NARS Dual-Intensity Eyeshadow in Himalia, Callisto, and Phoebe

A few months ago during Sephora's Friends & Family Sale, I finally got around to picking up three shades of the super-hyped, ultra-raved NARS Dual-Intensity Eyeshadow. It is described as "a creaseless, eight-hour wear eyeshadow with a transformative texture for wet or dry application." The NARS Dual-Intensity Eyeshadow formula has a "smooth, versatile texture that goes on dry for a sheer soft touch of sensual colour, or wet for a high-impact finish." Each eyeshadow is packaged in a magnetized slim square black mirrored compact, comes with a total of 1.5 grams of product, and retails for $33.

Himalia, Callisto, and Phoebe
Himalia, Callisto, and Phoebe

Himalia is a medium warm taupe-bronze in a metallic finish. This is a permanent shade. When used wet, the colour becomes more intense and the finish becomes more metallic. It has a lightweight, silky texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is warmer than MAC Woodwinked, lighter than MAC Sable, darker and more bronze than Urban Decay Midnight Cowboy Rides Again, lighter than Urban Decay YDK, warmer than Make Up For Ever I550 Olive Gray, lighter and more brown than Makeup Geek Prom Night, and slightly more taupe than Makeup Geek Homecoming.

Callisto is a light cool-toned pinked silver in a metallic finish. This is a permanent shade. When used wet, the colour becomes more intense and the finish becomes more metallic. It has a lightweight, silky texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is darker and more silver than MAC Pink Freeze, more silver than MAC Seedy Pearl, cooler and more silver than Urban Decay Sin, cooler and more pinked than Urban Decay Verve, more silver and more metallic than Make Up For Ever D914 Crystalline Mauve, more silver than Makeup Geek Bling, and more pink than Makeup Geek Rockstar.

Phoebe is a medium-dark warm amethyst purple in a metallic finish. This is a permanent shade. When used wet, the colour becomes more intense and the finish becomes more metallic. It has a lightweight, silky texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is brighter and cooler than MAC Nocturnelle, brighter and warmer than MAC Satellite Dreams, warmer than Make Up For Ever D926 Blueberry, warmer and brighter than Urban Decay ACDC, more metallic than Urban Decay Psychedelic Sister, and darker and cooler than Makeup Geek Sensuous.

A lot of brands are now getting on board with these liquid-powder hybrid formulas, and for good reason. They feel finely-milled and ultra-silky, remain lightweight and dry to the touch like mineral shadows, but go on smooth and pigmented like creamier, more buttery shadows. You can use them wet if you wish, but I actually find that using these dry over an eye primer results in the same look as using them wet (e.g. more intense, more metallic). Indeed, they feel exactly like MAC's Extra Dimension or Estée Lauder's Pure Color Gelée Eyeshadows, both of which are limited edition formulas. The NARS Dual-Intensity Eyeshadows are perhaps a touch more refined, but in general, they look and execute the same, and the great news is that these are permanent. The bad news is that they're also $33 a pop, making them more expensive than MAC, Make Up For Ever, Urban Decay, Bobbi Brown, and Laura Mercier. If you're willing to splurge on these (and it is a truly great formula), then I recommend getting shades that you'll wear more often (Himalia is a great shade for all skintones) or if there's a shade that's really unique to your collection. Otherwise, I would wait for MAC to launch their next set of Extra Dimension shadows, which come out at least once a year and are about $10 cheaper.