Review: NARS The Happening Eye & Cheek Palette

NARS Spring 2013 collection includes two limited edition palettes. One is called And God Created The Woman, contains six eye shadows and comes with an eye brush and a mini NARS eye primer. The second palette which you see here is called The Happening and offers four eye shadows (one an exclusive limited edition), a blush, and a bronzer.

I chose The Happening because some of the eye shadows have been on my wish list for a while and I just finished a mini of NARS Laguna bronzer, so I wanted to replenish. But let's get one thing out of the way: I wish NARS had included just about any other blush in this palette instead of the ubiquitous Orgasm. I know that this blush is a NARS bestseller and it has countless of fans. I can't wear this high shimmer salmon color and can usually spot it from afar on other people's faces. In case you wondered, that's not a good thing.

Orgasm aside, the other face product in The Happening palette is Laguna, a classic matte bronzer. Some people use it for face contouring but I find it too yellow for this purpose. I do like it, though, for adding a light tan where and when needed, and I can use it for subtle sculpting that doesn't include my cheeks (eye socket, nose).

The main thing in NARS The Happening palette is the gorgeous eye shadows. They include:
Night Star- a beige peach with lots of chunky microshimmer (it's part of NARS Night Series). It can create lots of fallout, so use a sticky primer, a creamy base or even a mixing medium that makes the powder into a cream shadow (I use LMdB Magic).
Gstaad- This shimmery taupe is new, exclusive to this palette, thus a limited edition. It's gorgeous, flattering and goes with everything.
Kuala Lumpur- The shimmer berry right side of the Kuala Lumpur duo. A purple for people who hate purple (ie: me).
Coconut Grove- a deep dark matte brown that's supposed to be infused with gold but at least in the case of the item I got the shimmer is barely there, which is a good thing. The texture is creamy and blendable, making this eye shadow a serious workhorse.

There you have it. Despite the sub-par blush, The Happening is still a very good palette that has already started being put to good use here.

 NARS The Happening Eye & Cheek Palette ($65) is already available from Nordstrom.com and will arrive at other department stores and Nars counters at various stores in a cople of days. It's a limited edition, so if you're in lust with Gstaad don't put it off for too long.