NARS ~ NARSissist Unfiltered II Cheek Palette, $59 Limited Edition / Sephora Exclusive (Online Only)

NARS Unfiltered II

This was a complete impulse buy when the Spring 2017 line pre-launched exclusively for Rouges and VIBs for 1-2 days only. Do you ever get that sudden need to have something totally glamorous? Like your current collection is just missing something that shows your willingness to drop a buck on absolute, pure luxury? This was that buy for me. If your stash is in need of something that's not so insanely priced you need to pay for it over a 3 month period (seriously, I don't understand people who do this on HSN.com like wuuut) the Unfiltered Cheek Palette by NARS is your item.

NARS Unfiltered II

This cheek palette comes in two versions, the Unfiltered I and the Unfiltered II. Each has 6 different shades and are armed with both warm and cool-toned shades. Personally, I don't really pay attention to warm/cool-tones, I just buy what I like and force it to work for me. I think both versions would work for pretty much anyone but I went with the UFII because the red shade in the UFI scared me away. Not gonna lie though, I might be brave enough now to try the red shade as I'm sorely tempted to pick the UFI up for myself after Christmas so that may definitely be a thing in the near future. Nevertheless, I went for the UFII; those pinks and peaches and purples were just calling my name!

NARS Unfiltered II

The UFII offers a mix of six matte, sheen and shimmer shades. These can be used in conjunction with one another (use a matte for the blush with a light dust of a sheen shade or a dash of a shimmer as a highlighter) or with other products you may have. If you like pink/peach/purple shades, you should enjoy the range you can get with this palette.

How I use It: The top shade is quite light, not that it lacks pigmentation just that it's meant to be more on the light side of the spectrum. This shade works really well if you want to soften up one of the mattes and blend things out a little. I like this shade all over my cheek and onto the apples. then use a bolder shade just across the higher part of the cheekbone right below where your highlight would be, blending onto the apples lightly and upwards. This gives a nice, soft radiant effect. To add to this, the shimmers work well as soft highlighters or blush toppers. They aren't akin to a Becca or ABH Glow Kit highlight but they aren't meant to be. A light swipe of these on the highest point of your cheekbones will give you a natural looking highlight, or a light dusting over your cheeks (apples and dusting upwards along the cheekbone) will give a nice, radiant finish to one of the matte blushes. The bottom right shade (a mauve raspberry shimmer) is my blush shade for Winter. I'm digging these soft mauve shades so that paired with the light pink shimmer I'll be using up probably before we even get to Spring. The pinky shade, a nice pink matte, is the clear staple for springtime blush shades, and the peachy shades will work well throughout the Spring season and start moving into Summer.

NARS Unfiltered II

The packaging is seriously gorgeous. I have to find a way to re-purpose this case somehow when I've emptied the product (just thinking about it is kinda making me weep a little). I hope NARS considers making these every Spring, or adding them to their permanent line; I always want one of these lovely things somewhere in my collection.

Did I need this palette? No, absolutely not. If you look at each pan as an individual blush palette, if you have any pinks in your collection at all you probably already have very similar shades. So what exactly is this palette? It’s 2 things: For me, it was a luxury buy. I didn’t need these shades because I already have a handful of similar shades in my collection. I use those shades, so it’s not like I bought something that will just sit there, unused for years as it moves further down my rabbit hole pile of makeup. So why did I buy it? Because it’s pretty and it will get used. I already have and use similar shades so I have a track record that the shades provided here will be useful to me. If the packaging had been “meh” would I have bought it? Probably not. There’s nothing wrong with buying something you know you will use and being swayed into making the purchase because of pretty packaging. But at least you know why you bought it.

Above all, I feel this is a stellar product and is exactly what a Limited Edition item should be: a little glamour, a little luxury, and some solid quality. Is the quality the exact same as their single blushes? No, it's not, but it's pretty darn close. I think the shades are a bit more powdery, but the pigmentation is pretty decent. The pans are also smaller, because why would NARS charge $59 for 6 full size blushes that normally cost $30 each? Zero logic there. So no, the pans are smaller (0.12 oz per pan in the palette vs. 0.16 oz in a single, standalone blush). Still a pretty decent pan size in the palette if you ask me.

If you decide to buy one of these palettes, you need to take a pic like this. Do it. It's gonna be a thing.

NARS Unfiltered II

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