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NARS NARSissist Matte/Shimmer Eyeshadow Palette – Buy or Skip?

NARS NARSissist Matte/Shimmer Eyeshadow Palette Review and Swatches

Recently I bought the NARS NARSissist Matte/Shimmer Eyeshadow Palette, new for Fall 2015.  It’s a limited edition palette with 4 matte eyeshadows and 4 shimmer eyeshadows that comes with a mini Night Clubbing eyeliner. I thought it would be great because of the mattes in it, as well as the interesting shimmers. I actually have a fair number of NARS eyeshadow duos that I love, so I thought I would love this palette too.

NARS NARSissist Matte/Shimmer Eyeshadow Palette – Buy or Skip?

Price
$65

Where to Buy
Sephora

NARS NARSissist Matte/Shimmer Eyeshadow Palette Review and Swatches

NARS NARSissist Matte/Shimmer Eyeshadow Palette Review and Swatches

About NARS NARSissist Matte/Shimmer Eyeshadow Palette
From day to night, these eight eye shades take looks from work day to evening. Featuring four matte and four shimmer shadows, this palette includes the mini Night Series Eyeliner in a Night Clubbing—a standout, black shade with gold pearls for head-turning looks.

  • 8 eyeshadows at .05 oz each
  • 1 .oz eyeliner pencil

I swatched these shades on bare skin with my bdellium 777 brushes.

NARS NARSissist Matte/Shimmer Eyeshadow Palette Review and Swatches

The matte shades – top to bottom – Nassau – Maya Bay – Ithaca – Dogon II.

Nassau
creamy french vanilla

Maya Bay
rosy clay

Ithaca
warm nougat

Dogon II
charcoal black

Of the mattes, Nassau and Maya Bay have the best pigmentation. However, Ithaca and Dogon II were extremely patchy. They just didn’t want to lay down on the skin nicely. I also couldn’t get Ithica and Dogon II to blend nicely.

NARS NARSissist Matte/Shimmer Eyeshadow Palette Review and Swatches

The shimmer shades – top to bottom – Madchoure I – Bonifacio – Zagreb – Heraklion.

Mandchoure I
golden-infused denim

Bonifacio
pink sand with shimmer

Zagreb
chocolate-infused with raspberry shimmer

Heraklion
starry night

The shimmery shades were slightly better, but still somewhat patchy. I really wanted the shimmery shades to work a lot better, but they still weren’t up to my standards.

NARS NARSissist Matte/Shimmer Eyeshadow Palette Review and Swatches

I had high hopes for this palette  but it was a nightmare to work with. I tried using the 4 matte shades in my crease for a look and they were patchy. Seriously, they were so hard for me to work with that I gave up on trying to make them work. Above, on top of primer I applied Nassau, then layered Maya Bay on top, then layered Ithaca on top of that, then used a bit of Dogon II. I couldn’t get the colors to blend seamlessly no matter how hard I tried. It was an exercise in frustration.

Sadly for me, this palette is a skip and I will be returning it to Sephora. I HATE having to return something but it’s just too much trouble for me to make it work. If these colors had better pigmentation and were easier to blend I would keep it.

What do you think of the NARS NARSissist Matte/Shimmer Eyeshadow Palette?

33 Comments

  1. I’m glad I saw this review! I had this on my loves list to buy and I’m going to skip it, now. The colours are very similar to what I have in my big Narsissist palette and the quality on this one doesn’t look that hot. 🙂

  2. I tend to avoid Nars palettes because they seem to be so hit and miss. It’s too bad this was such an under-performer.

  3. I am disappointed for you. I know you love Nars and this looks so pretty in the palette. But if the pigment is this lame then it’s good to return.

  4. Thank you for this post because I have looked at this palette a few times… when I saw the swatches before reading your review I was sad heheh

  5. Ack, thanks for the warning about the not-so-great consistency of these! Nothing is worse than a patchy shadow that won’t blend. What a shame coming from NARS!

  6. I’m sorry these turned out so awful. I think you’re totally justified in returning it.

    1. Me too 🙁 I tried so hard to blend the mattes and finally gave up. I figured they didn’t swatch well on bare skin but they’d look better on primer and it was just awful for me 🙁

  7. I would skip… nars has been disappointing me lately this is too similar to the new smashbox palette

  8. Gah! I hate products that you want to love so hard and end up just hating because they just will not work. Thanks for your great review!

  9. Wow, what a patchy disappointment! For that price, it’s definitely a pass for me! I am so bummed out, but I guess it’s saving me money!

  10. What a disappointment! Rather unusual from NARS to be so patchy. Glad you’re returning it

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