NARS Cool Crush Collection

May 1, 2020

Happy Labour Day! It sounds odd to be taking a break from work when most of us have been locked up at home for the past weeks-months. Regardless, I am really feeling it this year having to juggle WFH + supporting my son with his home-based learning + taking care of a newborn all at the same time. Living in a tiny 2-bedroom apartment with so many people (read 3 adults + 2 kids) has been all kinds of stressful for me… there is not a moment of quiet; and every time I pick something up, 10 other things need picking up. Not being able to go out means less reason to play with my makeup, which is why this post is delayed. In spite of all the distractions and resource limitations, a spark of joy lit up within me when this NARS Cool Crush Collection showed up on my doorstep, and it has been a constant source of enjoyment for the past few weeks.

The NARS Cool Crush collection consists of a 12-shade eyeshadow palette, a cheek color quad, and a new lip lacquer in 4 nude shades. Both palettes feature a molten steel top lid that I find incredibly cool. Gone are the old rubber cases that turn sticky over time, thank God! I had a bit of trouble opening the eyeshadow palette with my long nails, terrified of breaking 1 of them now that nail salons are shut. But that would be a small price to pay for the gorgeous variety of colors within…

The Cool Crush Eyeshadow Palette has a good range of easy to wear light neutrals suitable for the spring-summer seasons, with a cool brick red and a dark turquoise thrown in for some edgy fun. Here are the swatches:

Most of the shades are well pigmented and smooth to apply. The only exceptions were Ganges and Risk, both apply better with a brush than they swatch but are still less richly pigmented than the rest of the palette. This made them easier to wear and blend out, and I do not have to worry about overdoing it.

To accompany the bold eyeshadow palette, NARS has designed the Hot Fix Cheek Palette. This contains 4 matte and shimmering highlighting and blush shades. I love that the shades are elegant warm tones, perfect for soft sculpting especially as we move into warmer months ahead.

This cheek palette is very pigmented, so I suggest applying with a light airy brush if you can! I usually have a hard time getting my blush to show up in photographs, but as you can see I did not have a problem with this Hot Fix Cheek Palette in the 2 makeup looks today.

The NARS Cool Crush Collection also features a new range of Loaded Lip Lacquer in 4 nude shades. These are plush lip glosses that offer full opacity and do not dry out the lips the way liquid lipsticks do. The shade I have is called Playin’ Around and I wore it in the 1st makeup look above.

Everything featured here are limited edition, and are already out in stores. Even though it may be difficult to see them in person, I hope the swatches are useful for your online shopping!