Here's a quick overview of and first impressions of some products from the NARS x Christopher Kane collection, which launches in Singapore in June.
First off, the packaging is gorgeous, with the NARS logo in metallic fuchsia.
And the collection is filled with sparkly colors that sort of remind me of Northern Lights. Glowy duochrome violets and greens, beiges and corals. All these colors might look really intense in the packaging, but are designed to just give you a veil of translucnet color and texture.
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Here are the items that I received for review and the swatches for your reference.
I do have to point out that I like the Parallel Universe duo a lot more than the mono shadow, Outer Limits, which was a bit of a disappointment for me.
In the pan, it looks like it would be almost a creamy, intense sparkle shade, but it really has a dry, coarse texture that will just dust right off your skin. You can use it on top of other shadows as an over-coat but I find the best overcoats have silicone binders in them to make them adhere on top of other dry shadows. This one is just dry, so it does not want to stay on top of other powders. My recommendation is to apply it damp, like below, as that gives you more of a sheen and you can better control where the shimmer goes. Otherwise, it all just ends up on your cheeks after an hour.
Another item that was somewhat disappointing was the Multiple in Violet Atom. This is a lavender shade that looks SO beautiful in the tube, and I love the formulation of the newer Multiples (more silky, less sticky and greasy than the older versions). But it's so subtle that it almost can't be seen once it's blended into the skin.
Below, it looks visible, but that's straight from the tube, before blending out. Once you rub out the edges, it kinda melds into your skin. Which is good if you like an ultra-subtle look. But then it's so subtle that you won't be able to see ANY of that lavender-green duochrome color. You just get a very, very soft glow. It's still pretty of course. But I kinda feel that for the price, it should not look that subtle.
But overall, you can see from my swatches that everything is very ethereal and soft. These products work best layered lightly over other products and bases.
In my look below, I applied a tiny layer of grey cream shadow to the outer corners of the eyes and used Parallel Universe on top of it, with the beige-green over the grey, and the lavender on the inner half of the lids. On the cheeks and down my nose, I have the Multiple in Violet Atom (it's barely visible), as well as Adoration from the Dual Intensity blush range, which I - adore.
On the lips I have Nebulous lipgloss.
I did have to apply a grey cream base to portions of my lid and then apply the shadows on top of it for the shading and definition I want. Like a lot of the NARS duos, there is no "definer/highlight" shade. Which isn't a problem for me because I tend to treat all the shades in my duos and palettes as individual shadows that I can mix and match with other stuff, not necessarily with the other colors in the same palette. But I know some of you hate that and want palettes and duos to be a "complete" look.
What do you think of the products? Love em or leave em?
