Seaside or Southwest? My NARS Ramatuelle eyeshadow trio review

           It's an understatement to say I look forward to NARS's releases each season. After studying up
on the NARS Summer 2012 promotional images, I knew my favorite piece was going to be the NARS Ramatuelle eyeshadow trio. Although NARS has released trios since Holiday 2010, Ramatuelle is my first NARS trio. I'm excited to share my NARS Ramatuelle review and swatches with you today!

          NARS Ramatuelle is an inspired and unexpected combination of a pale blue silver, pale sunlit beige, and a peachy terracotta. The silver and golden beige are frosty and well pigmented. The peachy terracotta is slightly sheer and nearly matte. I was relieved to find that the color wasn't too pigmented; it would be hard to wear the color too intensely on the eyes. All shades are smooth and long lasting with the NARS eyeshadow primer. When wearing the trio, I first dust the silver over the majority of my lid area for a brightening effect.  I then blend the sunlit beige color into the inner 2/3 of the crease to transition the colors into my skin. Finally, I take a fluffy brush and lightly blend the terracotta tone into the outer 1/3 of the crease and the outer V. Whenever I see orange mid-toned colors, I think of them as a neutral fit for providing depth in the crease. I don't find the appropriate for my lid area, but that is personal preference. Depending on your coloring and tastes, you may find it more fit to use the golden color as your lid color, and the silver as more of a highlight.

         Ramatuelle is a seaside village in southeat France. From Jessica's and Danielle's posts, it was easy to see where the color inspiration was drawn from! That said, before I knew Ramatuelle's name and inspiration, I had invented a very different sort of imagery in my mind from the American Southwest.

Arches National Park

          A desert furnace seems to be an inherent opposite of a Mediterranean seaside village, however, I found a striking similarity in color inspiration. At Arches national park, there is burnished red rock and red sand carved from the rocks lying everywhere. The terracotta tones, like the one in Ramatuelle, always bring me back to this place. The pale gold shade in Ramatuelle reminds me of the desert sun, which is so strong you feel as if you can see its rays, while the silver reminds me of a cool desert moon and the silvery bleached wood strewn across the sand.

          I gathered a few colors from my collection to do comparison swatches for NARS Ramatuelle. You can really see the blue tones in the silver when it is compared to Urban Decay Verve. The pale sunny beige of Ramatuelle is more beige and less yellow than Urban Decay Bootycall.  It is much paler than Bobbi Brown's Nude Beach eyeshadow. The terracotta color in Ramatuelle is more peach and slightly less intense than MAC Rule.

           Overall, NARS Ramatuelle is a beautiful and inspired trio. I would definitely recommend it; the colors and unexpected and the formulation for each is spot on. Even if you plan on passing, I think the color combination mapped out by this eyeshadow trio is worth adding to your summer repertoire.

         Thanks for reading! Has Ramatuelle made it into your collection already? Would you wear an orange like this? What is your favorite item from NARS Summer 2012? What kind of places or inspirations does this color bring to your mind?

Love, Dovey.

P.S. A huge thank you for your continued support, comments, tweets, and likes for my entry in the Allure Beauty Blogger Awards! I have butterflies in my stomach since the voting for the first challenge begins tomorrow, Monday May 23 at 9am. I will be sure to make a reminder post / tweets to announce it and provide easy links to the site :)