2 New Eyeshadow Palettes That I’m Loving Right Now

I have patiently been anticipating these two palettes for a while now. The Hourglass one for many months and the NARS one for a few weeks. Now that I have them both in my possession – I could not wait to share my review of them with you. The Hourglass one has been debated all around for it’s performance and texture, and I will address both of those with you in my post below. But first, let’s start with the NARS Dual Intensity Palette review, shall we?

1. NARS Dual Intensity Palette – While I was quite enamored with the original launch of the NARS Dual Intensity shadows late last year, I was not moved enough to purchase any of them. Odd I know, but sometimes I am excited for a launch but for some reason or another, I don’t end up purchasing the product. However, as soon as I saw the first few sneak peeks of this palette, I knew I would need it. And it thankfully combines all the shades from the individual shadows that I was interested in from the first release. As you can see from below, the texture is creamy, smooth and applies evenly with a nice sheen rather than intense shimmer/sparkle. I am absolutely in love with this palette and think I will get a ton of use out of it both on a daily basis and even for travel. There is a great flat eye shadow brush that comes in the palette and a huge mirror which makes it perfect for traveling and any touch ups that may be needed. The blue was the only shade that made me a bit hesitant, but after swatching it, I found that it was much more muted and wearable than anticipated. I see a smokey sapphire eye in my future very soon.

2. Hourglass Modernist Palette in Monochrome – To say there has been a buzz around this palette is an understatement. And now that they are finally here, the reviews are majorly divided. Some love it, some do not – but I have been testing it out for a few weeks and am on the “love” team. Majorly love it. Yes, it is quite powdery when used – as evidenced by my picture below. As soon as a brush hits the palette, powder goes everywhere and it seems quite delicate.

However, though it is quite powdery in the pan, I found NO fall out when applied to my eyes. And frankly, the only thing that matters to me is how it performs on my lids. The texture is so buttery soft that it almost feels like a cream, which is probably why it creates so much dust when a brush touches it. But that smoothness that can be messy in the pan is what makes this shadow such a joy to blend. I find that the colors literally melt into one another on the lid and created an intense yet soft look. The pigmentation falls right in the middle of the intensity spectrum for me and I enjoy that. It is enough to really create a striking look on the eye, but not strong enough that I need to spend 20 minutes trying to blend it out to an appropriate day look.