High End Splurge: NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation

Should I spoil this review for you and just tell you what I think of this foundation? Too bad because you’re going to have to read till the end to find out! 😛😜

So I have been lusting after a NARS foundation for as long as I can remember, and the foundation gods must have heard my cry because this practically dropped right into my lap! *cue angels singing hurrah*

I decided to treat myself to this foundation for my birthday (25th July) and I got it on a discount so I decided, why the heck not? And y’all know this girl loves herself a discount! I introduce to you, NARS All Day Luminous Weightless foundation (from here on referred to as ADLW)

What it is: “An oil-free foundation that delivers full, natural-looking coverage with one drop, for lightweight, 16-hour wear”

The foundation comes in 20 shades and I got it in the shade New Orleans (dark 2). The packaging is so beautiful. It comes in a frosted glass bottle and it has a pump! I love me a foundation with a pump. NARS describes this as a full coverage foundation but I would say it’s medium – buildable, because you can definitely see some of my imperfections with one layer. I haven’t tried using 2 layers, because I’m perfectly fine with the level of coverage I get in one layer.

Swatched

Blended

It swatches really orange-y, which surprised me cos I was expecting more yellow tones. But you know what? IT WORKS. It matches me so seamlessly, it’s crazy. I compared it to my SuperStay in cocoa

Left; NARS right; SuperStay

See how orange they both are? SuperStay is a teeny bit darker, than the ADLW.

A lot of reviews I read online said the NARS is of a runny consistency, which is true. But I realised that if you shake it a lot more thoroughly, it isn’t as runny. The instructions on the bottle say to apply with your fingers but that’s gross and I’m really not about that life 😂. There was a time that I used to apply all my foundations with my hands but I’m growed up now 😀😀

I did test out the one pump claim, using my hands, and oh my gosh, it’s actually true. I was able to cover my whole face with one pump. But mostly I like to apply this with a beauty blender, using 2 full pumps. One for each side of my face, then use what’s left on the beauty blender on my forehead. And I should mention that the pump dispenses just a tiny bit at a time.

The foundation blends seamlessly into my skin. Literally melts into it omg. It blends so easily and so flawlessly, and I’m amazed at the level of coverage such a runny foundation has. It is indeed weightless like the name claims. I was afraid that luminous + my oily/combo skin would translate into oil slick but I’m not happy to tell you that that’s not the case! There is a slight sheen but it looks nothing like “I have too much oil on my face”  Like a lot of women of colour, my skin is not one colour all the way, so it’s a little tricky matching my foundations. My face is lighter than my chest, so I sometimes have to go a little darker in my foundations to get it to match my chest so it’s not so obvious, or not layer so much that the disparity is so obvious

Left; no foundation right; one pump of NARS ADLW

(pardon my grotty head wrap 😂😂)
It’s hard to tell that I have foundation on because the colour match is so spot on

Full face foundation

The difference between my neck and chest isn’t so obvious here, meaning this is a good match for me.

Full face done

Here I added eyeliner, did a little baking and a slick of lipstick. The foundation is natural looking and not at all cakey. I have tested the foundation in various situations, with a primer, without a primer, with a setting powder, without a setting powder, and the longevity varies with each. Without a setting powder, it lasts about 4 hours before I start getting shiny, which is big for me, considering how oily I am. With a setting powder, I can go a whole day without getting shiny, especially when I bake. But mostly I don’t wear it with a setting powder (usually cos I’m rushing out the door so I forget 😂)

I love that it stays true to colour, there is no oxidation whatsoever. However my first experience was not as plain sailing. The foundation seemed dark and it seemed to oxidize, and I was so scared I had wasted my money. But I gave it another shot and now I absolutely love it. I have been wearing it everyday since I got it. Yes that’s how much I love it! The ADLW foundation does not contain any SPF, which could be a pro or a con depending on how you look at it. But that means no flashback!

The foundation originally retails for $48 but I got it for $40 which is approx equivalent to 160 cedis. It’s pretty pricey but hey we’re talking about NARS here. I would recommend this foundation if you could afford it. It comes in a range of shades for pale to deep dark skin. NARS foundations aren’t readily available in Ghana but if you can find it and you can afford it, I say get it!!

If you made it to the end of this review, thank you for reading!

If you have tried this foundation, share your experiences with me!