Brand Focus: NARS

So you've all heard about Nars Orgasm blush right? Well, there's more to this brand than meets the eye. I'll admit, that blush was my first Nars purchase and it definitely won't be my last because Nars would have to be one of my favourite brands at the moment. They just can't seem to do no wrong!

In this post, I'm going to go through all the Nars products that I currently own (currently being the key word here).

As I mentioned, Nars Orgasm blush was my first purchase. Since then, I have paid this blush forward to my very lucky sister as I had bought the Nars One Night Stand Cheek Palette by Guy Bourdin which contains a pan of the Orgasm blush as well as three other blushes - Mistinguette, Deep Throat & Goulue, one highlight - Devotee and the infamous bronzer - Laguna. Deep Throat, Laguna and Orgasm are permanent shades but Devotee, Mistinguette and Goulue were part of this limited edition palette. I searched high and low to get my hands on this palette because it was sold out in Australia so I ended up taking the risk and bought it from ebay. Luckily the palette was fully legit and I was very happy when it arrived at my house. Each pan is 4 grams of product which is a pretty sizable amount for the palette and unless you're wasteful with your product, it'll last you a very long time. The colour pigments are great so do take care to be light handed with your blush application, like all Nars blushes and they blend really well.

Top row: Devotee, Mistinguette & Orgasm
Bottom Row: Laguna, Deep Throat & Goulue

Top - bottom: Goulue, Deep Throat, Laguna, Orgasm,
Mistinguette and Devotee

While we're on cheek products, I also have a couple of other Nars blushes in the shades Sin and Dolce Vita.

Sin is described as "berry tone with gold shimmer" and Dolce Vita is described as "matte dusty rose". Out of the 2, I use Sin the most often. It's my "I don't want to think about what I want to put on my face" shade. I team this with Hourglass' Ambient Lighting blush in Mood Exposure so that covers my highlight as well. It's such a beautiful combination. Dolce Vita is what I pair with a nude pink lip and a basic neutral smokey eye.

Left - Sin, Right - Dolce Vita

Left - Sin, Right - Dolce Vita

Lastly in the cheek department, I have Casino. It's another Bronzing Powder in the Nars collection. Casino is described as a "diffused deep brown powder with golden shimmer". I use this more often that I use Laguna. Laguna can be a bit light for me during summer so I reach for Casino instead. When I had a lesson with a Mecca Cosmetica makeup artist, Amber, showed me that layering both Laguna and Casino can create such a natural contoured effect. 

Bronzing Powder in Casino

Casino Swatch

Next we have my complexion collection and it definitely is a collection. 

L-R: Nars Sheer Glow - Barcelona, Sheer Glow - Syracuse, Sheer Matte - Syracuse,
Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser - St Moritz & Radiant Cream Compact - Barcelona

Top - Bottom: Radiant Cream Foundaiton - Barcelona, Radiant Tinted Moisturiser - St Mortiz, Sheer Matte - Syracuse, Sheer Glow - Syracuse and Sheer Glow - Barcelona.

Starting from the left we have Nars Sheer Glow Foundation in the shades Barcelona: "Medium 4 - Medium with golden, peachy undertones" and Syracuse: "Medium/Dark 1 - medium/dark with brown undertones." I had first purchased Syracuse during the summer time last year but as winter came, it was clearly too dark so I went the next shade down which was Barcelona. In between seasons, I'll mix the two of them to create my perfect shade. This foundation is my holy grail foundation. I have tried so many different types of foundation, expensive and cheap and even for my combination/oily skin, this foundation leaves my skin looking amazing. I'll add a bit of powder (Hourglass Ambient Lighting powder in Dim Light or Mac Mineralize Skin Finish Natural in the shade Medium/Dark) on top and it'll stay put all day. The coverage is sheer/medium but buildable and depending on how you apply it, will also change the coverage. I like to warm this up in my fingertips first, then apply to my skin and to really smooth it out, I'll use a buffing brush to work it into the skin.

Next we have Nars Sheer Matte Foundation in Syracuse. I had purchased this earlier this year thinking that the matte version would help out my slightly more oilier skin in the summer. It did help look matte but I found that this foundation sets really quick. You need to work that sucker quickly otherwise it'll look really bad and unblended. I also think that this shade of Syracuse is a touch darker than the Sheer Glow one. If it's a particularly hot day, I'll mix my Barcelona Sheer Glow and my Syracuse Sheer Matte to get the matte staying powder but the finish of the Sheer Glow.

Both the Nars Sheer Glow and the Sheer Matte do not contain SPF so it photographs beautifully and doesn't have flash back. 

Now for those days where I want to have something light on my face because I'm self conscience like that. Here we have Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser in St Moritz. St Moritz is described as "medium with neutral yellow undertones." I love love love this tinted moisturiser. I have tried so many and even those BB and CC creams but this just trumps them all! Best applied with fingers, I also like to warm this up between my fingers before applying to my face. I start from the center and work my way outwards. It's a lovely sheer wash of colour. I have noticed after long uses of this product, this product helped my skin. It just seemed like my acne scars weren't as dominant on my face and my skin just felt better. On really hot days, I'll set this with a small amount of powder but most of the time, I just leave it as it is.

The new guy to my complexion collection is the Radiant Cream Compact in the shade Barcelona (are you sensing a theme here?). This is described as "medium 4 - deeper medium with golden, peachy undertones." The Mecca Cosmetica makeup artist, Amber, also used this on me along with the Nars Tinted Moisturiser and the finish that it gave me way amazing. The tinted moisturiser teamed with this product definitely gave the whole "your skin but better" look. I haven't used many cream products so when Amber wanted to show me this combination, I was all for it. The results speak for themselves.

Look created with the Mecca Cosmetica MUA using Nars Tinted Moisturiser, Radiant Cream Foundation, Radiant Creamy Concealer, Stila Eyes are the Window Spirit Eyeshadow Palette, Nars Larger than Life long-wear eyeliner in Rue Saint Honore (top) and Abbey Road (lower), Stila All Day Liquid Lipstick in Dolce, Nars Bronzing Powders in Laguna and Casino, Hourglass Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil in Dark Brunette and Hourglass Ambient Lighting powder in Dim Light.
Absolutely no filter was used on this photo!

This cream foundation gives that extra bit of coverage where necessary. You could even use this as a concealer if you powder it down so it doesn't move. I've had a play around with this cream foundation alone and I like to apply it with either the sponge (slightly damp) that comes along with it or a stippling brush. The brush is quicker but the sponge gives a nice finish.

Still on the complexion topic, we're going to talk about Nars Concealers.

Nars Concealer stick in Ginger, Radiant Creamy Concealers in Ginger (Middle) and Custard (Bottom).

Let's take it from the top. The Nars Concealer stick is very creamy. Creamier than the Radiant Creamy Concealers. It's a solid concealer and I think its got a similar consistency to the Mac Studio Finish Concealers. This isn't my favourite concealer but it does the job. It needs to be warmed up a little before being applied to the face so I usually rub a bit onto my ring finger and dab it where I want then blend it out with a brush. I have the shade Ginger which is described as "golden undertone for medium complexion." I personally don't think I'll purchase this again but I will use it up so it's not wasted. 

L-R: Concealer - Ginger, Radiant Creamy Concealer - Ginger & Custard

Now, my favourite concealer EVER is the Radiant Creamy Concealer which I have in the shades Ginger - "golden undertone for medium complexion" and Custard - "yellow tone for light to medium complexion." I have used both expensive and cheap concealers and this one trumps them all. I usually go a bit light handed with this as it can be very heavy coverage but if that's your jam, then rock on. I usually dab 3 dots of Ginger under my eyes, put some around my nose and on any of those pesky blemishes one usually gets (unless you have perfect skin, curses on you - jokes). I have been combining Custard with Ginger under my eyes for the brightening effect and it looks great. (Refer to picture above for verification). If you want a great coverage concealer and aren't afraid of the price, which in the scheme of things, isn't that bad because mine has lasted me ages, then treat yourself to one or two of these.

Larger Than Life Long Wear Eyeliner in Rue Saint Honore.

I only have one of the Nars Larger Than Life long wear eyeliner pencils but I do plan on adding to this particular collection because they are amazing. I have the shade Rue Saint Honore. Its described as a "deep royal blue" and its a great alternative to black. Black eyeliner can be a bit harsh for daytime wear so lately I've been reaching for this or a dark brown. This eyeliner doesn't drag along your eye during application but if you want to soften your look by smudging out the colour, do it quick because once this thing sets, there's no moving it. When I was removing my makeup after my lesson, it took some heavy duty eye makeup remover to get that stuff off and even trying to remove the swatch off my arm, I had a small red mark on there but I was probably rubbing way too hard. I want to get Abbey Road which was also used in the look above. I love flashes of colour in makeup. 

Swatch of Rue Saint Honore.

Lastly we have lipsticks. Lets just say I don't mind a lipstick or two. Matter of fact, my lipstick collection grows weekly. The two lipstick that I have purchased from Nars are better than melted butter on toast with vegemite and I love melted butter and vegemite on toast a lot!! I have the Nars Sheer Lipstick in Dolce Vita and an Audacious Lipstick in Audrey. 

Left - Dolce Vita, Right - Audrey

Let's just say that Cassie from ThriftThick made me buy this lipstick because of this blog post. I researched the heck out of this lipstick and in the end, I just bought it and I don't regret anything! Described as a "sheer dusty rose", this everyday neutral lipstick is so creamy on your lips, applies so smoothly and the colour is just perfect for everyday use. I like to wear this when I'm in a hurry because if I colour outside the lines, you're not really going to notice it. It does transfer during the day but that's kind of typical for most lipsticks but reapplying this is so lovely, you won't mind one bit! 

Top - Audrey, Bottom - Dolce Vita.
(Look at Audrey's pigment! Gah!!!)

And Audrey... Oh dear me, Miss Audrey lipstick. Audrey is described as a "red currant" and she is just boom diggity! Can someone please talk about the pigment? Ok, I will. As you'll see from the photo, one swatch of Audrey and honestly, that'll all you'll need. This lipstick is so opaque, its just madness. When I applied it on my lips for the first time, I was thinking to myself "what sorcery is this?" I couldn't get over how pigmented this lipstick was. Its so creamy on your lips and applying it is very easy. It doesn't drag, it feels smooth and that colour. I wanted more of these Audacious lipsticks but because they're so popular, they sold out pretty quickly. If you can, treat yourself. You won't regret it one bit. The colour range is huge - there's 40 shades and I'm sure you're bound to find something you like. Unfortunately, they don't have a "Reyna" shade but maybe they'll make one in the future and it'll be a red/plum hybrid because that's what I'd make it to be.

Here to finish off, we have the Nars Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base. Now I have tried my fair share of eyeshadow primers. I've used Urban Decay, Too Faced and Lorac and I swear by this Nars one. I cannot sing its praises high enough but I don't have any creasing problems whatsoever when I use this primer. I have very oily eyelids and when I had done some research about the Nars one, I thought "what have I got to lose?" so I bought and I loved it. I won't try another eyeshadow primer again unless its better than this one but that would be highly unlikely.

So this turned out to be a massive blog post. I hope you got something out of it. I plan on doing more Brand Focus' in the future with the possibility of Hourglass being my next one.

Until next time,

R
xx

**Note: This post isn't sponsored. I purchased this products with my own money and I have given my honest opinion about these products**