Hey everyone, hope you're all well! After a fairly long and awkward hiatus I'm back with a foundation review. I'll be reviewing the newly released and highly anticipated Nars Foundation, the Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation (abbreviated as NRL for this review obvs). If you read my last post you'll know I was super excited for this foundation and couldn't wait to get my hands on it, to the point that I didn't even bother get a sample, I just bought it, which is so not me! Even though it was set to release on the 15th of January this year in the UK, I surprisingly came across it in the Nars Boutique store in Covent Garden a month ago and snatched it up right away. I've been testing this out for a month now and I think I'm ready to share my thoughts, I must forewarn you that they're unfortunately not all very positive ones...

What Nars say:

There’s longwear. And then there’s strongwear.

Introducing NARS’ first 16-hour foundation that stays turned on by the power of radiance. Untraceable. Unstoppable. Unlike anything else. Longwear is finally lightweight—and radiant. High coverage is now super natural. Its breathable, fade-resistant formula is infused with Raspberry, Apple, and Watermelon extracts to help smooth and improve the look of your skin instantly, and over time for full-powered radiance. It wears longer, stays stronger, and looks better with each hour. Specialized skin-matching technology ensures your truest match yet. Your future looks radiant with Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation.

IDEAL FOR:
Medium-to-full, buildable coverage

SKIN TYPE:
Normal, combination, and oily skin types

FINISH:
Natural, radiant finish

FORMULA FACTS:

TRANSFER-RESISTANT

SWEAT-RESISTANT

FADE-RESISTANT

NON-DRYING

PARABEN FREE

ALCOHOL FREE

OIL FREE

FRAGRANCE FREE

DERMATOLOGIST TESTED

NON-COMEDOGENIC

TECHNOLOGY:

Skin Optimizing Complex, a blend of Raspberry, Apple, and Watermelon extracts, helps support skin elastic fibers to smooth and improve skin’s texture over time for optimal radiance.

Packaging

The NRL comes in your standard Nars style packaging, sleek, simple and black. The foundation is housed in a clear glass bottle and looks like a longer and slimmer version of the ADLW foundation (review). It comes with a pump attached and the pump dispenses a small amount of product which ensures you don't waste product, if you're familiar with the ADLW it dispenses the same amount that that pump does. Another great thing is that the pump is also controllable so if you want to dispense a teeny dot (like I usually do) then you can!



Shade & Oxidisation

Nars have added newer shades to their NRL range and now carry a total of 33 shades. After carrying out extensive research and scouring the net for swatches (see swatch compilation post here), from looking at all the swatches, it appeared that Stromboli remained the yellow/olive-est shade from them all. So I bought Stromboli without any hesitation as I wear Stromboli in their other foundations too. After wearing this for the past 4 weeks I can easily note that there is a difference between this Stromboli and the others.

This Stromboli is actually similar to Sheer Glow's Stromboli (review) and lighter and less yellow/olive than ADLW's Stromboli, it perfectly matches the centre of my face (which is paler than the rest of my face) but is a little uncomfortably light for my hyper pigmented mouth and chin area and the upper half of my forehead which are the typical areas of pigmentation that some WOC can have. Also I've been terrible with my skincare and haven't used sunscreen alongside my acids or retinoids for the last few months (I know I know, I need to be lashed) so my pigmentation is really awful at the moment (cry for me please ;( ). Also I've been using the Nars ADLW continuously for several several months now and have become accustomed to its rich yellow olive tones, it's pretty much identical to and enhances my skins yellowness and depth so looks the best on me.

Even though NRL matches the centre of my face nicely, I can't seem to agree with the ashiness around my mouth even after colour correcting, though I do use my Radiant Creamy Concealer (review) in Caramel to deepen around my mouth and bronzer around my forehead. I have worn this plenty of times and can get away with the shade (using with the Caramel concealer) and repetitively ask friends and family if my base is looking fine and they reassure me that I'm not looking awful, ashy or grey. After looking at the shades I would say Valencia would probably match my darker areas better but I still feel like I'd just need a darker yellow olive shade whereas Valencia just looks more warm peach neutral. As much as I'd like Stromboli to be a little more golden/olive it's actually the formula that I'm not agreeing with and not just the shade.

Swatches below taken outside/natural lighting.

With regards to Oxidisation I haven't noticed any major oxidising but I have a feeling it does deepen especially if you're using an oil or a very emollient moisturiser underneath.

Formula

The NRL is a liquidy formula, it's runnier than the Sheer Glow but thicker than the ADLW. It's a very lightweight formula and does blend on to the skin decently well. I always test new foundations first with my favourite foundation brush (slanted, flat top kabuki), it did blend in nicely but not as smooth or seamless as other foundations I've used in the past, it needed a teeny bit more effort. The second time I used a damp sponge and found that not only did it blend in better but also looked better on the skin than the brush, but again didn't blend as effortlessly as other foundations I've tried. The sponge obviously absorbed a little extra product so I had to use more, but with a brush it didn't sit on the skin as nicely and looked a little more cakey than the sponge application. 

I have combination dehydrated skin and feel like this formula just didn't sit well with my skin for some reason. I'm really not sure what to make of it. From my personal experiences with this foundation and my understanding of it's formula (you know I like to dissect formulas), I would say it will work best for those with combination oily skin or for those with a Normal/oily skin type or those with dry but smooth flake free skin, I feel like if you have oily skin it breaks up the foundation and makes it patchy. I've watched a fair amount of reviews and I've noticed that those with very oily skin get really oily with this foundation and have given it a pass, these oily skinned reviewers then go on to say that this foundation will work for those with dry skin but I feel like this foundation will drag and get cakey on those with dry skin and I don't think it'll look very natural but more on the finish later. It's really confusing as I've heard mixed reactions from all skin types, so so confused, but ultimately it's not the best formula for me.

An important point I need to make with regards to the formula is that I have a fairly strong feeling that this foundation is breaking me out, I'm pretty sure it's this foundation because I've been testing it for a month now and my skin is really congested and spotty now, it wouldn't surprise me to be honest because the Sheer Glow breaks me out too. Now that I've got the review written up I'm going to take a break from using it and monitor any changes with my skin.

Finish

Nars say that the NRL is a natural matte finish and I will agree, it's a demi matte finish where it isn't flat but does allow a subtle light/radiance to reflect off the skin's high points. It definitely falls under the natural finish category. I find skin prep can really alter the finish and also the amount of foundation you use. If there isn't enough emollience on my skin I find I get a very matte finish and it can look quite cakey, flat and unnatural on me. But if I've moisturised really well it's fairly radiant. With this foundation I've realised I need to be well moisturised hence why I reckon this foundation isn't great for those with dry dehydrated skin, not only that I also need to make sure that the moisturiser has been applied well in advance and has had the chance to absorb into my skin properly or else I find the foundation slides around a lot and just doesn't mesh with the skin. Also when I've tried to go for a minimal look and use a little bit of product it's more matte but when I've used an ample amount and opted for full coverage, it's more of a satin matte. If you have dry or dehydrated skin I highly advise you to moisturise well before using this foundation.

I was hoping this foundation would be similar to the Giorgio Armani Power Fabric Foundation (review) but it isn't, it's not as beautiful and natural on the skin as the Power Fabric, the Power Fabric was really lightweight on the skin and had a lovely smoothing effect whilst still looking like skin. The NRL isn't as smoothing on the skin, it's more like second skin where it mimics the skins natural texture, I also find it isn't super pore filling either. I also have noticed that when I look really closely in the mirror I can see actual product on my skin, minuscule cakey pigments or powders that are just sitting atop of my skin which does get progressively worse throughout the day, I'll explain this in more depth in the Longevity section of my review because I feel like the finish is definitely linked to the longevity too.

I own all three of the Nars Foundations and I know the formulas pretty well, an interesting point I'd like to make is that I've noticed that all 3 formulas are not the greatest for those with textured or dry skin, I personally think Nars foundations sit much better on those with smoother and oily skin, this one included. I should add that my skin isn't at its best right now (especially now because of this foundation probably) I have quite a bit of texture and bumps and am quite dehydrated too. Another thing I need to mention is that I've noticed this foundation seems to highlight my pores, more than the ADLW, not only does it highlight them but it sort of sits in them too, at the same time I find it's not too bad with my laugh lines. As you can tell I'm not really impressed by the finish unfortunately.

Feel
One thing that I can't fault with the NRL is that it is a really lightweight formula, almost as lightweight as the ADLW but where the ADLW is very pigmented and watery thin you don't need a lot of product for coverage whereas with the NRL you do have to use a little more product. It's a very comfortable formula on the skin and it barely feels like you have any product on. This does set slightly on the skin so any tackiness you may feel does disappear but after a few hours of wear this does get quite radiant and oily so you may feel a tackiness at that point. Otherwise I do think that both the formula and texture is very lightweight.

Coverage and Build-ability
Nars say that the NRL is a medium to build-able full coverage foundation and I will agree, I would say from the first layer it provides a proper medium coverage, any redness is covered and my skin tone looks really even but my PIH marks are still visible, another layer or two just over those marks and they are completely concealed, I also have used this under my eyes over the top of some orange corrector and it's concealed my dark circles really well. I use 1 1/2 pumps for light to medium coverage and 4 pumps for full coverage and use concealer around my mouth too to deepen it up more.

The NRL builds layers really well and doesn't get cakey when building layers but because it is a matte finish and not the smoothest in blending I suggest you work one area at a time as it does sort of set and you do need to blend it in more to manoeuvre it around the face. Also personally on myself I find that my skin needs to be well prepped if I want to build layers as the finish can get slightly cakey and obvious on me with more product.

Longevity
Apart from the finish of the NRL, the biggest factor that I think that lets this foundation down -ironically enough- is the longevity. I've watched and read a lot of reviews and that is the one thing majority of the people mention when it comes to flaws in the formula. This foundation does not wear well on my skin at all, Nars say that this looks better on the skin as the day goes on but for me it looks worse and worse. This is where I said it was linked to the finish, because whether I set it or not the foundation just doesn't look very attractive on me at all after a few hours. Also it starts off a little tacky but then sets, but once my oils start to come out it feels tacky again and then I find it transfers really easily.

On myself I find this foundation looks the best when it's first applied and as the day goes on I notice that not only do I get quite oily, but it looks even more cakey than it probably started off with, it also sits in and highlights my pores even more and the foundation has literally separated, faded and disappeared in areas. I've tried this on top of a silicon primer to see if it'd help but it just became a hot cakey mess. On myself a hydrating primer works best underneath this foundation but to be honest it's just not worth it because it just doesn't look brilliant at all after several hours and I have other foundations that don't behave like this so I really don't need to deal with the drama.

Overall Thoughts
I'll be honest I did have quite high expectations for this foundation since it is Nars after all, I test a lot of foundations out and have seriously noticed how advanced beauty companies have become with their formulas so I didn't expect any less from Nars. I don't mean to say that the NRL isn't a good foundation, it definitely has its good points but it's honestly fallen a little short of my expectations and I've just not had the best or ideal experiences with it. I do know that there are a lot of people that do really like it and at my first ever application (which was at night time mind you) I also did think this was the foundation formula I was waiting for from Nars. I am on the fence with the NRL and will put it away for some time until my skin has gotten better and perhaps when I'm not as dehydrated I will give it another shot. I'm actually working on a comparison post between the three infamous liquid foundations that Nars do which I didn't mention too much on here because this review is already long and detailed enough. I'm also working on the Fenty foundation which I really really like, as well as a couple of other foundations, they'll hopefully be a bit more positive than this one and it'll hopefully get me back into the swing of things as I did feel a bit all over the place with this review! As always I hope you found this helpful.

Thank you for taking out the time to read and for all your support.

Quick Round-up

Positives
- Really lightweight
- Good coverage
- Natural matte finish
- Ideal for those with smooth skin

Negatives
- Not long lasting
- Fades and disappears off skin
- Not great for dry/dehydrated skin or super oily skin
- Can get cakey and highlight texture
- Shade Stromboli isn't as olive/yellow as previous Stromboli's
- Is most likely breaking me out

Rhea Valencia Channel

Her Nars Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation review video 

(Super helpful if you're a fellow Stromboli!)

Trendmood 

For ALL the hottest beauty releases!

Saaaammage Channel 

Her Nars Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation review video

(Love her foundation reviews!)

BlissfulBrii Channel 

Her Nars Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation review video

MrsLolaLynn Channel

Her Nars Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation review video

I managed to get hold of a sample of Nars most recent base release, the Velvet Matte Skin Tint in the shade St. Moritz. If you know me you know I'm not one to go for matte bases, but since this was Nars I really wanted to give it a try as a lot of people were raving about it and I'm a base addict so I didn't need much encouragement anyway. LOL!

What Nars say:

Shade

The shade St. Moritz (Medium 1 - Medium with Neutral Yellow undertone) came up as the most common shade for my skin tone. I have the Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser (PRTM) in St. Moritz too (watch this space for review) and it's a warm peachy yellow shade, this type of warm shade flatters my skin nicely even though it's not got much olive in it. I find the Velvet Matte Skin Tint (VMST) St. Moritz is lighter and less warm than the St. Moritz of the PRTM. VMST St. Moritz is a decent match for the paler parts of my face, but around my mouth it is way too light and colour correcting with orange concealer only helps a little, I've also got a bit of a tan going at the moment but for the past few months my pigmentation areas seem to have gotten darker so I've been preferring more deeper golden shades of foundations/concealers to balance out the different tones of my face and to avoid any ashiness, I absolutely hate looking ashy! To make VMST St. Moritz work for me I've been using their Radiant Creamy Concealer in Caramel around my mouth and under eyes to bring back more warmth back into my skin and it works a treat.

I do want to try some of the darker shades, though after looking through the shade range, Malaga (Med/Dark 1 - Medium dark with warm caramel undertones) is the next shade that isn't described as having peach undertones but is 4 shades later, I have a feeling I might be a Cuba but annoyingly enough most of the shades are described as being neutral and I am not neutral! I'm proper golden yellow olive toned and it's very difficult finding matches that have a good balance of both. I'm slightly dubious so I do need to go in store and swatch and try them in person even though the closest Nars counter to me is either Space.NK or House Of Fraser in Milton Keynes. I'll have to wait and see I guess. If you're around an NC40 or NC42 let me know what you wear in this range.

Texture

The texture of VMST is thick and creamy it has a slight velvety moussey feel to it when rubbed between my fingers and you can sort of feel the powder particles. I have this in a sample pot and it doesn't budge or slide around at all when I move it about so it's very thick, pretty much what you'd expect from a velvet matte foundation. Since I have combination / very dehydrated skin with skin texture / bumps I was very careful of how I applied this and made sure adequate skin prep was done beforehand and that I didn't overdo it. I have used brushes and sponges in applying this as well as my fingers. I used my dense angled flat kabuki (H&M BB Cream Brush) and it was okay, although I did have to work a little extra in moving it around and felt I was using too much product than necessary and ended up a bit cake face and not natural at all. I've used sponges and again felt like I was using too much product and found that the damp sponge wasn't pushing this into my skin properly so I wasn't getting a "skin-like finish" as many were claiming it to be and was looking a little patchy, plus it wasn't as pore filling as I had expected it to be.

I was ready to give up on the VMST thinking it wasn't for me or my skin-type but I persevered, I mean we were in the middle of a heatwave the week I was trialling this out and I was the oiliest ever at that time so I couldn't understand why this matte foundation / tinted moisturiser wouldn't work for me? I watched and read a good few reviews and many people said they got a better finish when they used their fingers and that a little bit actually went a long way. It's also recommended on the Nars website to use your fingers so I done as suggested and I definitely got that skin like, pore blurring, natural, velvet matte finish. I definitely recommend using a little and blending in with your fingers. That's when I realised how long that sample pot was going to last me, definitely worth your buck!

Feel

Like I mentioned earlier the VMST is a very thick velvety textured formula, when applying a light layer on the skin with my fingers I can get a lightweight feel. But this is very dependable on how much you apply. I wouldn't say this is a super lightweight formula, in fact there're many other formulas out there that feel lighter. But how much you use and the layers of product you have on underneath determines the weight of this on the skin, I find I feel the heaviness and thickness of the formula on my skin when I have more than one layer of it on especially if I have a fair amount of moisturiser on underneath too. Just to give you an example, on a moderately warm day like today (27 degrees celsius) half a teaspoon of my Boots Dry Touch SPF 30 sunscreen underneath (which is a bit creamy in texture and moisturising enough for me to wear on its' own in this weather) and a single thin layer of this on my skin gives me a somewhat lightweight feel, anything more and I would definitely feel the thickness. I've also tried this on bare skin and it was practically undetectable in feel. So the more emollient your base the more creamier and heavier it can feel.

When I used to apply it with my brush or sponge, because I was applying too much product, it proper felt like a heavy thick mask on my skin which really surprised me as the website description as well as other reviewers were saying the complete opposite. I definitely think application method with this foundation / tinted moisturiser can be a real game changer for people so I definitely suggest trialling with it. 

I personally think this formula is ideal for combination to oily skin types and maybe slightly dry. Since I used this on very hot days, I felt this worked pretty good for me and I was able to powder as well since the weather was that hot and I was getting quite oily through the day. I don't find this overly drying even though it's a matte formula, though I'm not sure how much I will like this in the cooler months when I'm not as oily, I'd like to think using a decent moisturiser for those cooler days will do me fine. I'll definitely put an update up later on in the year. For those with dry dehydrated skin with dry flakes or lots of texture, beware of your dry areas, be generous with your moisturiser and build it up with small amounts or maybe skip this foundation all together and try their other tinted moisturiser.

Finish

The VMST has a skin like matte finish on my skin type and I can get it to look invisible depending on how much I apply, if I'm generously moisturised then it'll be a satin finish. It's not a flat matte but I know it can easily look like a flat matte if I'm not adequately moisturised or if I use too much product, especially on my dehydrated areas which is my mouth area and forehead. Like I mentioned before I find when I use my fingers I get that pore blurring, skin like finish compared to when I use a brush or a sponge. This can catch on dry flakes and texture pretty bad if you have any, I've found it sort of nestles in and around any flakes I may have but this is when I'm looking really up close into the mirror so it's not utterly hideous or anything. I also find it settles in to my laugh lines a little bit but this is an issue I've been having to deal with for the past few months with most of my bases (I'm getting old!!!) though I find using Soap & Glory Kick Ass Powder helps with that. I don't find this overly skin smoothing on me (like Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation) but it doesn't exaggerate my textured areas hideously either, again some Kick Ass powder or any pore filling finely milled powder will do the trick.

Since it's a mattifying product it will only give that invisible skin like finish depending on the moisture level of your skin. More moisture means a less matte finish and a creamy satin finish, but be careful too much moisture means a slippey slidey slick of a mess, trust me I've tried, just trial and see what ratio works best for you. I wouldn't say this is my favourite base formula but between the other matte foundations that I've tried (Bourjois Air Mat and Maybelline Fit Me Matte & Poreless) this is definitely my fave and definitely more forgiving.

Coverage

All in all I prefer using my fingers and get medium coverage this way and a more even skin tone using very little product, this is more than enough coverage for me. It's impressive for something that's meant to be a tinted moisturiser. I have some light post acne marks dotted in a couple of places and hyper-pigmentation around my mouth and some darkness under my eyes. I personally don't like full coverage or that mask like finish as my skin doesn't sit well with it. But I've realised many sheer or medium coverage bases don't work well for my hyper-pigmented areas so I'll never really get a discrete undetectable look with foundations as the ashiness of my pigmentation and skin texture issues will most likely give it away, so I have had to settle with that fact. That is why I like to come in between and use medium coverage products and then use some concealer in my trouble areas for extra coverage if I need it. I think this is definitely medium coverage, possibly even full depending on your skin condition and how much you apply but can also be sheered out to light as well. 

Build-ability

I find the VMST does build layers okay-ish but not brilliantly, with a brush or sponge it gets cakey and patchy easily and ends up looking like obvious layers on my skin. I like to use my fingers if I want to build layers, I use the pads of the 3 middle fingers and sort of swipe in short swift movements and pat at the same time and like this it does sink in and I do get more coverage. Though it's strange as sometimes this does get patchy and does shift product away from my pores leaving them empty-ish again and also sort of sits in and outside of the pores. I can't quite put my finger on why but I think it's got something to do with the emollience level of the skin. The patchiness is really only visible when I'm looking really closely in to the mirror, from a foot away the skin does look blurred and perfected enough but I don't find it super pore filling if it's built up. Though overall I prefer just a single layer of this on myself and prefer the finish this way.

Longevity

The weather really determines this, Britain has been having some really sunny days here and there recently and some days it gets quite warm! For those very hot days when I've used the VMST I found only copious amounts of powder kept my makeup in place as I was getting an oily sheen on my skin within the hour, in fact some days beads of sweat would erupt from my face whilst I was applying it but I would intentionally choose this particular base for those days since it is a mattifying product. For normal mild British weather I think this will be fine on its' own and maybe a couple of hours into wearing the product I may need to powder my t-zone. Again I'll have to see when the weather cools down a little. For my combination dehydrated skin type I can imagine this holding up pretty well as sometimes I find this can really sink into my skin and be quite transfer resistant as well, though this depends on how oily or emollient my skin is, otherwise it can slip off quite easily if I'm not powdered enough.

Oxidisation
Luckily I haven't noticed too much oxidisation with this, I think it does a teeny tiny bit when my oils start coming out but it's definitely not a horrid colour. I still want to look into the deeper golden shades but for now this is fine.

Overall
Personally I found I had quite successful trial and errors with the VMST. Reading and watching reviews on it definitely helped me realise how to get the best of this product for myself. I recommend treating this product like a tinted moisturiser to get the best out of it instead of a full coverage foundation. A little really goes a long way and you'll be surprised how well this can actually behave. As the name suggests, I'd say it looks like a tint on the skin but with decent medium coverage. It's definitely a better matte formula for me than the previous two matte formulas I've reviewed but I personally find high end products are developed better than most drugstore products and have better technology which ultimately gives you a quality product as well as great results. Or it could just be my fussy skin that prefers higher ended stuff hah! This has an SPF of 30, though I don't recommend relying on this solely for protection, definitely use a sunscreen under this as you wouldn't even apply a quarter of how much sunscreen you need with this product. This also has a faint but definite scent to it, almost fresh and citrusy but not detectable once on the skin.

This was an extremely in depth review so I hope I didn't bore you. If you've had any experiences, similar or not so much, do let me know as I'd love to hear your thoughts too. Toodles! 

Here are some swatches of all my Nars bases so you can see the dissimilarities between all the shades people in this shade group might wear.

- Sheer Glow in Stromboli (review HERE)

- All Day Luminous Weightless in Stromboli (review HERE)

- Pure Radiant Tinted Moistiriser in St.Moritz

- Velvet Matte Skin Tint in St.Moritz (review HERE)

- Radiant Creamy Concealer in Ginger (review HERE)

- Radiant Creamy Concealer in Caramel

Here's another angle :

I’ve had this concealer for a very very long time, I bought it the same time I had bought my Nars Sheer Glow Foundation but I’ve barely used it. Reason being I’ve struggled with the texture and shade, I wasn’t sure how to use it and to my surprise I found it quite thick. Recently I’ve been forcing myself to use the stuff in my makeup stash since I’ve been neglecting a lot of it. I’ve been reaching for this quite a bit since it’s such a cult favourite and I really wanted to love it how so many others have loved and raved about it. I think I’ve finally figured out how to use this on myself and have definitely found a beneficial purpose for it now. I’m actually really enjoying it for a certain look I like to do which I’ll mention below and am overall impressed with the results that I get.

Description from Nars website:

Coveted by artists for its’ luxurious texture and luminous finish, new Radiant Creamy Concealer evens skin with lightweight medium to high buildable coverage. Enriched with hydrating, multi-action skincare benefits and light diffusing technology, it creates a softer, smoother complexion while instantly obscuring imperfections and diminishing fine lines and signs of fatigue. Long wearing and crease-proof. Paraben-free, Alcohol free, Synthetic fragrance free, Non comedogenic

The packaging is a simple rectangular lip gloss like tube with a doe foot applicator, so no qualms here. When I try out new concealers I anticipate the texture first rather than shade as I’ve had plenty of trouble in the past with unforgiving formulas on my dehydrated textured skin, they’ve just caked up most of the time and made my under eyes look very aged or worse than I had actually started off with, so I’ll discuss the texture first.

The Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer was a lot thicker than I imagined, I heard it was creamy, which it definitely is, but I couldn’t quite get over how thick it was, I was expecting something a lot thinner for some reason. I did initially find it hard to blend at first because I was applying way too much and it just ended up looking very obvious and cakey. I kept making the same mistake over and over again because I’d seen so many You-Tubers literally paint their under eyes with this stuff and I was literally painting my under eyes with plenty too! I also noticed that the Beauty Blender wouldn’t shift or blend the product out nicely under my eyes, it just wasn’t budging or blending nicely into my skin, it was looking so obvious and horrible on me. I’ve tried it around my mouth too and that was a big no no, it wasn’t concealing the discolouration properly at all and was picking up all the texture I have there and exaggerating it more.

I find that you can get medium to full coverage with this. I apply a smidgen under each eye and it disguises them just enough for me, my under eyes aren’t severely dark but over the past year or so I have felt the need to conceal them. It’s only when I’ve taken my makeup off that I notice the difference that it makes on me. I remember when I first used this successfully and went to the bathroom to wash my face at the end of the day, I reacted to my uncovered and bare dark circles with the remark: “aaand they’re back!” so that was proof for me that it did actually work, I was really surprised! I have some redness around my nose and a little bit of concealer covers this well for me. I also use this on my post pimple dark spots/marks and find that it covers those well enough too. If you have severe blemishes you may want to go with something a little more heavy duty that has better longevity than this.

The finish of the Radiant Creamy Concealer is as the name implies, radiant, it almost has a slight dewy glow. I’m not too sure but I think this may have light reflective particles in it which gives it this “radiant glow”, I could be wrong but there is definitely something that gives off the radiance. I like how radiant it makes my under eyes look, like I’ve had plenty of beauty sleep or as if I’ve been having all my vitamins and I’m a very healthy human being -hah- not!

The Radiant Creamy Concealer feels creamy to the touch even though it’s thick, it’s not a fluid concealer nor will it run down your hand. Though when I apply this under my eyes or on my blemishes it doesn’t feel heavy on me at all, this may be because of the amount I use. I feel this does ‘set’ a little or dry down.

Longevity-wise I feel this can last a decent time on me, especially when I set with my Soap & Glory Kick Ass powder nor does it crease too badly on me, I don’t have major issues with creasing in general, but I do have this one line that likes to collect any foundation or concealer that I have there, but with powder it stays relatively smooth. I also sometimes leave it without setting with powder and I get a more luminous and radiant look, it obviously doesn’t last as long but I do like the finish.

The shade I picked was Ginger, which is described as “Golden undertone for medium complexion”. I chose this shade since so many others close to my skin tone had this shade. The shade was something I was a little surprised about when I first tried it, it was a lot deeper than I expected. When I first applied this onto my under eyes, apart from the thick texture I was a little disappointed, I was expecting something lighter to give me a more brighter almost highlighted under eye. In fact Ginger is incredibly close to my skin tone, just on the peachier side. This is not the shade I’d use to highlight, I’d have to use something like Custard or a mix of the two to achieve a lifted and highlighted look as there is a rather big jump between the two shades. But like I mentioned at the beginning I’ve found a very useful purpose for it now and the peachy tone works perfectly for me.

I’ve experimented enough with this and have given it enough trials, so I first make sure I have a well moisturised under eye, just like when you're applying foundation you need to make sure the skin under your eyes is hydrated and supple with a certain level of emollience, your concealer will glide on and blend with ease and you'll have a much more beautiful finish. I’ve realised that I need to use just a smidgen of the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer, this is pigmented so I actually don’t have to use a lot for the “natural” look I usually go for, literally a dot under each eye just over the darkness and I blend it out with my finger, then build it up with a tiny bit more if I need more coverage, the warmth of my fingers really helps to melt the concealer in and manoeuvres the product nicely around under my eyes. When I don't want to get concealer on my fingers (we all have those days) a small concealer brush is lovely to use as it fits nicely under the eyes and in the inner crevice and I gently pat and blend it in.

Because of the depth and peachiness of the colour it doesn’t make my under eyes go ashy, it seems to correct them and conceal them in one step and blends in with the rest of my face. It doesn’t highlight my under eyes but it brightens and banishes the darkness to match my skin and this alone makes me look a lot less tired. For the blemishes around my face I use the small flat concealer brush and pat it on then diffuse the edges (pin point concealing) then set my face with powder and that’s my base done, I apply a few dabs of lipstick and a coat of mascara and this is my makeup for the day, my no makeup makeup routine.

I love how doing this routine makes my skin look naturally blemish free, even and healthy without having any foundation on, since the concealer is so close to my skin tone, it really unifies my face without any tell-tale lines. The balance of golden peachy tones works really well to counteract the darkness of the dark spots scattered on my face. Using it under my eyes just makes me look so much more awake it's like magic!

I don’t use this for the hyper pigmentation around my mouth, it’s too heavy for that, but when I go for a full face of makeup I do use two swipes on either side of my chin after colour correcting with orange and blend it out with a damp beauty blender and it helps counteract the unwanted ‘goatee’ look I can usually get due to my discolouration. Using it all around my mouth makes that area look too obvious and unnatural on me so I avoid it.

This is definitely a quality concealer and I can understand why people like it so much, it took me a while to understand it but I found a beneficial use for it in the end! As usual I hope this review was helpful, if you have any questions or comments do leave them down below. Peace and love. X