NARS Andy Warhol 'Flowers 3' eyeshadow palette review + swatches

          My good friend and fellow NARS enthusiast Ponyo sent me a surprise package. You can imagine my excitement when I found the NARS Andy Warhol Flowers 3 eyeshadow palette inside! (Excitement is an understatement, actually). The Flowers 3 palette is a part of the NARS Holiday 2012 Andy Warhol collection that was recently released at Sephora. Of the three different NARS Andy Warhol 'Flowers' eyeshadow palettes, Flowers 3 has the most neutral, wearable colors. It's both beautiful and practical.

         The NARS Flowers 3 eyeshadow palette comes packaged in the limited edition Andy Warhol glossy silver box, which likely pays homage to Warhol's 'Silver Factory' studio. (Regular NARS boxes are a matte black). The eyeshadow palette has the same rubberized packaging that is typical of NARS products, however the logo is done in silver, instead of white. There is no protective plastic sleeve on the inside of the palette. Perhaps this was to prevent rubbing of the overspray or so that it would not clash with the inscription on the mirror. Each NARS Andy Warhol palette has a different quote. The one inscribed in NARS Flowers 3 reads "All is Pretty."

          My NARS Andy Warhol Flowers 3 eyeshadow palette was packed with three different leaflets. The first (shown at top) is a paper booklet with images, quotes, and descriptions related to Andy Warhol. The second two pieces are simple instructions on how to create a look with the palette. Both sheets are identical.

          NARS Flowers 3 has a flower pattern that is reminiscent of his 'Flowers' artwork. There are four different flowers on the palette, with a greyed purple background. The black detailing on the palette is a decorative overspray that will disappear upon first swipe. I think the shape of the flowers may be somewhat retained after all the overspray is gone, however some regions may become more amorphous. I'm going to try to use the purple from a single area so that I can preserve the flowers as long as possible!

          I've swatched all four flowers and the background color below. My first observation when using the palette was that all the colors were more shimmery and slightly more sheer than usual for NARS eyeshadows. The texture is similar, though possibly softer, than the regular eyeshadow line. The background color is a shimmery greyed lavender. There is a dark chocolate brown that I had to layer to get the swatch below; it seems more like a blending color as opposed to a liner. There are two medium rosy champagne colored flowers that appear to be the same color. I've swatched both below. I think they are ever so slightly different, but functionally the same. Finally, there's a shimmery icy white to provide a very bright highlight.

          To get a better grasp of the colors, I've compared swatches of the purple and medium flower to a few colors from my NARS collection. The greyed lavender background of NARS Flowers 3 is darker and less cool than NARS 413 BLKR (reviewed here). It is a similar intensity to NARS Lhasa (reviewed here), however Lhasa is more taupe toned. The medium champagne of NARS Flowers 3 has golden tones, however it is more rosy than NARS Cyprus. You can see that it shares similar rosy tones as NARS Lola Lola, but is much lighter.
          

         The NARS Andy Warhol 'Flowers 3' eyeshadow palette is a fun piece for makeup and modern art lovers. I'm pretty utilitarian when it comes to makeup, even when pretty patterns are involved, so I've already dug in. For those afraid to dip their brush into Flowers 3, I would say just go for it. The general patterns are simple, so they'll stay intact for a while. Plus, there's something so fanciful about applying your eye makeup from a field of flowers. Thanks for reading! (And thank you Ponyo for the amazing gift!) Have you tried or eyed anything from NARS Andy Warhol? Do you buy and use patterned palettes? Who is your favorite modern artist and why?

Love, Dovey.