Leave it to Francois Nars to come up with a very interesting twist in his eye shadow duo offering for Spring 2012.

Paramaribo is described by NARS as a metallic bronze and brass shimmer finish but frankly it looks like the Star Sailor duo with a greenish cast. The brass shadow in this duo is unlike any other colors that I own. The closest might be a dirty version of MAC Gorgeous Gold topped off with Lucky Green. The bronze shadow doesn’t look like a ‘true’ bronze at all. It is more like a bronze patina if that makes any sense. Like with most of the NARS eye shadow duos, both shades in Paramaribo are well pigmented, go on smoothly and neither one was powdery. I did not have to work hard to get the shadow on my brush and the color built up easily on my bare eyelid.  They are also very blendable and I did not notice any fallout or serious color degradation when blending.

As I’m always on the lookout for alternatives to all the boring brown and neutral colors out there this one was definitely up my alley. I find earthy greens to very work safe and versatile in my makeup wardrobe. Both shadows can be used alone beautifully but together they give off an even bigger impact. For even more drama I would blend in a bit of Mekong (a holy grail NARS eye shadow shade for women of color) into the crease and onto the lower lashline. Top this off with a berry lipstick and you have a gorgeous look that will take you from winter to spring with the greatest of ease.

At $33 USD this definitely lands it in Upscale Beauty land in terms of price.  But I feel the price is more than justified given the intense pigmentation and the color payoff–especially for women of color.  In terms of value, this eye shadow duo has it.  As I said earlier, greens are very work safe and dense pigmentation of these two eye shadows would work great alone or with any other neutral colors that you own.

So in a nutshell, Paramaribo would definitely make a good addition to your makeup wardrobe should you choose to indulge.  According to NARS this duo is limited edition for Spring 2012 however, unlike in MAC Cosmetics-speak,  limited-edition means as long as they feel like manufacturing it for sale it will be available for purchase.  So if you are interested in picking this up but if you’re not in a position to get it right now I wouldn’t worry about it –you have plenty of time to haul.