I know that this maxes out the Cheese-O-Meter, so my apologies for that, but you know what I’ve always wanted to do?
It’s this thing I’ve seen on police shows where there will be a couple of police officers sitting in their car on a stakeout, and they’ll be watching a perp (yes, I said “perp”) across the street, but then the perp will do something illegal and make a run for it, so one of the officers will say, “Light ’em up!” and they’ll turn on the lights and sirens and chase that fool down!
I’ve always wanted to say “Light ’em up!” like that. LOL!
Yes, I know, I’m weird. 🙂
Anyhow, whenever I play with these new NARS Eyeshadow Duos, I say “Light ’em up!” now just like that, except that I’m referring to how luminous they are.
They are SO glowy and shimmery, but not frosty at all. It’s a very specific level of luminosity, and the only other place I can remember seeing something like it before is over at Chanel with their Les 4 Ombres baked eyeshadows.
I’m excited to also see it at NARS now because… Remember when I was going through that phase when I was all about mattes? Well, now I’m all about luminosity.
You know how it is… These things are cyclical.
Availability
There are two of them in the NARS Spring 2017 (I almost typed “2016”) Wildfire Collection, which is available now, and they’re $35 each. Chiang Mai, the sky blue and reddish copper one, is limited edition, and the smoky violet and opalescent pink one, Thessalonique, is permanent.
I’ve looked around, and I haven’t spotted any exact NARS duo dupes, which is exciting.
The Wildfire color story references the earth, but not in a typical greens and browns way. The colors are more like a red rock cliff overlooking a bright blue sky and a valley speckled with spring wildflowers.
I’m feelin’ it.
Pigment and fallout
All of the shadows are highly pigmented, and when I use a fluffy tapered blush to place them on my lids and buff them out, I only need one or two (two, tops) layers, and that creates a lovely, luminous glow.
Typical of NARS, they blend like a dream…
As for fallout, though, there is a little. It’s not Urban Decay-caliber, but it’s enough for me to notice… Just as an FYI, especially if you like to do your foundation first.
The standout shades for me
The opalescent pink in — I really need to learn how to pronounce this — Thessalonique made me say, “Oooh!” the first time I wore it. It’s incredibly soft, creamy and fine (foine), and the color flashes from pink to gold like the inside of a seashell. There’s something otherworldy and angelic about it when you wear it as an inner corner highlight, and it really opens up the eyes. If you look tired, pop some of this into that inner corner, mama.
The other shadow in the duo, the smoky purple, isn’t quite as soft and creamy as the pink shade, but it’s still pretty easy to work with.
It’s a tad chunkier and grittier, too…but definitely not like cheap drugstore gritty. It has silver flecks of glitter in it that you can spot at a glance, and they probably make the powder fluffier. It wants to go all over the place when you blend it.
I don’t mind the glitter, though, because, you know…extra sparkle, and it amplifies the lovely luminosity. Good things.
In the Chiang Mai duo, the copper is the one that took my breath away. It’s pigmented and looks like a shiny copper penny. It bet it’ll complement many different eye colors, especially brown, green and blue.
I’m not exactly sure why they paired it with a blue, though. I mean, the blue is beautiful, and NARS likes unusual color combos in their duos, but I tried several combos, and I still don’t quite get how the two shadows go together… I tried using the copper as a base, then popped the blue in the middle. Then I did the blue on the top as a single shade all over my lid and smudged the copper on the bottom…
If you have any ideas, please let me know.
The verdict
These lightweight, long-wearing, luminous lovelies should fabulously flatter lids (particularly those belonging to gals and guys in their 30s, 40s and up). Be careful about the fallout, though, because there is a little.
Mars
I am SO emotionally invested in this show! It’s a series called Mars on Nat Geo (the National Geographic channel), and it’s like half-documentary, half-drama. It jumps back and forth between a documentary in 2016 about the project to get humans to Mars and the things happening here and now with space travel, like with the rockets being built by SpaceX and NASA’s plans to build a long-term colony, and a dramatization of a future expedition to Mars that starts in the year 2033.
It’s so engrossing! You get to learn about the science, and then you also get to experience what could really happen someday not too far off and follow the characters in the dramatization parts. It’s fascinating to think about what the first explorers to Mars will see and experience.
And I get super emo watching it, partly because Aunt Flo is visiting right now, but also because El Hub always jokes that Connor will be one of the first astronauts to go to Mars, and I keep thinking, “What if my baby actually does go to Mars someday?? I’ll miss her so much. She won’t be able to have a cat with her on her ship, but she’ll be doing all of these amazing things for the space program and humanity in general!”
LOL! I’m a sap. 🙂
Anyway, if you haven’t caught the series yet, you need to get on that. It’s FANTASTIC.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
I’d like to tell someone to freeze and put their hands up instead lol. Those shadows are gorgeous! I like the shadows, but would prefer them flip flopped. I’m not feeling the blue.
HAHA! I’ve actually thought about that one. You’d have to do it during a foot chase down an alley, though… Or perhaps a busy airport?
Ooh, I should watch that show! A few professors at my department are actually working on the 2020 Mars rover, creating some of the equipment that’ll be on board. Which, you know, is pretty dang cool. I love that we live in an era where stuff like this is even conceivable, let alone attainable. I told my dad about some of the stuff they’ve been doing and he told me about when he was in high school and all his friends crowded into someone’s basement to watch the moon landing, and he was already in middle school when the first ever human even went into space! I think it’s so amazing we’ve gone from Yuri Gagarin to possible human Mars travel within less than a lifetime. Stuff like that makes me remember what humanity’s capable of when we put our minds to it.
I don’t think I’ll pick up either of those duos. I like the colors in Thessalonique but I have other mauve/purple shadows and I don’t wear those kinds of colors enough to justify the price. That blush on the other hand… I don’t know why but I’m so drawn to it. And I don’t have anything like it!
You’ll also be glad to know I picked up the Sephora Gel Serum concealer off your recommendation and I love it! I’ve been avoiding concealer lately because I’m starting to get a few lines, but if I need a little something-something (but not full-on glam level concealer) these are great to grab. They have practically no texture on the skin!
I think you’d really like it! Your dad would probably be into if he’s interested in space exploration. Actually my dad was the one who told me about it, LOL!
Anywho, I hope that I’ll get to see us make it to Mars, and if my baby does end up going, I also hope they figure out a way for her to bring a kitty friend (dream big).
So happy that you like the Sephora Gel Serum concealer. It’s amazing, right? And not too expensive. What shade did you get and what are you using it for? I use a peachy pink shade underneath my eyes and a yellow based one for the other parts of my face. If you have a BeautyBlender try it with that sometime. It’s amazing.
I use the palest shade, Bavarian Cream, which is about a shade lighter than my winter skin! I want to get Fondant to match my skin for blemishes and when I don’t want to highlight. Ooh, I love it with a BeautyBlender! It blends out like a dream. And you’re right, the price tag is perfect. I have the lightest peachy shade for correcting undereyes and I want to get the green one for blemishes. I think this is a good formula for correctors since it doesn’t add a lot of weight or texture!
I just pictured Connor Claire and Tabs in tiny space helmets, lol!
Wouldn’t that be the best? They’d have matching helmets, of course. And Tabs would have to be extremely grumpy in this picture.
That’s so cute!! I can see a kid’s tv show out of this…
Love these shadows! Perfect colors for spring. The copper shade in the chiang mai palette us stunning!
That chiangmai duo seems pretty similar to nars’ china seas duo, except with copper instead of the dark purple! (the blue in the new one may be lighter/shimmery-er as well?) I’m about as afraid of blue eyeshadow as you can get (terrible late 80s, early 90s flashbacks lol!) but this is really pretty… was definitely hoping you’d have the answer on how to wear them together, though!
The thessalonique duo seems like an iridescent sort of heaven, but I’m afraid the colors will be too light on my paleness… can’t wait to find out, tho!!
p.s. I’d like to think by the time Connor Claire gets to space it’ll be perfectly acceptable to bring certain tabbys along for the adventure!! 🙂
I’ve done a little more experimenting but have still yet to work it out. The best I could do was mix them together, then do the blue applied to the upper lash line with a wet brush. It looked pretty cool!
Funny that you should mention flashbacks, because I get the same ones whenever I see brown matte lipsticks.
P.S. I like how you think. Also, by that time, science will have figured out how to extend the lifetime of our most beloved pets. Tabs will live forever!!!
I actually like that they put that blue in the duo. It’s unusual, different!
Ohhh finally Nars made an eyeshadow duo named after my city! It is pronounced Thessaloniki dear Caren, and we live in the second biggest city of Greece. The timing is also perfect as we are expecting Nars to launch in Sephoras around Spring.. A notice though..Here the local girls love to be made up and make up is a huge part of their lives, so the colours, although so beautiful and extremely wearable, are not exactly what others think of us, hehehe! To be honest, at first I thought that the other duo was named after us! Kisses!
I will have to check out Mars – it sounds awesome!!
I don’t think you want my rec on how to use those colors together because all I can think of is NARS 1987 with blue on the outside edges (and I mean lash to brow) and pink everywhere else, lash to brow. I’m just horrified at the memory. 🙂
I don’t know if someone’s told you this yet, Karen! But my best friend, Lives in Greece, in the city that eye shadow duo is named after!
She taught me to pronounce it like:
Thes-a-lone-key, and the accent is very french sounding to my ears!
🙂