NARS Kalahari Duo Eyeshadow Review & Swatches
Kalahari
NARS Kalahari Duo Eyeshadow (2018) ($35.00 for 0.08 oz.) includes a warm, golden taupe and a soft, rosy brown. The two shades can work well together, but the quality of both made the duo a miss for me–too dusty, which led to sheerer coverage, a drier look on my lids, and sub-par longevity.
Kalahari I
Kalahari I is a medium, golden taupe with strong, warm undertones and a frosted finish. The pigmentation was opaque, but the consistency was drier and dustier, which resulted in some of the coverage getting lost when I started to blend the eyeshadow on my lid. There was slight fallout while I worked with it, and it did not “melt” onto my lid like a lot of the other shimmery shades from the brand have. It wore well for seven hours on me.
Top Dupes
- Colour Pop Saute (LE, $4.50) is more shimmery, lighter (90% similar).
- MAC Satin Taupe #2 (PiP, $17.00) is more shimmery (90% similar).
- NARS Daydream (DC, $25.00) is more shimmery, darker (90% similar).
- Giorgio Armani Avant-Premiere #3 (PiP, ) is lighter (90% similar).
- Stila Metallic Taupe (LE, $18.00) is more shimmery, lighter (90% similar).
- Colour Pop Snake Eyes (P, $4.50) is more shimmery, darker (90% similar).
- MAC Superwatt (LE, $22.00) is more shimmery, lighter (90% similar).
- Too Faced Rum Raisin (PiP, $16.00) is more shimmery (90% similar).
- Urban Decay Toasted (P, $19.00) is more shimmery, cooler (90% similar).
- Tom Ford Beauty Nude Dip #3 (LE, ) is more shimmery, darker (90% similar).
Formula Overview
$19.00/0.04 oz. - $475.00 Per Ounce
The formula is supposed to have "rich, high-impact color" that is "lightweight" and has "increased blendability." Like most larger ranges, there are winners and losers, and some of how they perform can be related to the type of finish. The mattes are soft, slightly dusty in the pans (or not at all) with medium to opaque, often buildable, color coverage. The satin and metallics tend to be smoother, more blendable, and more pigmented with less effort; NARS does the these lower shimmer finishes particularly well, which just looks "melted" on the skin as they lay down so smoothly and have a great shine.
Most shades applied better on my lid than swatched on my arm, which has been something seen across NARS' eyeshadows for years and didn't change with the recent update to their powder eyeshadow formula. On average, they lasted between seven and nine hours on me without primer. They did apply well over primer and stayed on well for 14 hours with minimal fading.
Worth noting: the updated formula and packaging resulted in a product decrease from 0.07 oz. per pan to 0.04 oz. The single eyeshadows received a more noticeable price drop (from $24 to $19) but the duo eyeshadows could be priced better (from $36 to $35).
Browse all of our NARS Eyeshadow (2018) swatches.
Kalahari II
Kalahari II is a soft brown with warm, rosy undertones and a satin finish. It had opaque color payoff that applied somewhat evenly in a single layer, but the texture was drier and thinner, so it had a tendency to sheer out and get “eaten” by my lids as I tried to diffuse the edges. It stayed on well for six and a half hours before fading noticeably.
Top Dupes
- Kat Von D Heaven Knows (LE, ) is darker (90% similar).
- NABLA Cosmetics Contigo (PiP, $8.00) is less shimmery, darker (85% similar).
- Becca Ombre Rouge #2 (PiP, ) is lighter, cooler (85% similar).
- Tarte Bangle (LE, ) is less shimmery, more muted, cooler (85% similar).
- Viseart Caramel (PiP, ) is less shimmery, cooler (85% similar).
- Too Faced Cleavage (PiP, $16.00) is less shimmery, cooler (85% similar).
- MAC Pink Sienna (LE, $17.00) is less shimmery, darker (85% similar).
- KKW Beauty Dash (PiP, ) is less shimmery (85% similar).
- LORAC Pecan (PiP, $19.00) is less shimmery, darker (85% similar).
- Zoeva Nuanced History (LE, ) is less shimmery (85% similar).
Formula Overview
$19.00/0.04 oz. - $475.00 Per Ounce
The formula is supposed to have "rich, high-impact color" that is "lightweight" and has "increased blendability." Like most larger ranges, there are winners and losers, and some of how they perform can be related to the type of finish. The mattes are soft, slightly dusty in the pans (or not at all) with medium to opaque, often buildable, color coverage. The satin and metallics tend to be smoother, more blendable, and more pigmented with less effort; NARS does the these lower shimmer finishes particularly well, which just looks "melted" on the skin as they lay down so smoothly and have a great shine.
Most shades applied better on my lid than swatched on my arm, which has been something seen across NARS' eyeshadows for years and didn't change with the recent update to their powder eyeshadow formula. On average, they lasted between seven and nine hours on me without primer. They did apply well over primer and stayed on well for 14 hours with minimal fading.
Worth noting: the updated formula and packaging resulted in a product decrease from 0.07 oz. per pan to 0.04 oz. The single eyeshadows received a more noticeable price drop (from $24 to $19) but the duo eyeshadows could be priced better (from $36 to $35).
Browse all of our NARS Eyeshadow (2018) swatches.
I LOVE Kalahari….love, love, love! I was almost distressed when I saw Sephora getting rid of it as it’s one of the few shadows I am coming close to hitting pan on. So I will be happy to get another. I find that the left side, applied over something like Lise Watier Chic Glam shadow pencil or the Sephora jumbo shadow pencils or even UDPP in Sin gives the most amazing results. I don’t know if you reviewed the original or how it rated but, honestly, I like it so much and I’m willing to go to that extra bit of trouble to get it to work well for me.
I think every brand has a shade in the Kalahari 1 and certainly the standard of Kalahari 2 makes this a redundant duo. I can really see the dustiness in the swatches.
Just going off the swatches alone, I really expected this duo to perform better than it did. It could have been a good little duo to keep in one’s bag for on the fly, quickie eye looks.
I’d be really curious to know how the old formula Kalahari compares to this new one. (I think the old one didn’t get a review from years ago, unless my search skillz are failing me!) Color-wise, it’s one of the really OG and popular NARS duos and it’s super pretty and versatile. Throw it on and I get instant compliments! ^_^;
(Edit to clarify: I have the old formula duo, not the new!)
I love the old formula of the NARS Kalahari duo, and it is one of my favorites. Mine doesn’t seem so dusty, and they wear well for me with a little UDPP. I hope all of the newly formulated eye shadows are as good as the originals that worked well for me. I have plenty of NARS, so I don’t see myself buying up all of the new formulations. I also don’t like the fact that they are no longer CF. I probably won’t be buying any NARS anymore due to that as well as having too much I only use occasionally.