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NARS Palladium Soft Touch Shadow Pencil Review, Photos, Swatches

NARS Palladium Soft Touch Shadow Pencil
The Culprit

Do you ever get angry at your beauty products?

Back in July, I first tried out NARS Palladium Soft Touch Shadow Pencil ($24.00 for 0.14 oz.) in this look, and I really LOVED how everything came together, but of course, it was only a matter of time–fifteen minutes in fact–that this was creasing and melting into an eyeshadow catastrophe.

I was actually rather frustrated with it creasing so quickly, but I was angry with the product itself. Why? Because it was BEAUTIFUL! Palladium is a gorgeous shimmering aqua-teal with flashes of aqua-blue glitter strewn through. It even applied very smoothly to the lid, despite its grittier texture (from the glitter). I don’t like to be made to look like a fool, because I gave Aigle Noir a rather positive review (B, and while it creased without shadow on top, I had no issues using it underneath eyeshadow) [editor’s note: revised grade to D- due to brand’s marketing claims], and this shade creases like nothing else–alone, with shadow, over a base!

The only use I found for this product was as an eyeliner. Surprisingly, the staying power is ten-fold better on my lower lash line (I didn’t try it on the upper lash line), though it won’t last through twelve hours ofhumidity by any means. It stayed put for three to four hours before migrating and fading a bit, but it didn’t look terrible at the end of the day. However, since it’s such a thick pencil, it’s not very convenient to use it along the lower lash line, and the glittery bits mean it is rougher against the area, too.

Have you ever had a beauty product really anger you?

NARS Palladium Soft Touch Shadow Pencil Review, Photos, Swatches

F
2
Product
10
Pigmentation
8
Texture
2.5
Longevity
3
Application
57%
Total

NARS Palladium Soft Touch Shadow Pencil
The Culprit

NARS Palladium Soft Touch Shadow Pencil
The Culprit

NARS Palladium Soft Touch Shadow Pencil
The Culprit

49 Comments

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Crystal Avatar

Just wanted to say thank you for your reviews-sometimes you send me straight to the cosmetics counter to spend some $$. But I wanted to tell you thanks for helping me stay away from the counter when it comes to a product like this! I was so excited to try this because I love Nars-but this would have only made me mad!

Tina Avatar

Oh my heart! I was SO CLOSE to buying this too. Booooo! I’ve had a lot of mascaras anger me. Drug store brands to high end brands (more so high end brands since they’re pricey), a lot of them have disappointed me in some way. Usually, it’s some sort of fall out that gives me raccoon eyes.

Rach Avatar

That’s how UD’s Pocket Rockets make me feel. The smell is just so aweful. And it lingers! I was so mad b/c I loved the color but needed nose plugs.

Jenna Avatar

I have to chip in here! I actually own this myself and i have very dry eyes, this didn’t crease on me at all. I also had used Tfsi and it never creased!

Mariah Avatar

It is SOOO pretty. I agree. I have this happen all the time, sadly. I have beautiful big eyes, but that means ANYTHING will crease on me unless I prime properly, and even then sometimes it’s just a mess. So there’s been a billion products that irritate the shizz out of me. I feel your pain, girl.

Amy Avatar

Not really angry, I’m mostly…bothered by some. Lately I’ve been let down by two concealers in a jar that I bought -two light shades, trying to match my undertone- and they ended up being way too dry in texture for my combination skin. I learnt my lesson and now stick to liquid concealers- MAC select moisturecover being the best one I’ve ever tried.

Speaking about MAC, I was so let down by their Shadestick in Shark skin. Such a gorgeous colour when you swatch it on your hand, but the texture is way too hard to let me blend such a dark colour as effortlessly as I would like to on my lids. I end up having to pat it on my fingertip and then on the lid and work quite a bit to make it blend- not that awful, but for the price I’d have expected better quality.

meghan Avatar

I dropped $72 on the other 3 shadow pencils only to have the formula SUCK no matter what I used under it as a base and I tried EVERYTHING. Well….udpp, mac paint pot, nars primer, possibly benefit creaseless cream shadow and maybe even more…nothing worked. Nars has some serious issues with poor formulation (imo) which is a shame because they have amazing ideas for colors!

Mackenzie Avatar

I bought one of this soft touch shadow pencils in another shade earlier this summer and haven’t had anything with trouble with it! I’ve only worn it once or twice since it was such a crease-y mess.
Biggest makeup purchase regret in a long time. I’ll stick to NARS blushes and bronzer.

Deb Avatar

Oh no, how frustrating! I get mad at beauty products all the time. When my pencil eyeliner leaves a chunk of the tip on my lid (though it’s my fault for pushing too hard) or when my mascara clumps.

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