NARS Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation in Stromboli & Vanuatu, Radiant Creamy Concealer & Soft Matte Complete Concealer in Macadamia, Pore & Shine Control And Radiance Primer, and Orgasm Lipstick Review and Swatches

I've been testing the NEW NARS Natural Radiant Foundation for about a month now! Let's get started!

 

Sweet-Bittersweet-NotSweet

supersweet(run & buy it) sweet(really good,buy it) bittersweet(ok, issues)not sweet(not good,don't buy this stuff)

NARS Pore & Shine Control Primer ($36) - Sweet

NARS Radiance Primer Broad Spectrum SPF 35 Sunscreen ($36) - Sweet

When I purchased the NARS foundation, my Smashbox primer (Original, Primerizer, Primer Oil) didn't agree with it. The foundation looked cake-y, powdery and just sat atop my skin. I read an interesting article where you want to use water-based primers with water-based foundations; also silicone-based primers with silicone-based foundations. Two different bases (water and silicone) can cause your foundation to pill when layered on top of each other. Water and silicone do not mix well! DID YOU KNOW THAT? So I purchased two NARS primers to rectify the situation. The NARS Pore & Shine is a mattifying primer (picture of me wearing it bottom middle; the primer is white in color), that controls shine and prolongs your makeup. When I applied it to my dry skin it looked beautiful. It didn't feel drying. It gave me a great blur effect (pores & lines). I was like WOW! But when I applied the foundation on top, my skin looked DRY! It looked powdery, settled into my fine lines and overall didn't give me the finish I was looking for. So FYI, I wouldn't recommend that primer for dry skin types. I had a feeling that was the case, but wanted to try it to see. I feel Normal, Combination & Oily skin types will probably love it. So I then tried NARS' Radiance Primer (picture of me wearing it in the bottom right picture and the primer is peach in color). This primer revives dull & fatigued skin, improves vitality and enhances the look of makeup. Bottom line, it's a hydrating primer that will give your skin a GLOW! This primer felt really good to my skin and hydrating. It doesn't blur, but it truly preps the skin for foundation and gives you a radiant glow. I think a tad too much radiance...too much glow, but it doesn't feel heavy and you can tame it with translucent powder (which I had to do). I tried mixing both primers to achieve a balance, but the end result was too matte.

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Macadamia (22 Shades; $30) - Bittersweet

NARS Soft Matte Complete Concealer in Macadamia (16 Shades; $30) - Bittersweet

I've been wanting to try NARS Concealers. I thought this was a great time to give them a go. The NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer is great if you don't have a lot to cover. It's lightweight and will do the job for what most people need to hide. I need COVERAGE! LOL So I like the NARS Soft Matte Complete Concealer. It did a much better job covering under my eyes, cheek and chin area. Do I love it more than Tarte's Shape Tape? No. The difference for me is the finish. I found the Soft Matte to be more powdery than Shape Tape. It's a creamy cream, but then it turns powdery. Also, I had a small amount of creasing (under-eye area). I also felt it moved somewhat, whereas my Tarte Shape Tape stays in place. These are good, but I feel there's better out there. I want to try Makeup Revolution's new concealer. I've heard it's a possible dupe for Tarte's Shape Tape. I'll have to see. Let me know if you've tried it! Let me know if you've tried these.

NARS Orgasm Lipstick (Satin Finish $28) - Supersweet

This lipstick came with my order. You guys may remember I purchased a NARS palette from Nordstrom that contained the Orgasm blush. Well I was happy to receive a deluxe Orgasm lipstick. Don't they pair well together? It's a peachy pink lipstick with golden shimmer. I absolutely love it! It has dimension to it. It reminds me of a PINK version of Lipstick Queens Let Them Eat Cake. If you have the Orgasm blush, purchase the lipstick as well. It's really pretty :D

NARS Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation in Stromboli and Vanuatu (33 Shades; $49) - Sweet

Ok guys! Here we go! THE FOUNDATION! I initially ordered about four shades online. NONE matched. HaHaHa One matched my mom! LOL The other three I returned (I usually never return makeup. I was so off). Went into ULTA. Spent hours there trying to decide (the newest thing is to swatch test foundation on your CHEST! where a vneck to the store!). Purchased two (the ones listed here). Before you see them on me, let me give you some advice about the foundation that I experienced. SHAKE IT UP! SHAKE! SHAKE! SHAKE! I didn't initially and saw the difference (powdery, streaky etc). NARS recommends applying this with your fingers. I did, but for me it gave a thinner application. I preferred using my Beautyblender. It gave me full coverage, which I preferred. A little goes a long way! Place a dot on an area and work it in. Dot and work it in. Work in sections. Does it oxidize? I felt the color darkened slightly, but not drastically. NARS states this has a specialized skin-matching technology. It's going to match only to a certain point. I am NEW TO NARS! So I had to go through this entire song & dance to find what worked for me. IF YOU ARE NEW TO NARS, let me HIGHLY RECOMMEND you go to one of their counters and let a professional PROFESSIONALLY match you to your correct foundation, primer etc. It will save you a lot of headache and returning things. LOL Is it transfer resistant? IT IS! IT IS! I initially didn't think it was, because after I applied it I touched my nose and the foundation came off. I applied the rest of my makeup, touched my cheek and the foundation came off. BUT, if you give it 45 minutes to an hour to set, it's transfer resistant. Rub your entire palm on your forehead and it won't come off. So I think a lot of people didn't give it time (including myself initially). Also NARS states the longer you leave this foundation on, it gets BETTER and BETTER. It does! When you initially put this on, you will be like I paid $49 for this!?! HaHaHa I looked in the mirror several hours later and was like Oh, I look good! :D It does look like skin. It looks natural. It makes your skin look radiant. I love the sleekness of the packaging. I love that it has a pump. It's very sophisticated. You guys know I'm on a foundation kick this year, so I will be testing some other brands.

NARS Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation in STROMBOLI

Here is Stromboli! The lighter of the two foundations. For Winter, I think it's a pretty good match. Look at how well it covered my dark areas, freckles and completely evened out my skin tone. I'm wearing NARS Radiance Primer, NARS Orgasm Blush & Lipstick, NARS Albatross highlighter,  NARS Soft Matte Concealer in Macadamia (there is a little creasing under my eyes), Laura Mercier Translucent Powder and IT Cosmetics Brow Power. Stromboli is very yellow. If you look at my chin area and then neck, you can see this. So I think I will add a touch of Vanuatu to correct that problem. But I like how bright Stromboli makes me look.

NARS Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation in VANUATU (pronounced)

Here's Vanuatu! It's just a shade darker than Stromboli. When I look at my chin & neck, it's a really good match. Stromboli just seems to brighten me up more, so I will mix the two.

Final Thoughts! 

I've watched countless reviews for this foundation on YouTube. The finish on everyone really looks good. But it won't look good (as you know what I went through) if you're not wearing the right primer, pick the wrong color or apply it wrong etc. I made all 3 mistakes and was ready to give this an F. HaHaHa It was frustrating. I even skipped several weeks blogging trying to deal with this. But once I got the winning combination down I was impressed. I saw it in my pictures. I wanted to share my experience, because others may go through the same. I hope this review helps.