nars

NARS has a knack for neutral eyeshadows but likes ’em with a twist, like Star Sailor, which accompanied me on my quick holiday trip last weekend. Keeping us company on the open road was another dynamic neutral duo from NARS, the $33 Indian Summer Duo Eyeshadow, which happens to be the subject of today’s Unsung Heroes post.

Like both of the colors in Star Sailor, Indian Summer’s shadows keep a low profile until they get out of their pans; that’s when their powder shadows sing. In the official PR, the shades are described as a frosted champagne and a mustard seed, but I think they’re much more exciting than that.

How about this? — a shimmery golden beige that flashes silvery taupe, and a buttery golden brown satin?

Right? 🙂 Both shadows bring a subtle brightening effect to lids — not too much. Just enough that you can tell there’s something there.

Since these powders lean toward the warm end of the color temperature spectrum, I think they look particularly fetching on tans and olive-toned skin.

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So. Majorly. Jealous. You’re so lucky you can pull off every shade of taupe. Not fair!

I love taupe…especially taupe eyeshadows, but for me it can be a tough color to wear. On my warm skin tone, the wrong taupe can leave my lids looking muddy or bruised.

Thank goodness for NARS Cairo ($23) — one of the prettiest, most wearable taupes I’ve found. There it was, sitting like purplish pirate treasure on a shelf during one of Sephora’s Friends & Family sales a while back. I brought it home, and I’ve been reaching for it on a regular basis ever since.

NARS characterizes it as a shimmery champagne rose (isn’t that a pretty description?). I’ve seen it grace a few different lids, and it hasn’t looked the same way twice. I think that’s because it’s complex, and the color varies based on the wearer’s skin temperature (warm/cold) and tone. On one lass it might look like a beige taupe, on another, more of a rosy shade. On me, I think it looks like a violet taupe with a silvery sheen, and sometimes I swear I also see flashes of gold in it.

Super pretty! — and easy to wear, too. It’s one of the products I turn to when I want fresh-looking, dewy eyes.

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I have to say, for a long, long time I didn’t think much of NARS Eyeshadow Duo in Star Sailor ($33), and I sailed past it many times without giving it as much as a sneaky side-eye glance.

Then, one day, the planets and stars were aligned just right, and I decided to see what swatches of its two shadows would look like on my skin.

Over the moon! — that’s how I felt when the first shade, a shimmery yellow gold, and the second, a shimmery golden bronze, blossomed before me, like a nebula under the watchful eye of the Hubble Space Telescope…

Sorry, I’m a sucker for a good (or middling) space reference. 🙂

If you happen to like neutrals with an interstellar kick, give Star Sailor a try, especially if you’re looking to upgrade from basic browns and beige. The shimmery yellow gold shade on the left side of the duo reminds me of a slightly warmer MAC Gorgeous Gold; the shimmery bronze on the right, with its golden undertones, brings to mind another one of my favorite shades, MAC Powersurge Eye Kohl eyeliner, except in eyeshadow form.

Worn together or apart, I like how much attention both shadows draw. They’re noticeable, but stop well short of shouting, “HEY! CHECK OUT MY EYES!”

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A few things I learned (and in some cases relearned) in 2011:

1. It’s easy to fall back into old habits, one of which for me was comparing myself to others, but it’s a recipe for misery cake and serves no useful purpose.
2. Tim Gunn is my Obi-Wan! Whenever I find myself in a pickle, I close my eyes and ask, “What would Tim Gunn do?” And then (I like to imagine) he materializes — a life coach/style Jedi — to dispense golden nuggets of advice.
3. Red lipstick could be the most powerful force in the Universe (even stronger than gravity). 🙂

So maybe that third one’s a slight exaggeration, but I will say that red lipsticks always make me feel better — especially bright, cheerful reds like NARS Heat Wave ($24).

It makes even mundane tasks, like trips to Trader Joe’s, a million times more fun. I wore it there a few days ago and made a new makeup-loving friend on the staff.

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