Nars X Christopher Kane 2017 Chrome Collection: Review and Swatches

Scottish fashion designer, Christopher Kane, has collaborated with Nars for the second time and the two-piece collection caught my eye instantly. In fact, I haven't seen anything quite this exciting from Nars for some time. The collection features a high-shimmer, limited edition eyeshadow palette and holographic lipstick in a very wearable light pink. It arrived today and I've been testing it out, feeling like a kid at Christmas.

Kane's Fashion Week Spring/ Summer 2018 show featured make-up looks focused on nude iridescence. The palette, on first glance, looks so glitzy and fun on the Nars website with its duo-chrome rose/ teal and bright yellow shades jumping out at you; despite being wowed by it, I did wonder whether it was really for me, considering I am no longer a night-clubber and work in a conservative environment. Then I saw the Christopher Kane runway images and saw how these eyeshadows could be worn in a very pared-down way, particularly with the pale pink lipstick which adds an ethereal glow to the lips. Here are my thoughts after testing today:

My goodness me, the Hardwired eyeshadows are so unique, pigmented and beautiful. The shades include:

I (shimmering soft nude) 

II (iridescent rose gold) 
III (duo-chrome rose-teal) 
IV (iridescent light pink) 
V (glittering bright yellow) 
VI (metallic dark grey)

The shimmering soft nude shade (top left) is absolutely stunning on my pale skin just as a wash of colour. I can tell I will use this a lot as it is subtle enough to be worn to work and to act as a base for other colours- and yes, they do layer and blend well, I have found. I didn't know whether I would like the glittering bright yellow, but you'll see in the look below that when applied just onto the middle of the lid it acts as an accent of glitter and looks really pretty. The duo-chrome rose-teal was hard to photograph, but looked amazing on the lower lashline with my green eyes. It is like an amped-up Mac Club. The irridescent light pink is a fab inner corner colour and the grey can turn a day eye into a glitzy smoky eye. Here are some swatches:

Far right is the Holographic Lipstick in Chroma Chrome

There is one drawback that I have found with these eyeshadows and that is the fallout that you get. You can see in the swatches that there is some chunkiness to some of the textures due to the high concentration of shimmer and glitter. On the lid however, all of the shadows blend well and the glitter is fine and smooth. Personally, I can live with the fall out when I see the amazing iridescence of the shades once applied, but it does require a clean up job under the eyes afterwards, so foundation should be applied after the eye make-up here- a good habit anyway. An alternative way to apply could be to use the fingers to press the pigment in- either way, primer is a must to help with longevity.

The Holographic Lipstick in Chroma Chrome is a very light pale pink with what looks to be incredibly fine lilac, pink and white shimmer. It's subtle hue really appealed to me as I like natural, pale lipsticks. Also, I don't have anything like this in my collection. The nearest shade I can think of is Mac's Politely Pink which is a deeper pink and pearly rather than having multi-faceted shimmer. Chroma Chrome gives lips a glowy, highlighted look which catches the light differently depending on the angle. It has a very slight grittiness to it as you might expect, but is creamy and very comfortable to wear. Additionally, it could be a great product to use on top of lip crayons or mattes to add some shimmer in the centre of the lips, creating the look of volume.

Here is the first 'day time' look that I created (excuse the dressing gown, but this gives an indication of how excited I was to try this palette out!):

Shade I over entire lid with shade V in centre

And some experimentation with the grey and duo-chrome shades:

Shade III (duo-chrome) worked into the lash line and across the middle of the lid, IV (grey) in the crease and VI (light pink) on the inner corner

This small, but mighty palette is really a thing to behold and I highly recommend picking it up if you like the concept and can deal with some fallout issues. The lipstick is also very pretty and very wearable for everyday. This Christopher Kane collaboration bridges the gap between the nude, natural face and something very sophisticated and enchanting. It is certainly worth snapping up while you can.