Nars Holiday Collection 2009 Taiga and Mousson

Better late than never.

Nars Holiday 2009 collection was very strong on the eye makeup front. I bought and loved the Soft Touch pencils, but couldn't skip some of the regular eye shadows: Taiga (the duo) and Mousson (single cream eye shadow).

Taiga combines a moderately shimmery dark (almost sooty) khaki/olive color with a very sheer, super shimmery golden ivory. I bought it for the khaki which was an instant love. The color is buildable, versatile (can be used on the entire lid or for lining) and looks very flattering against my skin and eyes. Blended with the right nude base it's daytime friendly, but can be easily used for an elegant evening look. The shimmery golden ivory is not something I would have picked had it come as a single. There's very little pigment there (see swatch, or rather- you can't see anything, which is the point) and so much shimmer and glimmer that it's an evening-only product for me. Furthermore, no eye primer I've tried managed to make it hold still and avoid that fairy dust look. However, when brushed over a matte nude shadow (I use Le Metier de Beaute) of excellent quality, it becomes a gorgeous brow bone highlighter and stays in place with no fallout. So it definitely has its use.

I'm not a big fan of cream eye shadows in a pan. I much prefer the excellent Laura Mercier ones that come in a little tube. But as I was playing with the collection at my local Bloomies, the metallic khaki color of Mousson was irresistible and as I tried on its own as well as over a powder shadow it was too pretty to pass. The website describes it as "silver sage", but the shiny finish is quite warm and I'd say it's more of a very pale gold than real silver. It's a lot more dominant compared to the khaki from Taiga, as you can see in the swatches, and they actually go well together for an evening look.

Wearing Mousson over a powder shadow (and a primer) prevents creasing. Still, I wouldn't wear it for 16 hours straight if you don't have a chance to do some touch up, as the lovely finish tends to fade after about six hours. I've been playing with it as a wash, as a top layer for eyeliner and in the crease. It's a winner, for sure, even if I have to use my pinky to apply it- it works better than any of the brushes I have because the texture is quite dense.

Bottom line: Pretty.

Nars Taiga eye shadow duo ($32) and Mousson cream shadow ($21) are available from most department stores, Sephora and narscosmetics.com. I bought them at my local Bloomingdale's.

Photos by me.