NARS Paradise Found Powerchrome Eye Pigments Reviews & Swatches

Islamorada

NARS Islamorada Powerchrome Loose Eye Pigment ($28.00 for 0.05 oz.) is a medium, bluish-aqua with subtle, cool undertones and a chunky, sparkling finish that had a bit of shine to it. It was more like a loosely-pressed (but mostly loose!) powder that was chunky and clumpy. Those are not words I want associated with my eyeshadow, and this was a mess to work with.

There was a lot of fallout during application regardless of whether I used a dry or wet brush or my fingertips. It was difficult to “crush” the pigment into place for a smooth, even lay down of product. I had the best luck getting a bit into the lid and really pushing and jabbing at it with a brush. This helped to break up some of the larger chunks, but there was still some unevenness (in thickness) when it was applied to my lid. It had semi-sheer coverage applied dry and more opaque coverage applied wet. The color stayed on decently for eight hours but had light fallout over time (most of it occurred during application).

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

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View Swatches

Formula Overview

$28.00/0.05 oz. - $560.00 Per Ounce

The formula is supposed to be "intense payoff" in "one swipe" with "all shine." The brand recommends applying with fingertips (actually "fingerprint application") to get "intense payoff with as minimal fallout as possible." It's a loosely-pressed eyeshadow formula that's more of a pressed eyeshadow than a true, loose pigment, but if it gets knocked around, it could appear looser. They're easiest to work with when pressed and packed into the jar, though, as it enabled better control over coverage and minimized fallout opportunity.

Most shades had semi-opaque to opaque pigmentation that applied with light fallout during application (whether with fingertips or brushes), but fingertips definitely were easier to sue when deeper shades when I wanted more seamless edges. Brushes tended to move the shimmer/sparkle around and leave behind a patchier base pigment for deeper shades. I tried using the products with a dampened brush, which was a successful alternative to fingertip application with all but the chunkiest of shades.

The texture ranged from smooth, lightly creamy, and dense to chunky and hard to apply in an even layer (even with fingertips!). The shades lasted between seven and nine hours before creasing faintly or having some fallout, though most shades didn't suffer from much fallout over time.

Browse all of our NARS Powerchrome Loose Eye Pigment swatches.

Ingredients

DIMETHICONE • SYNTHETIC FLUORPHLOGOPITE • CALCIUM TITANIUM BOROSILICATE • DIISOSTEARYL MALATE • CAPRYLIC/CAPRIC TRIGLYCERIDE • 1,2-HEXANEDIOL • CAPRYLYL GLYCOL • TIN OXIDE • CALCIUM SODIUM BOROSILICATE • CALCIUM ALUMINUM BOROSILICATE • ALUMINA • SILICA • HYDROGENATED POLYISOBUTENE • PALMITIC ACID • PHENOXYETHANOL • BENZOIC ACID • [+/- (MAY CONTAIN/PEUT CONTENIR): BLUE 1 LAKE (CI 42090) • CARMINE (CI 75470) • CHROMIUM OXIDE GREENS (CI 77288) • FERRO FERROCYANIDE (CI 77510) • IRON OXIDES (CI 77491) • MICA • TITANIUM DIOXIDE (CI 77891)]

Islamorada

PPermanent. $28.00.

Product

4.5

Pigmentation

Texture

Longevity

1.5

Application

53%

Total

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Castaway

NARS Castaway Powerchrome Loose Eye Pigment ($28.00 for 0.05 oz.) is a pale white base with a pink-to-orange shifting pearl and sparkle. The texture was chunkier, which made it harder to work with due to fallout but also the inability to get the product to sit smoothly on bare skin. It felt very loosely-pressed into the pan, but it didn’t compact much when I pressed on it either.

It had semi-opaque coverage applied dry and nearly opaque pigmentation when applied with a dampened brush. The dampened brush really went a long way to smoothing out the texture of this, whereas a dry brush had a more uneven application (which wasn’t as noticeable based on the shine of the finish) and a fair amount of fallout. It lasted well for eight hours with slight fallout over time.