NARS Chiang Mai Duo Eyeshadow Review, Photos, Swatches
Chiang Mai
NARS Chiang Mai Eyeshadow Duo ($35.00 for 0.14 oz.) features a shimmery bluish-teal and a shimmery red brown. I think you can combine the two shades together, but they were easier for me to pair with other shades for a better gradient. The left shade could be better and often looked more faded applied than it did in the pan, while the right shade was easy to use.
Look Using this Product
Chiang Mai
LELimited Edition. $35.00.
Chiang Mai (Left)
Chiang Mai (Left) is a muted, medium bluish-teal with a soft, green-gold sheen. It had good pigmentation, but it appeared faded and softer swatched and applied to the lid than it did in the pan, which may or may not be what you prefer. The consistency was soft, blendable, a touch firmer in the pan but not difficult to pickup. It lasted for seven hours on me before fading noticeably.
Top Dupes
- KVD Beauty Ignite (DC, $21.00) is darker (95% similar).
- Pretty Vulgar Fancy (PiP, ) is more shimmery (95% similar).
- NARS Deep End (LE, $29.00) is cooler (95% similar).
- NARS Bavaria (DC, $25.00) is darker (95% similar).
- Anastasia Venezia (LE, $12.00) is darker (90% similar).
- theBalm #23 (P, $6.50) is darker (90% similar).
- Makeup Geek Mermaid (DC, $6.00) is darker (90% similar).
- ColourPop Flower Shop (LE, $6.00) is darker (90% similar).
- CoverGirl Turquoise Glow (325) (LE, $4.99) is lighter, warmer (90% similar).
- Inglot #413 (P, $7.00) is darker (90% similar).
Chiang Mai (Left)
DCDiscontinued. $25.00.
Chiang Mai (Right)
Chiang Mai (Right) is a medium-dark, red-toned brown with a frosted sheen. The color payoff was mostly opaque, while it had a soft, blendable texture that wasn’t too firm or too soft in the pan. It was easy to apply to bare skin and diffuse the edges without losing intensity where I wanted it. This shade lasted for seven hours on me before fading.
Top Dupes
- MAC Pink Sensibilities #1 (LE, $21.00) is cooler (95% similar).
- Makeup Geek Hocus Pocus (P, $12.00) is more shimmery (95% similar).
- Hourglass Blaze (P, $29.00) is lighter (90% similar).
- Anastasia Rose Pink (PiP, $12.00) is more shimmery, lighter (90% similar).
- Le Metier de Beaute Champagne Shimmer (P, $28.00) is less shimmery (90% similar).
- Smashbox Psyched (PiP, ) is darker (90% similar).
- ColourPop Anthem (P, $4.50) is more shimmery (90% similar).
- Coloured Raine Intergalactic (DC, $6.99) is less shimmery, darker (90% similar).
- Smashbox XO, Vlada (LE, ) is more shimmery (90% similar).
- Jouer Rose Gold (LE, $24.00) is less shimmery, lighter, brighter (90% similar).
An unusual pairing of colors, but I definitely like it.
It is!
I am so excited for my order with this now!
Woohoo! How will you wear the duo, Michele?
I’m going to have to play with it a bit when I receive it. It’s going to depend on the level of shimmer in the duo. Will update after I receive it.
Wearing the duo today. I used the right shade for the mobile lid. I used 2 mattes from the BH Cosmetics Modern Mattes palette. I used the salmon-y shade in the 5th column across, second row down for the transition/crease shade and then the one right above it to darken the outer portion of the crease since I have hooded eyes. I used an OCC loose pigment for highlight under the brow. Then I wet a pencil brush with the NXY Dewy Finish Spray and used the blue NARS shade to line under my bottom lashes with the waterline being the LORAC Nude pencil. For top lash line, I first lined with the Illamasqua pencil in Debonair (which is a smidge darker than the NARS shade and less teal) and then I went over it with that same pencil brush with the NARS shadow. I really am happy with the look!
Prettier than I thought it would be from the combo in the pan!
That’s always a happy surprise!
These colors aren’t the best for me, but they’re so pretty, and I always want NARS LE eyeshadows for some reason, even when they aren’t my best colors, even when they don’t perform super-well… I don’t know why, I just want them!
I like them separately more than I do together, lol! I think if it was a more coppery brown or maybe a cool brown, I’d dig it more (just personally!).
Yes, it seems like blending them together would just give you a different brown, so they would work better when used distinctly, like you’ve done. Of course, I’ve probably never used just a duo anyway lol, unless it was for a smoky eye look (which I can’t really see with this duo). I like the way NARS sometimes puts together colors that you wouldn’t usually think of putting together, but that doesn’t mean it’s how I always want to use them on my eyes.
Funny, I like it, but don’t love it. Thinking that MAC Sable and UD Shattered, which I have here, would suitably dupe this duo? I have GOT to remember to use Shattered more often!
As a duo, it’s not my fave – I like the idea of a duo that is usable on its own more readily. You can totally pair the two together, but it’ll take more expertise to make the two really work well together, IMO!
Same here. I actually love pairing my UD Shattered with Last Call. Less certain I’d be crazy about a warm brown instead of Last Call. But might be an interesting color experiment!
I was mainly interested in the blue, but since KVD Ignite is similar and better quality, will skip. Love the dupes list!
Christine, I commented earlier (when you showed the sneak preview of the Nars spring collection) that Nars often has some weird pairings in their duos – not bad, but not always duos you can use on their own – and that this duo looked to be along those lines. The blue does look disappointing (are you actually wearing it in the 2 eye photos, because it’s virtually invisible) and the other shade is just sort of “meh” to me. I think this whole collection will be an easy “miss” for me (leaving me “mad money” for one of the Chanel quads, if I like them after seeing them in-store).
I didn’t in this particular look (I was photographing other things and did not feel confident about blending the bluish shade with the rest), though when I tested for wear, I wore the duos separately!
It is a harder duo to wear on its own – it would be easier with other products, and if I did it with the other duo in the launch, I’d be more likely to wear the bluish shade on the inner third of the lid, then the lightest shade in the other duo in the middle, and use the rest after that – to create good separation between blue and pink!
Mariella, my Chanel buddy at Holt’s showed me the entire Chanel spring collection on Sunday. I was interested in one of the quads (Codes Subtil, I think it’s called, but don’t quote me) based on online pics, but when I saw it in person, I wasn’t overly impressed. I mean, it’s pretty enough but fairly dupable, IMO. But the new blush and powder are beautiful! And there’s a matte coral lipstick – La Secrete – that’s really nice, too, if coral lipsticks are your thing. Everything will be on counter this Friday 🙂
Cathy, thanks for that information. Coral lipstick (coral “anything”) doesn’t look good on me – I’m much more a berry, red, pink/cool-tones person. And the more I’ve thought about those 2 new quads, the more I’ve come around to your way of thinking – nice but “underwhelming” (why don’t they just make Empreinte du desert permanent!!!!). I’m going to take a look at them when they hit the Chanel counter here but I don’t know if I’ll get anything. I really am hitting critical mass in terms of storage of “stuff” and that alone is making me less and less keen to buy new cosmetics (though I’ve been trying/buying a lot of new skincare).
I really like it. I’m not sure how it would look on me but I might have to find out.
Looks very pretty i will definitely check it out in store. NARS is great at coming up with unusual pairings and i tend to have good luck with the duos i have purchased in the past.
It looks so similar at first to china seas, which surprised me, but maybe its just different enough?
As mentioned above, an unusual pairing of shades – which I think would be better in a quad so that other shades can be included to provide contrast or balance. Not really a fan.
I really like the reddish/pinky one!! It would be so pretty with my dark brown eyes!!!
I love that blue eyeshadow but I doubt that I would know how to wear it. It’s a beautiful shade, though.
I really like this duo; I can’t imagine how I’d wear the two shades together, but I would definitely wear both. Picking this up for sure 🙂
I don’t understand the point of a duo that doesn’t stand alone! I thought the whole point of duos were for those people liked a 2-shadow looks or beginners–seems to defeat the whole purpose! ><