The 1949 Broadway musical South Pacific and its subsequent 1958 movie adaptation tell the quintessential story of love in paradise inextricably intertwined with the darkness of prejudice and war. South Pacific, the movie, was shot on location primarily at beautiful Hanalei Bay on the Hawaiian island of Kawa'i. The storyline follows two romances against the backdrop of the Pacific Theater of World War II: Nellie, an American nurse from Arkansas falls in love with Emile, an expatriate French plantation owner, and Joe Cable, a U.S. lieutenant falls in love with Liat, a Polynesian woman. Both Joe and Nellie, however, struggle with their prejudices; Nellie is uncomfortable with Emile's mixed race children, and Joe feels that he cannot marry outside of his race. Both the stage musical and the book it was based upon (Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener) are Pulitzer Prize winners.
Like Nellie who fell for Emile's chivalrous charms, I've fallen for the beautiful blues in the NARS South Pacific eyeshadow duo. The South Pacific LP cover shown here is from my brother's vinyl collection. You can see how the colors in NARS South Pacific draw from the colors of the island horizon. These beautiful blues may reflect a more personal inspiration of Francois Nars; after all, he purchased the French Polynesian Island Motu Tané as a personal retreat, after the sale of NARS to Shiseido in 2000.
NARS South Pacific eyeshadow duo contains light shimmery turquoise blue and pale shimmery heather blue - colors clearly drawn from the tropical ocean and sky. I've made comparison swatches to a few blues in my collection. MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua Cream in #25 is a bright sky blue; notice that the 'left' side color of South Pacific has more green tones in comparison. Urban Decay Deep End (reviewed here) is darker and has more teal green tones than South Pacific. MAC Parisian Skies (reviewed here) is significantly darker than the heather blue in South Pacific. MAC Moon's Reflection is probably the most similar color I've seen; I believe it's a bit darker.
The delicate renditions of water and sky in NARS South Pacific eyeshadow duo are truly delightful, especially in context of their natural and musical inspirations. I like to think of this duo as a small slice of the South Pacific, which is a nice warm thought in the midst of winter. Thanks for reading! Have you tried NARS South Pacific? What are your favorite NARS duos? What are your favorite light blue eyeshadow colors?
Love, Dovey.
P.S. See NARS South Pacific in a Monet inspired makeup palette (shown here).
Such a lovely duo and one I would love to wear but it would make me look like an extra from Eastenders circa 1983.
ReplyDeleteAlhambra, Paris and Madrague are my fav duos.
Hi Mopsy, Thanks for the comment! Light blues do remind me of the 80's too :-P I loved seeing your favorite duos; Alhambra and Paris are high on my to-try list. They seem like staple colors!
DeleteIt is pretty! So blue! It would be fun to use in a 70s look!
ReplyDeleteI've never seen South Beach to be honest! I only know one song from it. I'll have to fix that!
Hi Tracy, Thank you !! I'm getting a little braver with color. Hopefully I'll manage without looking too theatrical!
DeleteWhat a lovely post! I saw South Pacific when I was 12 and was so taken by it that I immediately began saving up my allowance to buy all the sheet music so I could play the songs on the piano--Some Enchanted Evening, Bali Hi'i, I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair, Bloody Mary, Younger Than Springtime, Happy Talk--they're simply unforgettable show tunes. As for the movie itself, I found the optimism inspiring and the tragedy heart-breaking.
ReplyDeleteThis has absolutely nothing to do with the beautiful NARS shadows you showed, but I just had to say how much I enjoyed your thoughtful post.
Hi Eileen, Thank you so much! I really appreciate your comment, and am glad you enjoyed it! I loved hearing about your own personal experience with South Pacific and the music; playing the sheet music seems like the perfect way to experience the musical--- after all, they are about live music and singing!
DeleteHow coincidental that it matches the movie box! I think Nars does really interesting, fashion forward colors. I don't think their textures are the best out there though. But really some of the best inspired color stories and advertisements, as well as naming schemes in the beauty business. I wish I could wear blue eyeshadows, or any other floral color that isn't purple based but it only makes me look like Baby Jane.
ReplyDeleteHi FT&C, Thanks for the comment! People do seem to have mixed feelings about the texture; for some reason, they seem to work for me!
DeleteAh, how pretty! Definitely such a warm and bright palette in the middle of the cold winter.
ReplyDeleteHi Maggie, Thanks! It's definitely a nice pick-me-up for winter!
Deleteit is a delightful post, Dovey!
ReplyDeletei loved reading about the musical and the stories behind.
i didn't know that shiseido has acquired NARS! and he bought an island, how fantastic!! ;)
i don't wear vivid blue eyeshadows like i used to anymore, but i always have a soft spot for these colors.
i think this duo is very beautiful! :)
Thanks Lena, I'm so happy that you enjoyed it! I thought the island story was a fun factoid when I first read it. The soft colors do seem very you :-)
DeleteThe duo is so gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThanks JoJo!
DeleteAlthough these are gorgeous colors, I just can't bring myself to slap blue onto my eyes! I can do a lower lash line pop of color, but these are too intimidating to put on my lids haha!
ReplyDeleteHi Sidney, Thanks for the comment! Blues do intimidate me too; I think these colors will be used somewhat sparingly for best effect!
DeleteAmazing blues. That's a gorgeous duo xx
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Coco!
Deleteomg fantastic photo against the duo, you really do have an incredible eye
ReplyDeleteHi J, Thank you so much!
DeleteWhat a fun post - I can see you are clearly over the cold weather winter! Such a pretty duo but I have a feeling it would be a bit too cool and chalky looking on me.
ReplyDeleteHi Lexi, hehe! I think you're right; I'm ready for spring ... or summer for that matter :-)
DeleteI have a more difficult time with light blues than any other shade of eyeshadow. Your swatches are beautiful and remind me I really need to find a way to make ocean blues work!
ReplyDeleteHi Alison, I go for very small doses! Thank you so much for the nice comment :-)
DeleteHoly COW that is SUCH a gorgeous, gorgeous duo! I have been really craving shades like these lately, for some reason. I never wear them, but I still irrationally want them!! :P
ReplyDeleteHi Becca, Thank you so much! :-)
DeleteI don't know why I've never seen this movie! My mom's a big musical buff and I grew up with so many of the old greats, but this one never surfaced at our house, somehow. I just adore NARS makeup and these colors are gorgeous. I've always shied away from blues, but I recently read something about blue being okay to wear with brown eyes all of a sudden, lol. These look nice and subtle, and may be worth my taking a risk on. Lovely post. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Liesl, thank you so much for the nice comment! I loved hearing about your experience with musicals and am glad to hear you're a fellow NARS enthusiast too :-)
DeleteLove the pictures you have taken! It looks so cute and vintage :D That duo is gorgeous but don't think I would wear that popping blue quite often .
ReplyDeleteMeryl
Hi memoiselle, Thank you so much! :-)
DeleteIs it called South Beach or South Pacific? You refer to it as South Beach in the second picture and in the shade comparison section.
ReplyDeleteNadine
Hi Nadine, Thanks for letting me know! It's South Pacific, like the musical. South Beach happens to be the name of another well-loved NARS product of mine!
DeleteI really like deep blue eyeshadows, I find those above shades kinda tricky on me but I love those colours! always a dilemma, lol. I still need a better technique to work woth more vibrant colour (like pink, teal, etc). The duo looks promising though :) / Claire
ReplyDeleteLovely photos, Dovey! The shades in the duo do look beautiful, but like others have mentioned, I also have a difficult time with blue shadows. I'm not sure if I'd be brave to try colours like these yet. I think I need to start off slow, maybe experiment with some darker blues or navy liner and work my way up to gorgeous shades like these.
ReplyDeleteI've only tried one duo from NARS, Bohemian Gold. I definitely need to check out some of the other shades on offer, it looks like there are some lovely colours available in the range!
love these posts! good job on the photos too! :) I always thought about this duo, and so many nars duos in general, but i've been so into more natural shades and finishes lately!
ReplyDeleteYour second picture is amazing! I had no idea how well NARS captured the sky/ocean in this duo until you lined it up against the horizon! :D
ReplyDeleteThis post is going long ways toward feeding my current blue shadow frenzy. So much gorgeousness!
What a pretty blue duo! I hope you had a happy new year Dovey! xoxo
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