Kamchatka and Namibia are two of the new eye shadow colors that join the NARS permanent lineup this fall (the limited edition eye shadow for this collection, a light brown, is called Yamal). Both Kamchatka and Namibia are matte with the typical NARS matte texture: light and slightly crumbly in the compact, but don't create any fallout/debris on skin. Kamchatka and Namibia offer decent pigmentation, but they aren't the most intense or impressive mattes NARS has to offer, for better and for worse. These two eye shadows go well together and blend nicely, provided you give them optimal conditions: a creamy primer (Edward Bess and Kanebo Sensai outperform the one from NARS in this case), and use the right brushes. The swatches you see above were created with a Louise Young LY47 brush, while the ones below with a Hakuhodo Kokutan WM, which is one of the best lay-down brushes I have.
Namibia is a light luminous gray, not quite dove-ish, unlike anything else I own (granted, I have few true gray eye shadows), and on my skin leans quite cool. The darker Edward Bess base makes the color stand out more and takes away some of the blue/cool undertone. I like it all over the lid for a subtle effect, and accenting it with Kamchatka, which a medium dark blue, somewhere between navy and cadet. I have quite a collection of blue eye shadows, but to my surprise Kamchatka still stands out. The navy from Hourglass Vol. 6 palette is a true blue while Kamchatka leans purple in comparison. Bobbi Brown Navy is the most pigmented and darkest. It's also the hardest one to blend (Hourglass has the superior texture, no surprises there).Christine from Temptalia brings more comparisons.
Bottom Line: nice, but not rocking my world.
NARS Kamchatka & Namibia Eye Shadows For Fall 2013 ($24 each) will be available from narscosmetics.com starting July 15th. The products for this review were sent to me free of charge by the company.
I was all set to buy these online the minute they were available, based on the colors in the pan. It was going to be my one fall purchase. Now, I think I will wait til I can try them out in person.
ReplyDeleteI think these colors are awful though just my personal opinion.
ReplyDeleteI'm not thrilled...but I don't agree with your assessment of shadow primers. I have both the Edward Bess and the Nars. I rushed to get the EB primer as soon as I read the glowing reviews. I find that Nars is much better (for me, at least), the EB is much too thick and doesn't work as well.
ReplyDeleteI like purples and barely-there nudes but these are a tad bit flat. I find that as I get older, a touch of shimmer is flattering to my skin.
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