NARS Transvaal Eye Paint

Transvaal.  I love that name.  It's associated with land north of the Vaal River, which is located in South Africa.  Vaal itself means "drab" or "dull", alluding to the color of the river water, especially noticeable during flood season when the river carries a lot of silt (source:  Wikipedia).

The eye paint Transvaal is a dark gray matte, and it's lovely.  From the color to the texture to how it glides across the lid, just wonderful.  Gray is a go to liner color for me, as black looks a bit harsh with my coloring.  Prior to Transvaal, however, I did not have a good gray creme eyeshadow that was not patchy (I'm looking at you, Audacious Asphalt Color Tattoo by Maybelline).

Intensity of color can be built up from semi-sheer (one layer) to opaque (two layers), and the gel formula is so easy to work with.  I used one of the brushes that came with my L'Oreal Infallible gel liners when I wanted to line my upper lashes, while my finger worked fine when I wanted to use Transvaal as a base for powder shadows.  A flat eyeshadow brush would also work well.

Transvaal as eyeliner

Transvaal as a shadow base

NARS Eye Paints retail for $25, and while not inexpensive, the performance of the two I've tried was quite impressive!