastic, but if I'm not mistaken it was LE. I'd love to see the new ones you pick up though :)
ReplyDeleteI got one more with this one to qualify for shipping and unfortunately it is a very different consistency. I have heard (not that Kate wrote down) that Nars reformulated their Duos, so it makes sense. Now I want China Seas too, ugh...
DeleteOh wow! If I were to see this shadow on the display I would have walked right by it! But man, look at the eye look you created with it! So beautiful! I also like the fact that when the two are combined, it makes a gorgeous taupe, too!! And it's my kind of taupe! I really wanna pick this one up now! Thank you for a great review, Sara! :)
ReplyDeleteYay, I have seen you picked up this one, isn't that gorgeous? Thanks so much for your comment, I am glad I enabled you this ;-)
DeleteWhat a beaute. Love the layering you did with these shades, makes it three shades for the price of two!
ReplyDeleteYes and one is like everyday color once layered, then the other two with gold and purple is more like special occasion or day to night. Love it.
DeleteGorgeous on you! The only NARS eye shadows I own are in the Fairy's Kiss palette from last fall and I love the textures. I've swatched this duo on several times now but I don't think I'll get it due to the fact it's a little to shimmery for me. If only that purple had been a little less so. :(
ReplyDeleteI feel you, I like my crease shades also less shimmery, more matte to give the dimension I need. That purple swatched shimmery and I was like ugh, how am I going to place it. But on the eyes as you see, purple is nothing like metallic, it is more of a satin.
DeleteOh wow! Look at how gilded they are!! Too bad they're NARS. Packaging fail. LOL!
ReplyDeleteLol, yes Lily, it is kind of modern but in a little ugly way ;-) but very unique though ;-)
DeleteThis is definitely a winner! A NARS duo that you might want to try is
ReplyDeleteEarth Angel. It's a taupe/green combo.
Thanks Grinxdor, I will make sure to try that one when I drive to France.
DeleteThis is a beautiful Nars duo-so glad it's not a dud-have found the last few releases wanting-def on my wish list now!
ReplyDeleteI can't comment on the previous releases but this one has definitely superb quality. If you like metallics, don't miss.
DeleteYour eyes look amazing with this eyeshadow combo, I never would have thought it could look like this when applied. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteHi Silvita, yes it is a little different, like more subdued once applied although I used a fluffy brush and packed a lot of that on my lid. I like the way it is though, more flashy would be hard to wear for everyday.
DeleteStunning on you!
ReplyDeleteBut as you may already know, this is a new formula for Nars and IMO the older shadows are nowhere near as good texturally! If I could have any Nars shadow converted to this lovely new formula it would probably be Mad Mad World, Habanera, or Rated R <3
Hi Kate,
DeleteYou are the makeup goddess, seriously. Thanks for letting me know that these are reformulated. I don't know since there is no Nars in Germany. But each time I swatched those during my travels, I was not impressed. Once I have seen this duo on blogs, I was like wow, what happened to the dryness and patchiness I remember to experience. Let me test that ;-) so you must be right, I made a mistake though and ordered another duo, which is unfortunately so different than that one.
Ah!! These colors are gorGEOUS on you, Sara! And I love that you show the layered shades, which is just so drool-worthy!
ReplyDeleteYes that layered shade is like OMG I want to paint all my face with it kinda shade :-p
DeleteHmmmm! Wouldn't THAT be a good FOTD to post! ;)
DeleteThat looks lovely on you, I have been wondering about getting this but think it might be a bit too metallic/frosty on me, I don't feel like I have bought NARS for a long time actually, a lot of their collections seem a bit too colourful for my tastes :)
ReplyDeleteI didn't want this until I saw that swatch of both colours layed-wowzers that's a gorgeous colour right there. I love Nars duo's-I have about 10-Kalahari is a great place to start ;) xx
ReplyDeleteStacey Expat Make-Up Addict