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?