First Look| NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation

The NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation ($49) is a mixed bag of regrets for me. At best it makes my skin a little lackluster and matte and at worst it disintegrates on the face after a few hours of wear. I was already a little wary of the new serum-like foundations newly released on the market, but I thought this would be different due to reviews that promised a satin (not powdery matte) dry down. 

LIES.

It comes in a glass bottle with a cap and a pump, but it's a little precarious to shake the bottle violently with the sleek glass and plastic packaging. Not to mention, the cap often twists open the pump, resulting in leakage or even flying foundation spatter if you're not careful. 

Fiji is a good match for the lighter side of NC25 with neutral yellow tones. It's a bit light and peachy pink in direct sunlight for my neck. Punjab was too peachy (NC30) and Ceylan (NC20) was too light but with the correct undertone for my skin.

I tried a variety of methods to make the foundation longer lasting with a better finish for my normal to dry skin, but nothing has made the foundation a breakthrough product for me. I used two drops (pumps, they are small) each time and blended in with my fingers as suggested.  

Edit: In retrospect, using one drop per NARS instruction sufficed and allowed less product to pool into pores and lines. I used one drop and focused it on the center of my face and it managed to be a lovely demi-matte finish and still had medium coverage. 

First, I tried layering it on top of the Hourglass No. 28 Primer to prevent a powdery look. This produced the best looking glow in the world, but it quickly sank into my laugh lines and fine lines after an hour of wear. I was a little disheartened, because the initial look is flawless in photos (due to no SPF content.) 

This is artificial lighting at night. Doesn't my skin look great? It manages to cover up most hyper-pigmentation and dark spots, but not all. Redness and broken capillaries are also hidden, and the foundation itself feels very lightweight on the face.

The next attempt was over the Tarte Maracuja Oil but under the NARS Light Reflecting Powder. It quickly broke up and slid around on the face after several hours of wear, even when my skin is dry. The product seemed to sit on top of the oil and never had a chance to sink into the face. If you look closely at my forehead, you'll see huge patches of foundation that seems unblended. My pores and laugh lines were also majorly accented by this application. If you dare look closely, my skin looks like a FIELD OF PEACH FUZZ.

As a last resort, I used this foundation on top of a slightly tackier base: the Cerave AM Lotion with SPF30 and no setting powder. This quickly showed the true texture of the foundation: it's MATTE. There's no glow and it cakes up heavily around the sides of my nose. There is very little "breaking up" of the foundation on the face, but the overall effect is aging and devoid of moisture. 

However, it photographs beautifully every time. It blurs pores and fine lines away so well, even if I look haggard and disgusting in person with crater-like pores and deep lines. My dry spots were also lifted up and textures emphasized. What a dilemma, as I think this foundation would be great for those who flourish in front of the camera. 

NOTE: Regardless of moisturizer/base underneath, this foundation sank into the fine lines under my eyes instantly resulting in a crepe-y look. 

Overall, I have mixed feelings that lean negative.  It's very lightweight on the skin and provides full coverage in two drops and it photographs flawlessly. The foundation has to *look* very matte in order to be long lasting on the skin. If you're oily, fuggedaboutit. If you're very dry with spots and flakes, the All Day Luminous will make you look like a crustacean. If you have very normal skin with no textural issues and only colored pigmentation on the skin that need coverage, this may be for you. Make sure you exfoliate well and don't let anyone see you from closer than 10 feet away.

Otherwise, you can do better. I for one am over the serum foundation hype. 

xo Be