NARS High Society Eyeshadow Trio Review, Photos, Swatches
NARS High Society Eyeshadow Trio
NARS Fall 2012: High Society Eyeshadow Trio
NARS High Society Eyeshadow Trio ($45.00 for 0.17 oz.) is described as “lavender,” “matte forest green,” and “iridescent amethyst.” It’s new and limited for fall. I love that NARS has individual wells for each shade of the trio, but it’s a little disappointing that the amount of product is only 0.03 oz. more than a duo yet $11 more. Their eyeshadow formula is described as highly pigmented, long-wearing, and crease-resistant.
The first shade is a smoky light-medium purple with noticeable pink–it’s almost too smoky/dark to be lavender, though it looks a little lighter in the pan than how it does applied. It has a slight powderiness to it when you press your brush against the surface, and it’s a little sheer. I did have to pack it on somewhat to get opaque color. Bobbi Brown Cool Lilac is lighter and pinker. MAC Daylight is more mauve. Bare Escentuals Azure is purpler.
The second shade is a smoky medium-dark brown-toned green. Kind of like a muted army green to me. The texture was soft, just barely powdery, but applied fairly smoothly. Like the first shade, it was a little sheer. Tarina Tarantino Wonderful is greener, brighter. Giorgio Armani Green Jacquard is slightly more intense. Bare Escentuals Utopia is cooler-toned. MAC Flourishing is greener, warmer. Make Up For Ever #84 is rather similar but has a shimmer finish, so the two aren’t as close as they seem.
The third shade is a darkened purple with subtle red-brown undertones and a satiny finish. It had a drier, stiffer texture than I’d liked to have seen, but it was easier to use on the eye with a brush–it wasn’t as blendable as the other two shades, though. Urban Decay Rockstar has a more metallic finish and has less purple (almost more mauve/plum). Bobbi Brown Black Violet is comparable but less smoky. Estee Lauder Cyber Lilac is more frosted. theBalm All the Way Annie is a hint lighter. Make Up For Ever #142 is a smidgen brighter.
I love the color combination; it’s dark and sultry but it really works. The colors and tonal differences flatter each other immensely! I’m less impressed by the overall texture and quality of the trio, though. Two shades were powdery, while the other was dry and stiff. They were easy enough to work with on the lid, but I did have to pack on the lavender shade during application. Without a primer, I had noticeable fading after six hours, especially of the lavender shade. With a primer, the results were better, but there was still enough fading after eight hours to be disappointing.
NARS High Society Eyeshadow Trio
NARS High Society Eyeshadow Trio
NARS High Society Eyeshadow Trio
NARS High Society Eyeshadow Trio
NARS High Society Eyeshadow Trio
NARS High Society Eyeshadow Trio
NARS High Society Eyeshadow Trio
NARS High Society Eyeshadow Trio
NARS High Society Eyeshadow Trio
NARS High Society Eyeshadow Trio
Wow, what a gorgeous color combination! I admit I wasn’t sure about how I felt about purple mixed with the army-esque green, but your eye look really sold me on them together. Sucks about the lack of quality though.
I *love* this. I don’t think I’d get too much use from the green, but the other two are stunning! (By the way, Christine, you have this listed as not LE.)
This is SO SO SO pretty on you! It’s heartbreaking to know the texture is not top-notch, and that fading is an issue ;(
Oh man, I lurve LOVE this~ WTF with NARS and their trios and the poor quality? I remember posting a comment about this prior to the release hoping that they nailed their trio this time because it’s just so darned pretty. I’m sadddd, but I might have to nab this just for that darned green ’cause it looks like one of the few I could possibly wear and it’s so unusual.. look very verwee (typo then I thought it was cute because I sound like Elmer Fudd) neutral to me!
@wwendalynne I didn’t think you were being rude. You know how much I adore NARS but I have no problems saying, flat-out, that their Trios are plagued. I have to wonder if NARS thinks that, with 3 colours, one just has to be sheer and powdery, and the other muted, such that the *THEORY* behind having three makes the final textural result different from many of their Duos. I’m wearing Paramaribo right now (combined with Night Porter), and the Duo’s buttery, lush texture, along with the intensity and pigmentation of both the Duos and the Night Porter….. it’s as if a totally different company made it. I’m really starting to think some theoretical view of what a Trio is supposed to provide or offer is behind the manufacturing process and the final result. I can’t think of any other explanation.
@Kafka It’s the strangest thing and I’ve noticed it predominantly with the trios.. I do have a few singles and the odd duo that are not up to snuff and we’ve discussed Daphne and Outremer previously. I wonder why it happens too and I want to know why!!! Dammit!! I thought perhaps they have a different company manufacture their trios.. that’s all I could come up with, but that doesn’t make any sense either. I’m going to buy this trio regardless.. I want that green and I really like these colours together.. it’s a brilliant combo that just would not have occurred to me..ever!
ooohhh apologies for being so rude.. Thanks for the review Christine!!!! xoxo
@wwendalynne lol, not rude at all! Nothing wrong with not liking a product 😉
I feel like every trio I’ve liked by them falls subpar, which is a darn shame considering I’ve been looking for a good purple palette for awhile. y u do this, NARS?
This is so much nicer on that I would have expected from seeing promo pics of the palette!! I think it especially suits your colouring! I got Guerlain’s spring purple palette so I’m going to use that to recreate something similar – thanks Christine as always!
Love the color combination and how you applied the shadow .. would love to see if I could re-create this with what I have on hand .. although the ‘green’ may be an issue 😉
I only have one NARS eyeshadow (lhasa) and I find it has significant fading issues too (whether I use no primer, UDPP, NARS primer or anything else). It’s a shame because NARS have some lovely colours but I’m scared of buying them incase they fade too
Man, I need that Lavender as a solo. It’s gorgeous.
It’s a lot, LOT prettier on you than I would have expected from scrolling past those very sheer, very DRY looking, sometimes muted swatches! Once again though, that incredible TT Ammunition eyeliner is probably the nicest, most eye-catching part of the look for me. (Damn, I really HAVE to buy that!)
You must have *really,* REALLY packed on the powder to get the colours that you did, as that green looks incredibly muted (if not, faded) in the swatch on my monitor. As usual, the colours are a bit intense and opaque on my phone (which just leads me to wonder which one is more accurate). I passed on this because I thought the colours a bit muddy and only one of them — the deep purple — appealed to me. I think it’s a much prettier purple than UD’s Rockstar which disappointed me with its brown undertones, but it’s not worth getting the Trio for it. Especially as, without your talent and skill, I suspect the three colours would combine into a muddy mess on me.
I told Amy about a month ago when this Trio was available early on eBay that I didn’t understand why NARS’ Trios were always so flawed. Just WHAT is it about adding a 3rd colour that makes NARS screw things up so badly??! Arabesque, Ramatuelle, etc…… they all seem to have just *one* shade that isn’t either dry, super powdery, super sheer and muted, doesn’t fade or has some moderate intensity. Only Okinawa seems to be ok, but still just in an average way. So, NARS, just what is it about Trios that makes you lose the boat?
@Kafka I could see these turning muddy if you blended too much – just with their texture and general coloring, I could definitely see that.
If TT made 50 different shades, I would own all 50. I don’t even want to use anything else!
@Christine (Temptalia) @Kafka enabler.. now I have to check these out too 😛
@Kafka I’m actually loving the lighter shade the most, which is surprising since I thought the darker purple would be my favorite. I will be picking this up, though, but instead of the green in the trio I’d probably use Night Porter. The green in this one just doesn’t appeal to me.
@xamyx @Kafka I’m surprised to hear that as I, too, expected you’d prefer the dark purple shade. But I think we both knew that the green would be a dud that wouldn’t appeal to either of us. LOL. I think the green in Rajasthan might go very well with this too, esp. with the lighter shade. I’ve done a lot of combinations of that green or the Night Porter ( & UD’s Loaded, too) with various NARS purples and it never fails to be a gorgeous colour combination. I also think the darker shade in Paramaribo would go well with the 2 purples in this Trio. It’s the ideal goldish bronze with, to my eye, a faint khaki brown undertone. I know you’re hesitating on Paramaribo but, seriously, you need to swatch it in person! Gorgeous. A slightly more green or olive version of that would have been much more successful, imo, than this completely muted, dulled, faded army green.
@Kafka @xamyx Hey, this dud loves the green, okay? Stop picking on it because the only greens I can wear are weird greens. Either really bright and citrus or really dark and muted and army green like this, And.. I can’t believe I didn’t know this already, but Nars has a Canada site. Yay!!!!! Oh, and I like the light purple a helluvalot too and the dark purple is just another dark purple to me. It is so fun to see all of our takes on this one and mine is on order as I speak. 😛 Nite nite cosmetic junkies xoxo
Love the shades! Too bad they are so dry and stiff 🙁 I might get it anyway, but it’s not on my must-have list like I thought it would be.
I thought Nars was going to have an Andy Warhol collection. Did they cancel it or is it coming out later?
Later, I believe – they haven’t done much more than announce it 🙂
@Christine (Temptalia) It’s scheduled for release in the US in October (November worldwide, I believe), and as far as I know, it’s an additional collection, and has nothing to do with Fall, Winter, or Holiday collections. HTH
Andy Warhol collection??? *gasps* Soooo looking forward to that now! 😀
This is the one I’ve been waiting for. It’s gorgeous! Much more exciting than Vent Glace, in my opinion anyway.
I was wondering what kind of lens you use for the pictures, especially the last one.
Nikon 60mm
I love how you wore the shades together. The purple is pretty!
Such a beautiful combo in the palette and even more so on your eyes!
Nice job, Christine! 🙂
Gorgeous on you. François Nars says this trio IS the must-have in the Fall collection, well I prefer the duo Vent Glacé but the trio looks really pretty too ( I wont’ purchase it I think for there is a green eyeshadow but all the 3 shades are very nice ! )
I’m so glad I waited to purchase! On one hand, the colors look absolutely stunning on you (I think), but the wear time and creasing are usually a real deal breaker for me. How do you think this color combo will look on a fair skinned (cool toned) person?
@Ann Clothier Phenomenal on a fair, cool-toned person!
Nars is really expensive in Mexico, specially the trios, so one would expect to get a super nice, high quallity product, bummer this isn’t ’cause I love those shades, even tough I find them fairly dupeable….. but the better for my wallet I guess LOL
Chris, I am eagerly waiting for your review on the Guerlain quad for fall, I have my eye on Les Fumes but I’ll better check this one out first….hopefully you’ll review the new blushers aswell?? ’cause they do seem super fab!!
Many thanks for your great job!! =D
In fact, Nars is not expensive in Mexico. If you convert the US prices to mexican pesos, you will realize it isn’t that much. YSL and Bobbi Brown palettes are way more expensive in Mexico (almost $20 USD more), but not Nars.
The colour combination is so awesome, I will have to take a look at it in Sephora.
No, this is so depressing! I love these color combos…sad to see the texture doesn’t quite live up to the hype. Usually NARS has such great eyeshadows!
I love the colour combination in this palette — the texture (by the sounds of it,) probably not so much, but the shades? Definitely. I’m not usually much of a green fan, but it’s lovely to see such an unexpected (but well-coordinated) array of shades in an eyeshadow trio by a mainstream brand!
Will it be available on Sephora?
I got this trio because I like purplish eyeshadows. I got a mini makeover at Nars counter where they mostly used the mauve and purple shades, paired with navy eyeliner. There was something I didn’t like. I also didn’t know what to do with the green shade (I really don’t like how greens look on me), until in a second visit, Nars Senior MUA for Mexico suggested using it do deepen crease and as accent. So I did today and I’m quite liking the result. I used a black eyeliner this time and I prefer it to navy. However, I feel it needs a lighter shade to highlight, or I need to find a good shade to pair it for highlightning.
I agree with you the mauve shade needs to be packed because it’s sheer. However, as for wear time, I disagree. I did my mu around 7:30 this morning, and it’s around 17:00 and it’s intact. After 9 hours I have no creasing and looks as if I just applied it. I always use Nars primer and works great.
Hi Anne,
I test both with and without eyeshadow primer, because NARS’ eyeshadows are touted as long-wearing and crease-resistant on their own merit, not with the aid of primer. I, too, used NARS’ primer. Just FYI 🙂
My disagreement is about the wear time with primer, since in my case it hasn’t faded after 9 hours. I can’t comment about the wear time without primer, since I haven’t found a powder eyeshadow that doesn’t crease on my lids if I wear it without primer.
I just wanted to state I used the same primer as you, and unfortunately, those were my results – just to confirm/give you more information 🙂
Thanks a lot, sometimes same products have different outcomes to people, right?
I actually checked your review to see which highlight shade did you use, since I feel the trio needs a lighter shade to highlight.
Thanks a lot for your replies 😉
No problem 🙂