Review: NARS Eyeshadow Duo 'Habanera'

Today's review is on an eyeshadow duo that's a bit less neutral than the colors that tend to attract me. It is the eyeshadow duo 'Habanera' by NARS. First let's start with the packaging:

NARS products come in a matte black rubberized casing with their logo boldly printed on the case. The rubberized container is beautiful but it attracts dust like no other! You can see little dust particles in the above picture even though this picture was taken seconds after I took this container, brand new, out of its container. Now for the pretty colors :)

One thing to note is the whole top of the container is a mirror! This is awesome for on the go application and touch-ups.

Habanera is an interesting combination that stole my attention because of the unexpectedly gorgeous color combo. The color on the left is a minty frosted teal color while the color on the right is a frosted plum. Seriously so beautiful.

Swatchy swatch.  The colors are just as gorgeous on the skin as they are in the pan. They are also buttery smooth, as I expected from a NARS eyeshadow. The minty teal definitely has a lot of shimmer in it on the skin, but the purple is a little more muted on the skin which is nice. It actually has quite a bit of brown in it.  I was concerned over the wearability of the mint shade but I think it'll create a wonderful Winter look. The mint on the lid with the purple blended into the crease should create a smokey look with some unexpected color.

NARS eyeshadow duos are $34 for 4g (0.14oz) of product, or 2g per eyeshadow. This may seem ridiculously expensive compared to other prestigious beauty brands such as MAC or Urban Decay until you break down the price by gram as I did in a previous post.

MAC eyeshadows in the pot are $15 for 1.5g of product = $10 / g

Urban Decay shadows are $18 for 1.5 g of product = $12 / g

NARS eyeshadows in duos are $34 for 4g of product= $8.50 / g

There you have it!
xxSJ

Review: MAC Paint Pot in 'Bare Study'

Today's review is of a product I've been lusting after for a few years but simply hadn't gotten around to purchasing! It's MAC's 'Bare Study' paint pot:

I became obsessed with paint pots when I made my very first MAC purchase about 5 years ago. Let us reminisce! In that purchase were the following products:
-eyeshadows 'Woodwinked' and 'Mulch'
-'Angel' lipstick
-paint pot in 'Rubanesque'
I was hooked. Not only on MAC, but on that beautiful peachy color 'Rubanesque.'  It made eyeshadows I put on top of it look phenomenal and my eyeshadows stayed crease free all day long (a new feeling and look for my uber oily eyelids!). Since then I have repurchased the color Rubanesque but have also gotten hooked on UD Primer Potion as a primer so I have strayed from my paint pot lovin' ways. Until now.....

I love how paint pots come in this little jar! So cute! The jar is glass and the lid is breakable so be careful to not drop this lil guy!  Unscrew the cap, and....

Gahhh so pretty :) Bare Study is a nude beige color with a golden sparkle. In other words, it's a champagne color. It's gorgeous. I like to simple dip my phalanges right into paint pots but if you're not down with the germs and bacteria you might want to consider using a brush to apply.

The paint pots are a creamy consistency but dry to a nice and vibrant finish. When they do dry, you can put eyeshadows on top of them and the paint pot will act as a primer. Just make sure the layer you put on your eyelid is nice and thin otherwise you may have a creasing issue as this is a creamy product. What's awesome about paint pots is not only are they priming your eyes for some shadow, but they can also add some definition and fun to the eyeshadows you put on top! Behold the magic:

Here we go folks: The color on the left is a matte brown from NARS Portobello eyeshado duo. The color right next to it is the same matte brown but on top of the Bare Study paint pot. You see how now it has some nice shimmer to it? Pretty cool, eh? That pretty blue shade is a shadow from NARS Habanera eyeshadow duo. The color on the farthese right is that same blue shadow on top of Bare Study paint pot. The color is a bit more sea foam green when its on top of the paint pot color! Pretttyyyyy.

MAC paint pots retail for $20 for 5g of product. This stuff lasts a long time too! I've had my newest Rubanesque paint pot for over a year and it has just now begun to dry up. Because of the creamy consistency, these won't last forever, but it takes so long to use em that you'll get lengthy use out of 'em.
I think the $20 price tag is well worth the product you get. A beautiful pigment with priming capabilities and did I mention you can wear this on its own as a gorgeous lid shade? Cuz you can :)

xxSJ

Review: NARS Eyeshadow Duo in 'Portobello'

After much hemming and hawing, I finally got my hands on a couple more NARS eyeshadow duos. I love NARS eyeshadows so much... buttery soft with impeccable pigmentation.  The only point of uncertainty when purchasing these products for me is the price tag! NARS is certainly a luxury makeup brand, however, the delightful and sleek packaging mixed with the fantastic quality of the products creates good reason for a splurge:

NARS eyeshadows come in ultra sleek matte black rubberized packaging with the NARS logo boldly displayed in white on top.  I love the way this looks but be warned, the rubberized container attracts dust and dirt like nothing else! This will get dirty!

Opening up the container we see the two eyeshadows separated by a divider. Something to note is that the entire top half of the container has a mirror! Awesome for applying eyeshadows or touching up on the go. 

Now for the colors! 'Portobello' is an eyeshadow duo housing two matte brown shadows. The color on the left is a very warm brown with orange hues in it. It reminds me a lot of MAC's Soft Brown. The color on the right is a bit cooler toned and more chocolatey. Together, I thought these colors would make awesome crease and blending colors. My reasoning behind wanting this duo was that I have used the two matte colors in the Naked 1 palette to death (Buck and Naked) and I needed a quick replacement. I thought this duo would do just the trick!

Here are the colors swatched on my arm. These colors are extremely buttery soft and pigmented so be warned that a little goes a long way. These can easily overwhelm an eye look if you're just trying to add a small amount for a crease color so try and be light handed with these if that's what you're going for.

NARS eyeshadow duos are $34 for 4g (0.14oz) of product, or 2g per eyeshadow. This may seem ridiculously expensive compared to other prestigious beauty brands such as MAC or Urban Decay until you break down the price by gram:

MAC eyeshadows in the pot are $15 for 1.5g of product = $10 / g

Urban Decay shadows are $18 for 1.5 g of product = $12 / g

NARS eyeshadows in duos are $34 for 4g of product= $8.50 / g

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! What did I just discover? NARS eyeshadow duos are actually cheaper per gram than some of my other favorite eyeshadows. Very interesting and something to keep in mind when making future purchases. 

xxSJ