NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation

[Purchased]

NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation (1.0 oz / 30 ml) retails for $48 USD ($59 CAD) and is available 20 shades. It is said to be "an oil-free foundation that delivers full, natural-looking coverage with one drop, for lightweight, 16-hour wear."

* My Shade: (Light 1) Siberia is described as a light w/ neutral balance of pink & yellow undertones.

"Achieve full-coverage, lightweight foundation that leaves a natural finish. Highly pigmented and perfectly balanced, this breakthrough, full-coverage formula builds and blends effortlessly. Its Even Tone Technology instantly neutralizes redness and dullness, while it works to reduce discoloration for more even, uniform skin. Perfect for all skin types, it features Weightless Long-wear Technology, an exclusive blend from NARS with flexible polymers and treated pigments that move with the skin while providing 16 hours of staying power."

Before I get into the review, we should note that my skin type is dry. Extremely to mildly dry, depending on the day/season and I only sometimes get oily in my forehead and nose area.

QUICK OVERVIEW ↓

Coverage: full, buildable, easily sheered out if desired

Finish: satin matte, natural

Wear: 8 hours before requiring a touch-up

Ideal Skintype: normal, combination, oily
+ Photographs nicely, no flashback

The packaging is a frosted, glass bottle with a silicone textured cap. The foundation comes housed with a pump which disperses a nice, controlled amount of product in one go—achieving half a pump is possible. My preferred method for applying foundation is with a dense brush or my fingers. With both methods, two pumps was enough to cover my entire face, however my desired coverage required three to four. This foundation is also fragrance-free.

The formula is a thinner, liquid consistency and has full, buildable coverage that can be easily sheered. The finish is a soft, satin matte that provides a light sheen, so you're not left looking flat. It applies incredibly easily across the skin and doesn't require extra work to blend out streaks or diffuse the product around the edges of your face. It absorbs/sets rather quickly. It never feels heavy—so the weightless claim is true—restricting, or greasy/cakey before setting.

The nicest part about this foundation is while it does have a full coverage, your natural skin still shows through—just perfected looking, more even and flawless. My freckles were still lightly visible after a heavier application, but any redness and imperfections prior to application were undetectable.

This isn't the greatest foundation for dry and/or acne prone skin, as it tends to accentuate drier patches. While it never looks flaky, it does make those areas appear scale-like. Applying a generous amount of moisturizer minutes before application did help slightly with dryness, but it's a nice foundation in the sense that it doesn't necessarily require a primer. When I tested this product both with and without a primer or base, the wear time and overall look of the foundation didn't differ.

Powders and concealers work and layer well over this foundation without moving or disturbing the product. I didn't feel I needed any extra coverage on my face, besides a concealer to my dark circles and under eye area. Both powder foundations and setting powders work flawlessly to set the product, but again, if you have drier or acne prone skin, those dry patches will still show through—there's no real way of avoiding that.

The foundation wore incredibly well over time. I didn't notice the foundation made me oily in my t-zone but around the +6 hour mark, the product did break down around my nostrils and lightly separated in expression lines—which happens with any and every product for me, so this wasn't a real surprise and we can't say it was strictly the foundation. In a whole, it held up well for +8.5 hours before I felt any real need to touch-up my face.

Overall, I appreciate that this foundation comes with a controllable pump that disperses the right amount of product. The range of shades is also phenomenal—I usually struggle to find a light enough shade, but finding a perfect match to my skintone was a breeze! This foundation applies and wears beautifully, but it isn't the best for dry or acne prone skin since it does accentuate those problems. It is a nice foundation and just the range of shades alone is worth checking out, especially if you normally struggle to find the right undertone balance.

Available now from Sephora!