NARS All Day Luminous Weightless foundation review

It's only been a million years... but I have finally created a new video for YouTube! I've been meaning to buy a new foundation for the longest time but have always put it off seeing as... well, you know... I never wear makeup as it is. But then an event comes along and I feel like shit with my undone face, amongst the glamorous cake faces of the night.

As much as I hate wearing foundation, I hate standing out even more. I'd rather blend in and be one of the girls. So it was about time I got my hands on a new foundation to try! Watch the review below, but if you don't have the 3-ish minutes to spare, I list my thoughts and key points after the video:

What I loved about it:

• It really does feel weightless
• The colour match for my skin was perfect (Barcelona)
• The finish is very natural - not too matte, not to shiny. It was just the right balance which resulted in quite a lovely velvety finish.
• Very easy to apply as it was quite a runny liquid and very much like the NARS Pure Radiance tinted moisturiser (which is my go-to product)
• It barely oxidised on me. I have the kind of skin that turns any foundation into an oompa loompa shade and this one oxidised only just a teeny tiny bit.
• I didn't get to try this out for myself as I had only a small sample container to go by, but it comes in a sleek glass bottle with a pump which I already know I will love. What's not to love about a pump?!
• It does not contain SPF so it is perfect for flash photography, which happens fairly frequently during events/night's out!

What I didn't like about it:

• It did oxidise, albeit by just a tiny bit
• I didn't use a powder with it, so maybe that would have solved this problem, but it felt like it never really set. If I rubbed my face, some would come off.
• It got a bit shiny as the day went on. Nothing that blotting or a dusting of powder wouldn't fix, but I'm the kind of person that doesn't do stuff like that throughout my day simply because I don't like carrying extra makeup and brushes in my bag.

Final verdict? I like it enough to buy. When I did the review, I wore it to work. I'm quite active and busy at work, on my feet all day and sweating and such. I really put it through its paces. However, my intended purpose for a new foundation is to wear it to events or night's out only, which means it suits my purpose just fine.

Kiss and Makeup Haul (NARS)

NARS is one of my favourite makeup brands, but buying here in Australia is very painful as the prices are ridiculous.  A single eye shadow will set you back just $23 in the US, but here in rip-off land, you'll be forking over $45.  Why?  WHY?! It's so unfair!

It makes sense to source NARS from a cheaper source, such as ebay. However, I don't want to risk paying money for a fake or never receiving my product, so I've found a great US website to buy from that offers international shipping at just a flat rate fee of $9.95.

Kiss and Makeup offer a good range of high end products and cheap international shipping.  Delivery takes no more than 2 weeks (in my experience) and any queries are promptly answered.  I found out about this website from a beauty blogger on twitter, and have since made two orders.

All the products that I have ordered so far have been by NARS.  There are other brands to chose from but I'm pretty loyal to my brand and haven't bothered to check out anything else.  Here's what I ordered the first time around: NARS Larger Than Life Long Wear Eyeliner - Abbey Road (blue), Via Appia (brown), Rue Bonaparte (flesh).  This was my "test" order - I made sure to pay extra for insurance, just in case!

First order - eyeliners (made last year!)

And here is my second order that I recently placed.  I really like the Larger Than Life Long Wear eyeliners, so ordered more: Rue de Rivoli (green), Bourbon Street (purple), Via Veneto (black), Rue Saint-Honore (navy).  I also ordered a foundation pump for my Sheer Glow foundation, as well as a single eyeshadow: Ashes to Ashes.

Second order - eyeliners

Second order - foundation pump & single eye shadow

If I were to purchase one of the eyeliners here in Australia, it would set me back $45, but I paid just $23 per eyeliner.  I also only paid $23 for the eye shadow (versus the $45 I would have had to fork out here) and a mere $6 for the foundation pump.  I saved myself a huge amount of money! 

Overall, I am very pleased with my purchases, as well as the excellent service from Kiss and Makeup.  If you're thinking of buying NARS (or other brands such as Laura Mercier, Smashbox etc) but don't want to be ripped off, why not check out their website: www.kissandmakeupny.com.  I give them a 10/10 for products and service!

NARS Hopelessly Devoted

Feeling totally uninspired to blog.  Today I've had such a tough day, all I really want to do is go to sleep, but I'm not even tired yet.  So I may as well talk about some products I got a few weeks ago, from a NARS gift set purchased from meccacosmetica.com.au.

The NARS Hopelessly Devoted gift set contains a blush/bronzer duo in Deep Throat/Laguna and two mini lip glosses: Orgasm and Crepuscule.  It is limited edition and costs $85 AUD.  It can be purchased online or from the Mecca Maxima store (unless they've sent back their stock - I last spoke to them a few weeks ago so things might have changed).  The reason why I wanted this set was for the blush/bronzer duo.  I already use the Laguna bronzing powder, and had previously swatched Deep Throat blush and wanted to buy it, but never did.  This has the best of both worlds, and is perfect to take out with you for touch ups.

Left - Deep Throat blush; Right - Laguna bronzing powder

From top to bottom: Deep Throat blush applied with a blush brush, Deep throat blush heavy finger swipes, Laguna bronzing powder heavy finger swipes, Laguna bronzing powder applied with a fluffy brush.

The lip glosses are a cute size.  I wouldn't call it mini, exactly.  More like medium.  Agian, ideal to take with you on a night out or perhaps a holiday, if you're lucky!  Orgasm is a popular lip gloss shade, but I prefer the Crepuscule because it suits my NC40 skin tone much better.  NARS lip glosses aren't the best smelling products around, but I think they look nice and feel good on your lips.

Top - Crepuscule lip gloss; Bottom - Orgasm lip gloss

To sum up, I think Deep Throat blush is absolutely gorgeous.  It's quite similar to Orgasm blush, but to me it seems less glittery and suits my skin tone better.  It is my new favourite NARS blush, after purchasing the Hopelessly Devoted set, I went on and purchased the NARS I Will Survive gift set, which contains a full size Deep Throat blush.  I will review that set a little later, and perhaps create a look using the products in both the sets.  Or maybe just provide better swatches :)  Ok, now I'm feeling tired.  Goodnight xo

NARS Sweet Disposition FOTD

I was true to my word, and tried out a look using just the NARS Sweet Disposition Mini Multiple set.  The Multiple can be used as either a blush, an eyeshadow, a lip colour or a highlighter.  As a blush, it's excellent!  Great staying power and easy to apply and blend.  As a highlighter, again, easy to apply and blend.  On my lips, it was a good enough alternative to lipstick, but quite drying and quick to fade.  And as an eyeshadow, terrible!  Looks pretty but creases like crazy.

Here are some photos I took of the look I created (before applying eyeliner and mascara).

And here are some shots after I had applied eyeliner and mascara.  It really helped pull the look together.

To create the look, I started with my usual base: Smashbox Photofinish Light, NARS Sheer Glow (Barcelona), M.A.C. Studio Finish concealer for blemishes (NC35) & M.A.C. Studio Sculpt concealer for under eyes (NC30).  I used a wet sponge to apply both the foundation and concealer, so my coverage was quite light.

For the eyes: after priming with Too Faced Shadow Insurance, I applied Luxor to my lids and brow bone with a M.A.C. 239, then applied Malibu with a M.A.C. 217 in circular motions to my crease.  I noticed that the Luxor was starting to crease even before I had finished with my eyes.  Not a good sign!

Cheeks: I contoured along my cheek bone with Malibu (using my fingers to pat, then blend out) and then dabbed Orgasm on the apples of my cheeks, up to the temples (blending out with my fingers).

Lips: using a generic lip brush, I applied Malibu onto my lips.  I had to put some clear lip gloss over the top to make it feel more comfortable, as it was quite drying (but not as bad as some lipsticks!)

Lastly, I dabbed some Luxor along the top of my cheeks up to the temples to highlight.

As you can see, the look is quite a neutral look.  The colours came out really sheer on my skin, and even when I reapplied to try to add more colour, it just wouldn't darken.  So if you tend to use a heavy hand, these products are good as you'll never really go overboard with it.  I wore this look all night long, and it lasted all night except for the eyeshadow which kept creasing.  But nothing a little patting with my ring finger couldn't fix.

Personally, I would use these products again for everything except the eyes.  Together, they created a neutral, pretty look that I would definitely wear again, especially during the daytime.  The Multiple is great for your whole face, but stick to regular eyeshadow if you don't want to keep patting your eyelids throughout the day.

NARS Sweet Disposition Mini Multiple Set

Are you a fan of The Multiple by NARS?  Personally, I've never tried it but I've always been intrigued by it.  A product that can be used as either a highlighter, blush, lip colour or eyeshadow doesn't really appeal to me.  But I was browsing online at meccacosmetica.com.au, and saw a limited edition set containing 3 mini multiples for just $70 (the regular size retails for $79).  It was the perfect size to trial the product in an assortment of colours, so of course I had to get it!

And here it is... The NARS Sweet Disposition Mini Multiple set!  Cute little 4g tubes containing the shades Luxor (iridescent pink), Orgasm (peachy pink with shimmer) and Malibu (pinkish brown).  The only colour I was really interested in was Orgasm, as I already own the powder blush.  Luxor looked way too light for me and Malibu looked way too dark!

Here they are swatched 4 times over on my arm:

Luxor looks too light for my NC40 skin tone, but rubbed in and used as a highlighter, it is actually a very good match!  It makes a very pretty highlighter on my cheekbones, under the brows and along the inner eyes.  It is quite shimmery, though, which I'm not too big on.  Orgasm is also quite shimmery but when used with a light hand, it is beautiful as a blush.  It's just like the powder, except more pigmented (so less product is used).  Malibu makes for the perfect contour for my skin colour and contains no shimmer so I quite like it.  In terms of ease of application, it goes on smoothly and blends easily, so no problems there.

I've only swatched the products on my arms and applied it to my face just to check out how it applies.  I like the way it feels on the skin, very light and fresh.  I think Malibu on the lips would look gorgeous, but I don't think it'll have much staying power... We'll see!

These cute 4g tubes are the perfect size to throw in your clutch on a night out or to take away on holiday.  They're limited edition, so if you're interested, you should grab them quickly.  They're available on the Mecca Cosmetica website.  I think some of the stores might have them, as Chadstone in Melbourne had a pack, but I'm not sure.  Usually their gift sets or limited edition sets are only available online.  But if I managed to find it at Chadstone, you might get lucky too.  If you want to buy from Mecca, here's the link. 

 

I'm hoping to do a FOTD using just these 3 products so you'll get an idea of how versatile and convenient they are.  So look out for that!  And if it's not up within a week or two, bug me about it because I have a tendency to be lazy... Just saying!  Lol.  Thanks for reading!

Nars Laguna Bronzer

I bought this bronzer a little while ago and I've only just started using it. I sweep it over my forehead, cheekbones, jawline and a little down my nose. How am I liking it? Well, I believe it lives up to the hype. I think it's an awesome bronzer!

Nars Laguna bronzer comes in typical Nars fashion: sleek black compact which can get dirty pretty easily. I was hesitant to buy this because I didn't think it'd show up on my skin (NC40), but so far, so good. It's pretty sheer but gives the skin a beautiful glow. It has shimmer, but it's not at all shimmery on your skin. To me, it actually looks matte with an incandescently glow.

It doesn't make me look muddy. I think it's the perfect shade for me: I didn't want to get something too dark, and although Casino looked to be a better match for me, I'm glad I got Laguna as it's very natural looking and not over the top. I purchased this from a Mecca Cosmetica store in Chadstone for $72 AUD. And so far, I'm loving it!

Free Nars Lip Gloss!

I had my eyes done at Mecca Cosmetica in Chadstone just to claim my free gift, which turned out to be these cute mini Nars lip glosses. The look was nothing special, just a basic sultry smokey eye. Let me just say, I felt so weird walking around the shopping centre with a bold smokey eye. It was a night look, not a day look! But that was what they were offerering on the day, and I wanted my goodies!

I did a swatch of the colours. My fav is sweet revenge. It's a nude gloss and give the lips a nice sheen. The Nars lip glosses are nice in texture, not too sticky and have a good colour pay off but they don't smell very good. The smell reminds me of paint, for some reason. I don't think I'll actually purchase these but if I were to buy one, I'd get misbehave (which has glitters in it but looks really subtle on the lips) or sweet revenge. I'm glad I got these for free, they're great to carry around in my handbag!

I did make a purchase while in Mecca (how could I not?) I bought Nars blush in Orgasm for $62 (AUD). I love that it has a subtle shimmer and it really does give you that naturally flushed look. This will be my regular blush from now on. Previously I was using Estee Lauder, which I love also but you really have to keep applying to get the colour you want. With the Nars I do just one swipe and that's all I need! My next Nars purchase will have to be a bronzer, which they're famous for. Not sure which one to get. The infamous Laguna or the new Irresistiblement? Any thoughts?