Could there be a hidden corner of the human brain tucked away near the back that makes us hardwired to make grabby hands whenever we see shimmery, sparkly, glittery things?
Solely based on my experience, I think the answer to that is “yes,” LOL! Because homegirl wants ALL OF THE GLITTERS. 🙂
All of them…
I definitely feel that familiar, inescapable tug in my gut when I open the NARS Hardwired Eyeshadows.
NARS is adding six new shades for fall, coming exclusively to Sephora starting August 1, and holy wow! — the shimmer.
Like the previously released Hardwired Eyeshadow shades, these shine bright enough to see from across a room — heck, or across town. Maybe from across state lines, even.
These highly pigmented powder shadows have varying levels of glitter, shimmer and pearl, so you get a lot of light reflecting back when you pop them on your skin. It’s very eye-catching.
Other brands have similar shadows nowadays, like the Moondusts over at Urban Decay and the MAC Dazzleshadows, but these have incredibly fine powders. Sometimes with shimmers and glitters that beam from outer space like these, I don’t know why — maybe it’s because of the size and shape of the powder particles — but it’s hard to get them to stick to my lids. And sometimes there’s fallout for days.
I usually just accept it when I wear glitters, like, “I’m wearing glitter eyeshadow, and it’s going to get all over the place!” But that’s so NOT the case with the NARS Hardwired Eyeshadows.
Here’s the look I’m wearing today, and I did my eyes first, thinking that I’d have to do some cleanup before applying my foundation (I’m wearing the new Hourglass one, by the way), but that wasn’t the case. I could’ve just done my foundation first because I didn’t have any fallout whatsoever.
‘Twas a glorious thing.
The six new shades are Stud (a soft pewter bronze), Outer Lomits (an iridescent rosy gold), Earthshine (an iridescent pink lilac), Lunar (a soft, iridescent violet), Parallax (a metallic dove gray) and Pygar (a gold lamé).
The texture varies among the shades, with the finest-of-the-fine ones (foinest of the foine!) being Parallax, Pygar and Stud. Those are the three that skated across my skin like comets shooting across the sky.
The other three — Outer Limits, Earthshine and Lunar — are also very smooth, but because they have a little more glitter in them, particularly Outer Limits, they’re also a tad chunkier…
It’s not “chunky, chunky, monkey” chunkier, so you won’t look like you’re rockin’ eighth-grade dance team glitter, but the powder particles are a bit bigger than the particles in the other colors.
My favorite of the six new shades is Parallax, the dove gray. It’s very much in my eyeshadow wheelhouse. I mean, I’ll put any shiny dove gray with a hint of blue in it on my lids and wear it with a matte brown in my crease and black liner. It’s like my makeup equivalent of devouring an entire plate of warm brownies. SO MUCH YUM.
And the more I build up Parallax in layers, the shinier and more metallic it gets. Oh! — I just love it.
So…
Last night as we were just about to fall asleep in bed, I asked El Hub, “Was today Wednesday?” and he said, “No, today was Thursday.”
[Long pause]
Me: “Are you sure? ‘Cause I could’ve sworn today was Wednesday…”
El Hub: “Nope, today was Thursday. I’m sure of it. Tomorrow’s Friday.”
LOL! 🙂
Girlfriend, it’s been that kind of week.
But we made it! TGIF! This was one of those weeks for me where, honestly, I blinked and it was gone. Thank goodness it’s almost the weekend.
Oh! I thought you might enjoy this video I watched this morning while I was feeding Connor Claire (please don’t call her CC). It’s called “10 Things to Remember When You Feel Stuck,” and although some of the points might seem pretty obvious, I think they’re good things to remember. It sure helped me set a good tone for the day.
Things are looking up!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
PJ says
Karen, I love Parallax on you!
Do you think Earthshine and Lunar look anything like last summer’s Parallel Universe duo from NARSxChristopher Kane?
Karen says
Thanks, PJ!
Good eye, by the way. The two colors are similar, but not dead on. I’d say that Earthshine is more pink compared to the shade in the Christopher Kane duo, which is more peach. Lunar Looks similar to the purple shade, but I think it’s more pearl and less glitter. Does that make sense? Let me see if I can dig up the swatch…
Karen says
Ahh! Here it is:
Christina Tran says
Thanks so much Karen. I was just wondering the same thing!
I have Stud when it released the first time around and love it to death. It just glows!
Dani says
I’m definitely pickin up stud. It looks like one of those 1 shadow eye looks shadows. I have a VERY STRONG section of my brain that loves shiny/sparkly!!!
Karen says
Hi Dani,
I loooooove that color. I have a weakness for taupey/bronzy shades like that one. With some black liner on the inner rim it would be purr-fection!
Happy Friday to you. 🙂
pj says
Thanks Karen, really appreciate it!! I ordered Parallax, Earthshine and Lunar yesterday and I can’t wait for them to get here. This post has me even more excited for them now 🙂
Karen says
You’re welcome! You’re going to have so much fun. Another great thing about these is that they last all day. I had Parallax on for a good 8 hours yesterday and it didn’t crease. I think you’ll love Parallax!
Brittany says
Thanks for the swatches! I own stud from a previous collection and love it! Now to decide what other ones I need ?
Karen says
You’re welcome, Brittany! Stud is so killer. Looks amazing with black liner!
I think the next one you need is Parallax! 😀
Katherine M says
I am loving all of these. My running favorite NARS shade is Galapagos. I pair it with a lot of different things. I think I would want Outer Limits and Stud the most. I am a sucker for anything taupe/bronze and rose gold. Rose gold is just SUCH a flattering shade on just about anyone. It has the right warmth to enhance a tan but yet brings a nice, natural glow in the chilly months. It’s beautiful and I doubt it will ever totally go out of style.
Laura @laurantaina says
I love these! I’m all about glitter right now, and these reminded me of the last year’s Outer Limits shade from the KC collection, which I unfortunately skipped. I think I need to swatch these before purchasing as I’m concerned of the glitter fallout, but judging by your swatches they look amazing! Thank you x
http://www.lauraloukola.net/blog
Tatiana says
I like the swatch of Stud. Still in my cautious state of trying not to spend too much or waste too much money, I’m going to wait until I can test it out in person. Parallax and Pygar are pretty much my kind of colors, too. But I saw some previews of the fall Dior quints (not sure if they’re just Europe only, because all the previews were from UK bloggers) and I want to save for those.
Ana says
I read somewhere that we humans like shiny things because of our instinct of survival. We are always looking for things that resemble water because it is vital for us so when we see glitter it kinda makes us happy because of that?
Not sure if it is true though, I read it on uberfacts LOL. Anyway, a good reason to love glitter! 😀
xo
TravelingBlush says
I just got my 8-pan Narsisist dual eyeshadow palette a month ago (bought it when it went on sale at 63$ plus 20% off) and been loving playing with it so much, especially layering the Metier de Beaute way. Now I want these too, but maybe I’ll wait til they release a palette of these…
Jen says
Oh goodness. I told myself I can have one for my birthday. One. It’s like picking one piece of Halloween candy. I’m stuck between Earthshine and Parallax!
CrystalCandy says
Woah, they are so pretty! I love Stud!
Becky says
I don’t need these at all. But I NEED them. Y’know?!
Parallax is beautiful. I think this and Stud are top of my list – not that I don’t have loads of shiny greys/taupes already…
Eesha says
Pygar is so ????
Agata says
I am really liking this glittery trend! I have been loving my UD Moondust palette and I love how brands are making glitter wearable these days. The look you created is really pretty! I will definitely check these eyeshadows out next time I am at Sephora.
Erin says
These are a bit more sophisticated and easy to wear from what I can tell as opposed to the Moondust by UD (even though they are nice). I just feel that this is more grown up I guess. I love all the shades on your skin tone!
kellly says
I nearly bought Stud online but I can’t bring myself to buy something I haven’t seen in person. I’m just funny that way. So once they show up in store, I’m going to be all over these! I love the way Nars shadows shine but it’s not overwhelming. I’m going to look at Outer Limits, too. Thanks for the nice review and swatches.