I've been wearing a sheer or near sheer tinted BB cream with SPF, but I wanted to try something with more coverage. Since I'm already a fan of NARS products and have found a tone that matches my skin pretty well, I decided to try the newest full coverage product when it came out. It's a bit steep in price ($48) for a product I'd barely swatched on my hand to confirm color, but I felt optimistic. All the initial reviews of NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation sounded like it was what I wanted.
I originally tried pairing this with NARS Radiance Enhancing Pro-Prime, but in the end, I did not find it a suitable combination of products.
NARS promises 16 hours of full coverage, in a highly pigmented liquid that only needs one pump to cover your face. It's a tall order to fill, but I believe it comes very close to keeping that promise. As a bonus, the pump is included with the product! I haven't used NARS liquid foundations before, but I've heard you usually have to buy your own pump.
The directions tell you to warm one pump's worth of product in the palm of your hand, and use your fingers to blend in small areas, starting at the center of your face. I tried this, and managed to get most of my face covered, but the product dries very quickly, so blending very quickly is a must. I also felt a little miffed at the widening spot of dried foundation in the palm of my hand when I was done, as it could have gone a long way to filling out the spots I couldn't finish if only it didn't dry so quickly. After spending a partial pump to finish out the application I set it with a light amount of translucent powder. This method left my face feeling a little tacky, but it was tolerable, and I hoped maybe it was just the natural humidity here. I gave it a go for the day, which included some shopping, driving in a hot car, drinks, and dinner with a friend.
I had very good results! The coverage was very full considering how little product was used. Most of my freckles and any red spots were muted to match my natural skin tone. It felt very light, and I didn't worry about it getting heavy or dripping down my face as the heat and humidity of Florida set into it. I was out and about for a long day, and after about 14 hours, it still looked very clean with good covered. Removing it with a makeup-removing disposable cloth was easy, and I could see there was indeed a healthy amount of pigment that the cloth picked up.
Since I wasn't thrilled with the suggested application method, I tried a few various cream and liquid foundation brushes from Sephora. I've settled on Sephora's PRO Full Coverage Airbrush #53, which lets me pick up a tiny amount of product and apply quickly and evenly across large portions of my face at one time. This really helps me blend before it dries, and I'm very pleased with the way the brush handles the product.
I'm really happy with this foundation, and I'm thrilled that the product lasts quite a while. I don't wear makeup every day, but I've had this for maybe 2 months now, and only used between 1/4 and 1/3 of the bottle. I'll be buying this again when it runs out, or maybe sooner if my tan and freckles get darker as we head into summer.
