Ask me what’s my favorite concealer and I will tell that it’s from Nars. It’s the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer in Custard. There’s just something about this particular concealer. Well, it’s actually a lot of things. First, this is a medium to full-coverage concealer that is blendable and won’t make your skin look cakey. It’s creamy and won’t settle on your fine lines. Second, it really conceals the skeletons in your closet, LOLย Third, it can also work as a highlighter for contouring and strobing. Fourth, it also works to correct skin redness, evens complexion and retains moisture. And last but not the least, it’s packed with antioxidants to give your skin a radiant and glowy finish. Hmmm, this reminds me a lot of Nars Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer. The more you use it, the more it improves your skin and the more you’ll love it.
The Custard shade is ideal for my “slightly lightened” winterized skin. It has a yellowish tone that suits anyone with a light to medium skin tone. I use it a lot for my undereye circles, and then set it with Laura Mercier Translucent Powder. ย Well, this really works wonders for me. My face looks more awake during the days where I lack sleep.
This concealer is a bit pricey, but it’s so worth it because it really does its job very well. It’s no surprise that it’s an award-winning concealer because its quality is outstanding.
Cold weather is here and I am obsessed with tinted moisturizers! when the temps go low, we go high with moisturizers! hahaha! sounds familiar? ๐ Seriously, chilly days like these really do require a lot of moisturization or massive hydration. Our skin tends to dry a lot, and even if you’re the oily type, you still need to moisturize a lot or your sebum will overwork. ๐
I laid off my regular foundations, for now, to give way to Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer (in Bisque) and Nars Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer (in Groenland). These are at the top of the bestselling tinted moisturizers on the market nowadays. They’re much like a lightweight foundation or simply a tinted moisturizer as what they’re called. They both work like a charm and delivers a luminous and hydrated effect on the skin. In fact, my skin never feels or looks dry whenever I use one of them. They have such a natural finish without making your face look flat or dull.
Since I’ve been constantly using these two, I feel like they’re both similar but with subtle differences. But before we compare and contrast, let’s take a look at each tinted moisturizer’s specific benefit and description.
Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer Broad Spectrum Spf 20 (Bisque)– Light Neutral complexion with balance of pink and yellow undertone. Since the start of this chilly weather, my skin has lightened quite a bit, thus the Bisque shade, which is a perfect match. This tinted moisturizer has antioxidants, Vitamins C & E, and sodium hyaluronate. It also has broad spectrum Spf 20 and is non-comedogenic.ย
Nars Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer Broad Spectrum Spf 30 (Groenland) – Light Medium with a neutral pink to peachy undertone. This tinted moisturizer is oil-free with broad spectrum Spf 30. It has natural polysaccharides for hydration and cell-renewal and also has mineral-rich seawater for adding minerals to the skin. It’s also non-comedogenic and it’s meant to even the skin tone by reducing dark spots or discoloration. In other words, this particular tinted moisturizerย claimsย to overall improve skin conditions in 4 weeks.ย
Similarities:ย
They both deliver a “no-makeup” but with a ton of makeup look. They both blend easily and are really lightweight on the skin. Both have no annoying fragrances and my skin never broke out from constantly using them. Lasting power is about the same for both, and they do stay on my oily skin for hours.
Differences:ย
Nars Pure Radiant Moisturizer is slightly more pigmented than Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer. Since I’ve mentioned that my skin has lightened a bit due to this cold and gloomy weather, the Bisque shade of Laura Mercier’s Tinted Moisturizer is probably the best shade that matches my now NC20-25 skin tone, but the closest equivalent shade that I found in Nars Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer is Groenland, which as you can see at the bottom is still quite slightly yellowish than Bisque, though both are meant to be light-medium or light neutral. However, once blended to my skin, the slight difference in color is hard to discern.
Also, theย Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer only has Spf 20 compared to Nars Pure Radiantย that has Spf 30. I mean, that’s not much of a big deal, right? Theย Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer also feels more like a creamy moisturizer and has a very very natural effect, but theย Nars Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer, though very fluid, can feel a bit makeup-y. I guess because it’s oil-free, but, the effect on Nars’ is quite luminous and glowy. It also has a nice fresh flowery scent to it.
Verdict:ย
I think, whichever you wanna choose, you won’t regret having any of these two. They’re really good tinted moisturizers and they’re so on trend with this natural almost “no makeup” look. Another great option apart from these two is theย Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua, which is hard to beat, for sure.ย
Anyway, what d’ya think of these? Any tinted moisturizers out there that you can recommend?ย
No one can stop me when I taste the feeling… Nothing could ever bring me down… Oh why hello there?!! Obviously, I had too much coca cola today, and obviously I’m elated because it’s Friyay! I just lurve the weekends… Another thing I’m excited about is today’s review.ย
Nars just released their Nars Velvet Lip Glide which a lot of people are excited about and I’ve been looking forward to testing ever since it was announced. It’s Nars’ own version of matte or semi-matte liquid lipsticks that’s been flooding the beauty counters nowadays.ย
These Nars Velvet Lip Glides are supposed to be highly saturated with semi-matte or velvet textures and are also long lasting. I couldn’t wait when I arrived to my local beauty storeย and was surprised to see a lot of these sitting in the Nars aisle section. I was wondering how come there’s not a lot of people picking up these, though I did see that there’s only one product left of a particular shade called Bound, which I picked up immediately because it seems to be the most wearable shade of all the Nars Velvet Lip Glide line. No wonder it became immediately popular.
Just like the Chanel Rouge Allure Ink Matte Liquid Lip Colour that I reviewed a few days ago, (reviewed HERE) I also had a hard time picking up other colors that I like. These Nars Velvet Lip Glides don’t have a vast array of shades to choose from, plus most of the shades are either too dark, too red or too nude for me. There’s not many wearable colors for my medium NC30-35 skin tone. I was really getting disappointed, and much to my dismay, when I swatched them on the back of my hand, I noticed that they’re not really matte, semi-matte, velvet, semi-velvet or anything like that. They resembled like a creamy and thickly-whipped lip gloss. Reminds me a lot of Buxom Wildly Whipped Lightweight Liquid Lipstick in terms of texture.
See below:
Nars Velvet Lip Glide in Playpen : Pink Coral. A nude coral tone with a bit of pink that has a thick formulation but feels lightweight on the lips. Though I find this shade to be a little too bright for me and the formula to be too thick and a bit clumpy, I still like its slightly wearable hue, plus this would be a really great lip gloss.
Nars Velvet Lip Glide in Bound: Rose Pink. Probably the most favorite and the most wearable shade of all the Nars Velvet Lip Glide. It’s a nude-mauve tone that would really work for anyone with a medium skin tone and with pigmented lips. It’s a beautiful hydrating shade, just not a matte in terms of texture. Sigh…ย
As you can see in the photos above, these Nars Velvet Lip Glides are not so velvety, but more like a whipped gloss as I’ve said before. I’m really kinda disappointed because I thought they would be mattes or semi-mattes at least. I know some people thought of the same as well. When it comes to its lasting power, well, I could only get 3 hours of maximum wear on these. Then I would have to reapply and there’s also no stain left behind. Good news is there’s no strong scents on these Velvet Lip Glides. The packaging is of substantial size and is beautiful with a well-made brush for precise application.
If you haven’t tried these and are really interested in getting at least one, I suggest you purchase the shade in Bound, as I think it’s the most beautiful and wearable shade of all the Nars Velvet Lip Glide. If you want a similar formulation as the Velvet Lip Glides but with more wearable hues to choose from, I also suggest that you try Buxom Wildly Whipped Lightweight Liquid Lipsticks, available HERE.
The Nars Velvet Lip Glides are availabe HERE as well.
Have you tried these lippies lately? What d’ya think?
