NARS Underworld Duo Eyeshadow (2018) Review & Swatches

Christine — Mon, 03 Sep 2018 21:00:00 +0000

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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A Twinkling, Night Sky Look featuring NARS Eyeshadows

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Underworld

PPermanent. $35.00.

A-

Product

Pigmentation

9.5

Texture

8.5

Longevity

Application

91%

Total

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).

Top Dupes

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LORAC Glacier (LE, $19.00) is more shimmery, cooler (95% similar).
MAC Misfit (LE, $17.00) is more shimmery, darker (90% similar).
MAC Tattle-Tale (LE, ) is more shimmery, lighter (85% similar).
Urban Decay Free Folk (LE, $19.00) is more shimmery, lighter (85% similar).
BH Cosmetics Foil Eyes 2 #18 (PiP, ) is more shimmery, darker, cooler (85% similar).

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Possible Dupes

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

Giorgio Armani #22 (DC, $33.00).

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.

Look Using this Product

A Twinkling, Night Sky Look featuring NARS Eyeshadows

Read How-To

View all Photos

Read How-To

View all Photos

Underworld I

PiPPermanent in Palette. $19.00.

A-

Product

Pigmentation

Texture

8.5

Longevity

Application

90%

Total

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).

Top Dupes

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MAC Celestial Peak (LE, $17.00) is more shimmery, darker, warmer (95% similar).
Anastasia Dragonfly (P, $12.00) is warmer (90% similar).
NABLA Cosmetics Under Pressure (P, $8.00) is more shimmery, darker, warmer (90% similar).
Clarins Jade #3 (PiP, ) is darker, warmer (90% similar).
ColourPop 14 (LE, $4.50) is more shimmery, brighter (90% similar).
Natasha Denona Metallic Steel Blue (11M) (PiP, $29.00) is darker, brighter, warmer (90% similar).
Divergent Erudite Sapphire (LE, ) is more shimmery, darker, cooler (90% similar).
Viseart Sapphire (PiP, ) is more shimmery, cooler (90% similar).
MAC Blk-ish (LE, ) is less shimmery, darker, cooler (90% similar).
Fyrinnae Mermaid Masquerade (P, $8.50) is more shimmery, darker (85% similar).