If sheer, sparkly shadows aren’t your thing, the new NARS Marie-Galante Eyeshadow Duo probably won’t be your cup of green tea, or if there’s a bumper sticker on your car that reads, “Addicted to pigment,” you may not find a lot to like here.
But if you have a thing for nuanced shades, feast your eyes on this…
Wait — did she/I just say “nuanced”? Because it looks pretty pigmented in these pans.
Yup, you’re right. It does, but there’s a little more to it than that. The Marie-Galante Eyeshadow Duo is one of my favorite things from the NARS Summer 2012 collection.
On one side, a sheer violet brimming with bits of purple glitter; on the other, a rich, royal blue bursting with blue and purple glitter. The blue shade, the darker of the two, contains a smidgen more pigment than its purple partner, and it flashes on me from blue to purple in the light.
Neat!
The small flecks of glitter in both of these colors spread across my lids like stars on a clear night. Imagine purple and blue versions of NARS Night Star (one of my go-to shades), and you basically get Marie-Galante.
Last week I tried turning up the volume of these colors by layering them on top of the Calabria Soft Touch Shadow Pencil, but then I tried Marie-Galante all by herself.
Love! 
The sheer shadows tint my lids, while the glitter, which goes on evenly and smooth, makes ’em glow, almost like they’re wet. And when the light catches my eyes just right, the darker blue shade looks purple!
I like patting a layer of the lighter purple all over my lids and applying the darker blue along my upper lash line. Then, for some extra definition after blending both colors together, I line my upper water line with a black eye pencil and my lower water line with a nude liner.
Business lunch, anyone? I like both of these colors because they clearly have some personality, but they’re still reserved enough for work. Let me just do a quick curl with my Shu Uemura lash curler and apply a layer of MAC Zoom Fast Black Lash, and I’ll meet you at the restaurant.
I’ve heard rumblings about fallout from Marie-Galante, but I haven’t had a big problem with it yet. I’ve been using a stiff, flat eyeshadow brush and press the powders on to my skin, which seems to keep the fallout in check. As with NARS Night Star, a small amount of glitter usually does work its way down to my cheeks and lower lash lines, but heck, I think it looks like I did it on purpose, so I’ve just been leaving it there.
I don’t always feel comfortable wearing vivid, shimmery eyeshadows in the middle of the day, but Marie-Galante satisfies my urges for glitter and color without leaving me looking like Joan Cusack’s character from Working Girl. 🙂
PRICE: $34
AVAILABILITY: Available now at NARS counters and also online
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A- (a little fallout, but it doesn’t bother me)
Hump day reflections…
I don’t know, friend. I’ve been feeling a little frazzled this week. I guess I just need to Wilson Phillips this sh*z, and hold on for one more day.
I hope you had a good one. We’re over the hump!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. What did you do for your makeup today?
Such gorgeous shades! Purple’s my all-time fave, so I’m so down for this duo! I normally don’t like sheer eyeshadows (or sheer anything, to be honest :p), but I’m actually really liking that violet shade. <3
It looks really pretty on you! I personally prefer more pigmented shadows, but if you can make it work, more power to ya!
Love the nuances too. My favorit duo is Dogon for its different hues. Do you think you can layer the violet shade on top of Lhasa to make it pop?
While these are very pretty on you, I was disappointed that they weren’t as pigmented as they look in the pan. They just look so dramatic and ‘POW’ in the pan!
These eye shadows look so beautiful on. M-G really suits you 🙂
This is a beautiful Nars duo, it will be my next purchase!!
xx
You definitely rock this duo, Karen! I like it on you with or without the shadow pencil!
OMG OMG OMG I love the colour on you!! Especially the second picture of you (very fairy-like) 🙂
You know that purple and blue shadows are not my thing, but these look great on you. 🙂 Can you believe it’s already Thursday? Not that I’m complaining (about my life whizzing by before my eyes) but this week has flown by!
They make me think of butterfly wings, really gorgeous.
That Wilson Phillips vid just took me back to the 90s! God, how I miss the 90s.
I love how soft and diffused this looks on you! Is this the product that will break my NARS Duo abstension? I only own NARS Singles and Palettes because im crazy and hate color migratoin… but this duo is just so lovely!
This looks so lovely on you!
Marie-Galante is really pretty, I have it and I just love it ! It is soft in fact ( I thought it would be much more intense ) but for summertime it’s exquisite.
wow – i would have never given this a second look if i didn’t see how sheer it wears – it’s really pretty!