NARS Underworld Duo Eyeshadow (2018) Review & Swatches

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NARS Underworld Duo Eyeshadow (2018)
NARS Underworld Duo Eyeshadow (2018)
NARS Underworld Duo Eyeshadow (2018)
NARS Underworld Duo Eyeshadow (2018)
NARS Underworld Duo Eyeshadow (2018)
NARS Underworld Duo Eyeshadow (2018)
NARS Underworld Duo Eyeshadow (2018)
NARS Underworld Duo Eyeshadow (2018)
NARS Twinkling Night Sky Look | Look Details
NARS Twinkling Night Sky Look | Look Details
NARS Twinkling Night Sky Look | Look Details
NARS Twinkling Night Sky Look | Look Details
NARS Twinkling Night Sky Look | Look Details
NARS Twinkling Night Sky Look | Look Details
NARS Underworld Duo Eyeshadow (2018)
NARS Underworld Duo Eyeshadow (2018)
NARS Underworld Duo Eyeshadow (2018)
NARS Underworld Duo Eyeshadow (2018)
NARS Twinkling Night Sky Look | Look Details
NARS Twinkling Night Sky Look | Look Details
NARS Twinkling Night Sky Look | Look Details

Underworld

NARS Underworld Duo Eyeshadow (2018) ($35.00 for 0.08 oz.) contains a light-medium silver and a faded, navy blue both with more pearlized/satiny finishes–shiny, smooth but not metallic or frosted. Both shades performed well, better in practice than just swatched, with good pigmentation, blendability, and wear.


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NARS Underworld I Eyeshadow (2018)
NARS Underworld I Eyeshadow (2018)
NARS Underworld I Eyeshadow (2018)
NARS Underworld I Eyeshadow (2018)
NARS Underworld I Eyeshadow (2018)
NARS Underworld I Eyeshadow (2018)

Underworld I

Underworld I is a light-medium silver with a pearly sheen. It had semi-opaque, buildable pigmentation with a firmer, denser consistency in the pan. The texture was thinner overall, but it applied rather well in practice as the eyeshadow blended out with ease and built up nicely without fallout. The less-than-metallic finish made it harder to dupe, too, as it had a soft sheen that you don’t see often in silver/gray shades. It wore well for eight hours before fading slightly.

FURTHER READING: Formula Overview for details on general performance and characteristics (like scent).

Possible Dupes
These are likely to be very similar shades based on our duping algorithm.

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.

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NARS Underworld II Eyeshadow (2018)
NARS Underworld II Eyeshadow (2018)
NARS Underworld II Eyeshadow (2018)
NARS Underworld II Eyeshadow (2018)
NARS Underworld II Eyeshadow (2018)
NARS Underworld II Eyeshadow (2018)

Underworld II

Underworld II is a muted, medium-dark blue with cool undertones and a pearly sheen. It had nearly opaque pigmentation in a single layer, while the texture was soft, smooth, and blendable with a firmer feel, but it wasn’t stiff or difficult to pick up with a brush. The eyeshadow melded well with my lid and looked very smooth, but shiny. It stayed on nicely for eight and a half hours before fading a bit.

FURTHER READING: Formula Overview for details on general performance and characteristics (like scent).

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.

15 Comments

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Genevieve Avatar

This is a stunning duo, particularly for cool toned eyeshadow lovers. Both shades complement each other so well and they are both of excellent quality (unusual for NARS – often one is great and the other is a dud).
Both are shades that a lot of other brands struggle to get right too.
Lovely eye look Christine.

kjh Avatar

You don’t have the originals for a comparison, right, Christine? I have this duo from an anniversary palette that may still not be depotted. Don’t remember these being so nice; think I found them too dark. Will Drag ‘em out. I had to depot lots of Nars old formula lipstick, put them in sample jars and refrigerated them. I got more compliments on King Kong than any lipwear this year. Would not be a bad reissue now; fun bronzy shade that may have depot-aged a bit more rosy.

Ginny Avatar

The old one was a matte navy on the right (not super dark, like medium navy). The old left side was more like the right side here—medium blue but with a gold overlay. This reformulation is pretty different, but I’m liking the look of it.

Mariella Avatar

In all of this, the shadow that really grabs my interest is Madrid! (I don’t wear many blue or silvery shadows and can probably find something in my stash if I want to try to replicate this look). But Madrid looks so appealing. I have 2 of the better Hardwired shadows (Stud and Pygar) but I know some of them from 2 years ago were awful. So I’m eager to see how Madrid rates. Mind you, it looks like Sephora’s not getting this shade either so I’ll hope I have dupes.

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