For as long as I’ve had a vested interest in beauty (that is, an interest beyond Johnson’s Holiday Skin and whichever free eyeshadow palette came with Dolly magazine), I have sprouted about how “it’s funny how people can have such different experiences with the same beauty products.” While I still find this statement to be true, the example I have cited for upwards of eight years has been Nars Sheer Glow- a foundation with a truly cult following that I could not, for the life of me, get to sit nicely on my skin. There are many, many other products I could cite to support my view, however this one always just got the message across without the need for further explanation.
Recently, some new releases from NARS landed on my desk for review consideration- the Skin Deep Eye Palette (which I will talk more about in this month’s Beauty News column) and the Super Radiant Booster, accompanied by the Creamy Radiant Concealer (a personal favourite and long-time beauty bag staple) and, to my dismay, a bottle of Sheer Glow Foundation.
For the sake of the review, I wanted to begin by trialling all three complexion products together (I have since worn all three products separately and together, in a number of lighting and climate conditions).
I began with the Super Radiant Booster. This champagne hued luminising cream is designed to be worn under foundation, mixed with foundation and applied over foundation as a highlighter to the high planes of the face. After moisturising, I applied the Booster to the entire face as a primer- very impressed. The glow isn’t as intense as you would achieve with a designated highlighting fluid, meaning you’re getting a lit-from-within glow rather than shiny disco ball. Each time I have used this to prime, I have done so with my fingers (my preferred way to apply any and all primers).
Chronologically, Sheer Glow came next, however for the sake of building suspense I’m going to keep reviewing the Super Radiant Booster. I actually am yet to try it mixed in with foundation, almost entirely because I wanted to see how the foundation wore on its own merit, so I can’t review how it performed as a mixer. I can, however, review it as a highlighter over makeup- very, very well. It delivers more of a sheen than a sparkle (as all good highlighters should) and even when built up in a few sheer layers, the effect is more of a dew than a straight block of luminiser. This is how I like my highlighters to look, but it comes down to personal preference.
The Radiant Creamy Concealer formula remains unchanged and is, to this day, one of the very best concealers I have ever used. Full coverage without cake, radiance without shine, long wearing without separating- it just melts into your existing base products. For reference, I wear the shade Custard.
I applied the Sheer Glow to the centre of my Rae Morris Jishaku #28 brush then used circular motions to work it into my skin (my preferred way to apply foundation). The colour, Vienna, was a perfect match, and as its name suggests the finish was sheer, dewy and natural. I was able to build the coverage up without it going cakey, and despite the foundation having a dewy finish I didn’t feel I needed to set with powder. I was immediately impressed, however I had been impressed upon application the last time I’d tried Sheer Glow many, many moons ago. The issue then had been that the foundation began to separate and very slightly oxidise after a few hours of wear, so I couldn’t formulate an updated opinion before putting it through the hard yards once more.
At the time of writing, I have giving NARS Sheer Glow the tick of approval after a VERY long night out incl. Maccas run, several meetings in which I have been various levels of nervous-sweaty, and a very relaxed lunch in broad daylight. I have eaten my words. I initially put the change down to the combination of Sheer Glow with the Super Radiant Booster, however I’ve since tried it with a few different primers and have been impressed on all occasions, so I imagine the reason this now works for me is because my skin has changed (which, technically, means I was right in the first place in that different products work for different skin types so I don’t have to say I was wrong).
NARS extended the Sheer Glow Foundation shade range in late 2018, and this month sees the 34 shade spectrum land in Australian stores via Mecca Cosmetica.
While these products were provided courtesy of MECCA Brands, this article is not sponsored, there was no obligation from me to post and all views are, as always, entirely my own.
