The queen would die. NARS Queen Soft Touch Eye Pencil ($24) is a glitter bomb. I don't know how NARS can put out so many incredibly great products, but then introduce an occasional bomb. The Calanque Eyeshadow Trio, introduced with the Spring 2011 Collection, was a washout. Unfortunately, the "gold-infused platinum" in that trio was fairly useless. It had no color. It laid down a sheer sparkle and nothing else. The same is true with the Queen Soft Touch Eye Pencil. It lays down glitter with almost no color.This smooth and creamy soft touch shadow pencil, in a majestic and modern citrus gold glitter, can be swiped on lids and blended with a fingertip.
The NARS online description of Queen is partially correct. It is smooth and creamy. It's not majestic. Can you find the modern citrus? I tried - I really tried - to get an even application of this pencil shadow. Here are the results on my arm - in bright sun at right above (mostly sunshine) and left,
but with a different tilt of my arm vs the sun. I was unsuccessful in applying this shadow, but my photos show the results accurately - uneven, gold glitter, accompanied by almost no green.Because I have Soft Touch Shadow Pencils I adore, I'm very disappointed. Normally, I don't tell you about products that don't have any characteristic I like. I had to tell you about Queen to prevent you from making the same mistake I did. Do not order this pencil online, sight unseen, thinking you will receive a shimmering parrot green. Go to an arts store and purchase glitter if that's what you want on your eyelids. It will cost a lot less than $24.
Better yet, if you want a shadow pencil, buy the Soft Touch Shadow Pencil in one of the other shades. If you read the word "glitter," though, click away quickly.
Should you like this look, you can purchase the Queen at the NARS Web site and NARS counters, where you will find some exquisite products for Summer 2011. This isn't one of them - in my humble opinion. Fortunately, I'll be telling you about a few I love very soon. The new Multiple - like all the rest of the Multiples - is lust-worthy.
Photo at top courtesy of NARS