No eyeshadow colour makes me feel prettier than rose gold. It’s both what I reach for when I want to look more fresh and awake, and my starting point for soft romantic looks. And unlike cooler or darker colours that need more fussing over – on my skin tone at least – I can always count on rose gold to be flattering in a hurry.
I’ve owned and tested loads of rose gold shadows the years and have become quite picky about what I use, so believe me when I say NARS Dual Intensity Eyeshadow in Rigel is the bomb. It is seriously the most perfect rose gold shadow I’ve ever owned, and that’s a lot coming from someone as particular as I am.
My previous favourites were Josie Maran’s Watercolour Eyeshadow in Rio de Rose Gold (discontinued, but still available on Amazon and QVC) and Ardency Inn Manuka-Enriched Pigment in Rose Gold, both of which are beautiful but neither perfect. Rio de Rose Gold had the bright blingy finish I wanted, but it needed a lot of work to mix the pigment, the doe foot applicator kept breaking, and the tone was just a bit too orange. Ardency Inn’s take on the colour is more burnished, and actually has a bit of a mauve undertone.
But Rigel…oh man. NARS really got it right with Rigel. Here’s a comparison with some other rose gold beauties in my collection. I swatched it with Urban Decay Trick from my Naked 3 Palette which is lovely but has chunky glitter which gets everywhere, and E.L.F Baked Highlighter in Blush Gems which is a perfect highlighter but too sheer in its base colour to really be a good rose gold eyeshadow.
Rigel is the exact colour I think of when I picture rose gold – neither too orange nor pink, neither too silver nor gold – and you can wear it subtly or foil it on till the sheen is visible from space (guess what my preference is). It’s beyond beautiful in motion and these stills don’t do it justice at all, so if you’re a rose gold fanatic like me I hope you get the chance to see and swatch it in person.
The rest of my face features other favourites from NARS’ Fall 2016 collection: their Dual-Intensity Cheek Palette (which I reviewed here, and explained how to use here) and one of the new Velvet Lip Glides which are set to launch next month. Since I’ve gotten some questions about the line I think I’ll do a separate review post on them with lip swatches, but in the meantime you can see my arm swatches of the full range here.
I’m wearing Unspeakable in these photos, which I initially thought was going to be too vampy against a rose gold eye but ended up being quite lovely as a transitional fall touch to an otherwise soft summer look.
Face: Make Up For Ever HD Foundation Stick in Y225, NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer, Cle de Peau Beaute Concealer in Ivory, Tarte The Sculptor Contouring Stick, Cle de Peau Beaute Loose Powder // Cheeks: NARS Narsissist Dual Intensity Cheek Palette // Eyes: NARS Dual-Intensity Eyeshadow in Rigel, Free Spirit, Wanderer and Dreamer from Tarte Tartelette Palette, MAC Eyeshadows in Brown Script and Beauty Marked, Stila Stay All Day Liquid Eyeliner, Benefit They’re Real Mascara // Brows: Make Up For Ever Pro Sculpting Brow in #40 // Lips: NARS Velvet Lip Glide in Unspeakable.
This post features a product/products that were provided as press samples, however all opinions and observations are my own and not influenced by the brand or its PR team. This post contains affiliate links.
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