Swatch & Review: NARS, Take Me to Paramaribo (Limited Edition Eyeshadow Duo)

Hey everybody! If Mondays are always a little gloomy, I’m here to brighten up your day with my swatch and review of NARS Paramaribo. Please bear in mind that this is limited edition, but I just checked HQHair (where I got it from) and it’s still in stock. Don’t hesitate too much if you like what you see!

NARS Paramaribo is described as “metallic shades of brass and bronze,” but there is way more to these colors than what can be put in so few words! The lighter shade is what I would describe as a golden brass with a strong metallic finish. The best part? It flashes green! As long-time readers already know, anything that is gold or green makes me weak at the knees. Something that is gold AND green? YES PLEASE! I actually had the worst problems ever when I was trying to take swatch pictures of this shade. For some reason my camera is perfectly capable of picking the darker shade up, but not this one. After so many frustrating failed trials, I hope my photo somehow does it justice. I was a little worried the “burnished” quality of this shade will darken my eyes, but to my pleasant surprise it doesn’t! As you can see in my FOTD, it keeps my eyes awake and bright! The texture and pigmentation of this one are good (though not the best I’ve seen). I found that I needed to build it up a little on my lids, but it is true-to-pan and resistant!

The darker shade is a bronze with golden shimmer. I see some green in it, but it is one of those things that change quite a bit depending on your undertone. On some people I can barely detect green, while on others it’s much greener. The texture and pigmentation of this one are divine. It practically melts on my skin, and it makes a great crease shade because it is dark enough to define, but easy-to-blend so that it looks natural. I swatched another bronze shade I own next to it, which is Urban Decay Smog. However, Smog looks so much warmer it practically pulls mauve, which is something I didn’t expect!

Since Paramaribo is my first NARS eyeshadow duo, I am going to quickly go over the packaging. I like how sleek the black compact looks, and the rubbery feeling also feels interesting. I would normally never use the mirror, but it’s nice how a decently sized one is included. However, I can already tell it holds fingerprints and I’ve heard if any powder gets on it, it is impossible to clean it off. I wish NARS had taken a more practical approach, because a duo like this lasts forever, and it’s annoying to think it’ll just gather more and more dirt!

Bottom line: If gold/brass/bronze is your thing, you might want to get hold of Paramaribo while you still can. As far as I can tell both shades are unique enough, and they make an easy-to-use combination that I would wear all year round!

What do you think about Paramaribo? Do you own any NARS eyeshadows? Any recommendations?

Sunny xx

PS: NARS Eyeshadow Duos retail for 34 US dollars, and they are 29.80 euros plus free delivery on HQHair (there are 2 grams in each shade so it’s got significantly more product than most eyeshadows out there). I bought mine when I had a coupon code. Even if you’re not buying anything from HQHair right at this moment, I would suggest you subscribe to their newsletter so that you can be updated about the good deals that are going on!

PPS: Paramaribo is the capital and the biggest city of Suriname (located in South America). It is one of the few countries in which Dutch is spoken as an official language.