revisited: NARS Essential Eye palette.

this is my last "revisited" NARS Palette - the NARS #9952 Essential Eye Palette. i want to show you some good swatches and eye make up looks one can do with it.

this particular palette is not available in the online stores at the moment, when i bought it last autumn, i already had to switch to ebay and paid more than normal for it - i think i paid 55-60€ while it normally would retail for 45€.
it comes in a big rubberized compact, about double the size of a NARS blusher.

unlike the other palettes, this one contains a cream eyeshadow. there are 6 shades, each powder eyeshadow contains 1.5g and the cream shadow 0.85g.

to be true i mostly wanted this palette for the shades Ondine and Galapagos in it, but when it arrived i unexpectedly fell even more in love with Thunderball, a beautiful matte, blackened teal that is fantastic for a smokey eye.

1st row:
Unconditional Love (from same named cream shadow duo) - the cream shadow, a light rosey champagne. it's creamy and still hasn't dried out in the past year.
i heard NARS cream shadows tend to crease, so i never wear this as a base shade as my lids are quite oily. i like to use it in the inner corner. i think you could even use it as a cheek highlight like the cream colour bases by mac.
Night Star (from the Night Series, available as a single eyeshadow) - a matte light cream base with tons of white and gold sparkle. applied, most of the glitter bits will blend away but if packed on intensely, this shade makes my lids look dry and wrinkled, so it's not a favourite at all...
Galapagos (available as single shadow) - a matte dark warm brown base with many many yellowish-gold glitter bits and some pink and turquoise sparkles. it swatches lighter and warmer than how it translates to the eyelid. it blends beautifully (sorry, the blotchy swatch is quite misleading) with none to minimal fall out and is great for a warm smokey eye. the gold glitter will mostly disappear, though.
it's much warmer and lighter compared to the dark brown of Cordura duo (which i also have in the Pleasures of Paris Palette).

2nd row:
Nepal (available as single) - a light peachy tan which pulls almost mauve/rose on my lids. this one i already have in the Pleasures of Paris Palette.
Ondine (also available as mono eyeshadow) - a plummy brown/taupe with gold and pink shimmer, looks like a rosewood color on me and is less exciting than i expected.
Thunderball (available as a single shadow)- a blackened forest green/teal matte. a beautiful smooth texture that applies evenly and with great pigmentation. no fall outs. it's not your average black or grey and also looks great as an eyeliner.


all in all, i like this palette least of my 3, but Thunderball is one of my favourites and surely makes up for the cream shadow that i get little use of or Night Star.

 Unconditional Love - Night Star - Galapagos - Nepal - Ondine - Thunderball

Unconditional Love - Night Star - Galapagos - Nepal - Ondine - Thunderball

Unconditional Love - Night Star - Galapagos - Nepal - Ondine - Thunderball

here some looks i did with it:

#1

i applied Nepal on the inner corner, Ondine on the lid and lower lashline and Thunderball in the outer V, pulled out into the center a bit as a smudgy liner and a dab on the lower lashline to "cool down" the rosy tones of Ondine that would make me look sick.

with flash:

#2

for this warm brown smokey eye i applied Nepal on the inner half of the lid and on the lower lashline and Galapagos on the outer parts. Thunderball softly near the upper lashline to thicken it and also a dab mixed with Ondine for the lower lashline.

with flash: