NARS Chronicles : NARS Sheer Glow in Barcelona - Swatches & Review







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I needed a new foundation, I definitely did. Because what I was doing for a while - after realizing that my regular foundation was breaking me out and was definitely not the best shade for me (Lierac's Soin de teint)- was mixing Urban Decay's Naked Skin foundation in shade 7 (6 is too light and 7 too dark) with MAC's prolongwear concealer in shade NC35. Although, it gave me my shade , it was definitely too thick as a consistency (blame it on the concealer) and really annoying to mix every morning.
What I like in a foundation is first, the coverage to be from sheer to medium, anything with high coverage I'd avoid. The second thing is the consistency, I tend to like watery consistency more than any other heavier ones. The third thing : A foundation that is non comedogene, won't clog my pores and break me out. The fourth and final thing : A foundation that would match my skin tone, simple as that on paper, but the hunt was long and I finally found the absolute perfect match with Nars Sheer Glow Foundation in shade "Barcelona".
The Sephora lady (as always, I tend to avoid their color matching) matched me to Syracuse, so I went ahead and bought it, thinking why not, I could return it if it didn't match me. Of course, It didn't, back home I tried it on and boy , I looked like the classic oompa loompa, crazy orange face, it was horrible. So I went for the Medium 4 shade , Barcelona : 

J'avais réellement besoin d'un nouveau fond de teint. Ce que je faisais jusque là est le classique mix de fond de teint quand une personne comme moi à du mal a trouver sa teinte. Je melangeais donc la teinte 7 du Naked Skin Foundation d'Urban Decay (qui est trop foncé et la teinte 6 est trop claire/pas assez jaune) avec mon anticerne Prolongwear de MAC en teinte NC35. Ce mélange était pas si mal comme teinte finale mais le mélange en lui même était beaucoup trop épais et difficile à appliquer.  Sans ajouter que le mélange des deux produits tous les matins commençait sérieusement à m'ennuyer.
Je peux résumer en 4 grand points ce que je recherche réellement dans un fond de teint (je pense qu'on est tous dans le même cas) :
- La couvrance doit être de légère à moyenne.
- Le produit en lui-même doit être léger et être à base d'eau.
-  Un fond de teint non comédogène, qui n'obstrue pas mes pores et qui surtout ne me donne pas de bouton.
- Un fond de teint qui correspond à ma couleur de peau naturelle.

La recherche a été longue et j'ai enfin trouvé la teinte parfaite dans ce fond de teint de NARS qui est la teinte Medium 4 Barcelona.
Évidemment, même cette trouvaille là n'a pas été sans contrainte, comme d'habitude (je n'ai juste pas de chance avec les conseilleres de sephora), la conseillere m'a proposé la teinte Syracuse qui évidemment était beaucoup trop foncée. Je n'ai pas trop réfléchis et je l'ai acheté en me disant que je pouvais toujours le retourner au cas où. Rentrée chez moi, le test est un total échec : J'ai le visage complètement orange. D'où, le changement pour la teinte en dessous, Barcelona :






I bought it at the end of August and as much as the color was amazing, the formula wasn't so much. I would look like an oil slick after a few hours, my nose would be completely shiny and this foundation transfers everywhere. Same for the month of September, which was pretty warm in Paris, so I went back to my old mix. We're now in November, and I'm sporting Barcelona again, meaning that this is definitely a great foundation for the Fall/Winter time. 

The coverage isn't sheer at all, it's more like a medium coverage, the consistency isn't watery nor thick, and it lacks a pump (that I'm going to buy pretty soon). I used to blend it with my Sigma F80 brush but I find it to be more natural looking and easily blendable with my fingers instead. In winter, my normal/combination skin falls to a dehydrated/dry to normal skin and I still need to set my t-zone with powder and blot sheet my nose but it's pretty less than what it used to be in summer. The foundation looks amazing on my skin, NARS offers the perfect yellow based shades ever, it's not too yellow nor is it too neutral. It's absolutely perfect and I can't tell you about how much I'm in love with this foundation just because I found the perfect shade.

Je l'avais acheté fin août et la teinte était parfait mais la formulation du fond de teint ne l'était pas tellement. Je brillais après quelques heures, ma zone T brille énormément et semble grasse, sans y ajouter qu'à cause de cette brillance, le fond de tein à tendance à laisser des marques sur les vêtements si par malheur vous avez touché votre visage. Ce fond de teint n'est définitivement un fond de teint d'été et pourtant je n'ai pas la peau à tendance grasse. Maintenant qu'il fait plus froid à Paris, je porte de nouveau Barcelona. 
La couvrance n'est pas légère mais plutôt moyenne, la consistence pourrait être qualifiée de normal et ce fond de teint manque d'une pompe. Je l'utilisais avec mon F80 de chez Sigma mais je me suis vite rendu compte que comme la marque le précise, l'application au doigt est plus naturelle et estompable. Ma peau est plus normal avec un zone T grasse en été alors qu'en hiver ma peau à tendance a être désydratée/sèche. Je dois quand même poudrer ma zone T et le fond de teint ne tiens toujours pas plus 4h sans commencer à briller. Je dois sûrement trouver une poudre pour contrer ce défaut.  Néanmoins, cette teinte est absolument parfaite, NARS fait les meilleurs fond de teint aux sous tons jaunes et Barcelona n'est ni trop jaune, ni trop neutre. En sommes, la teinte parfaite qui ne s'oxyde pas (pour moi du moins). 



COMPARISON


Here's Nars Sheer Glow in Barcelona compared to : MAC's Prep&Prime Highlighter in Bright Forecast, MAC's Pro Longwear Concealer in NC35 (which weirdly looks the same in the picture but it is way lighter than Barcelona which has more of a yellow tint to it. A good match for NC35 would be Stromboli), MAC's Mineralize Concealer in NC35 and Urban Decay's Naked Skin Foundation in 7 (way too dark, as stated).

Voici le Barcelona de NARS comparé à : MAC-Prep&Prime Highlighter en Bright Forecast, MAC- Pro Longwear Concealer en NC35 (La photo donne l'impression que la teinte est similaire à Barcelona, mais en réalité le NC35 est beaucoup plus clair et moins jaune. Une teinte équivalente au NC35 serait plutôt Stromboli), MAC- Mineralize Concealer in NC35 and Urban Decay-Naked Skin Foundation en teinte 7.


And, if you ever wanted to see how it looks on my skin :


LET'S WRAP UP :

  • Consistency : Normal (not thick and not lightweight either)
  • Price : 41€
  • Quantity : 30 ml
  • Coverage : Medium coverage and buildable
  • Finish : Satin, like actual skin but gets a bit more glowy after a few hours of wear
  • Use : Works better and is seamless with fingers (as recommended by the brand) but is alright with a F80 from Sigma.
  • Suitability : Winter foundation for a combination skin, not suitable for oily skins
  • Shade : Barcelona has the perfect amount of yellow which cancels out dark areas (around the mouth in the picture)
  • Cons : Transfers , gets shiny around the T area, so it requires some kind of powder. The foundation tends to emphasize dry spots. + It doesn't come with a pump.
  • Pros :  Perfect shade, nice balance between yellow undertone and neutral, perfect for Indian skin tone. The consistency isn't thick and it's easily bendable. It doesn't oxidize whatsoever.

This was the first NARS product I ever bought, I liked it so much that since then , a few NARS product entered the collection hence the title ! Part 1 was Sheer Glow in Barcelona, next will be : Audacious lipsticks , Radiant Creamy Concealer, Luminous Powder Foundation.

Other NARS reviews :


HAUL : TesterKorea - The first order

Hi there, you wouldn't actually believe that this order is from a few months ago (April/May) and it was my very first order from TesterKorea as well as my first time using korean products (considering that the Memebox came at the same time too).

Tester Korea


Testerkorea is a global korean website selling Korean make-up and skincare brands. The highlight of this specific website is that they pretty much sell every korean brand you could think of, and even if there isn't what you want on their website, you simply request your item and they will stock it for you. Back when I ordered this, it was on the old website and boy, it was laggy and annoying (Koreans love IE optimized websites) and I even had to finish the order on my iPhone after trying with both a mac computer and windows one. But that's all in the past because they revamped the whole website and there's no more problems whatsoever. The other big points : I find them to have the cheapest prices among other korean beauty shops +  They sell samples making it easier for you to try products before actually purchasing it. How many of you have bought something they barely use or just don't like ? Well, that's exactly what happened to me.


They are nice enough to label your order as only 20$ worth of goods so that you don't get any troubles with customs.


Etude House - Baking Powder Pore Cleasing Foam 


 Quantity : 170 ml 
Price : 6,500 won (approx 4,80€)


SKIN&LAB - C Plus Brightening Cream 

Quantity : 30 ml
Price : 21000 won (approx 15,50€)

 IT'S SKIN - 10 Formula WH Effector Essence

 Quantity : 30 ml
Price : 7840 won (approx 5,80€)

Product link here

INNISFREE - No Sebum Mineral Powder


 Quantity : 5 g
Price : 3,600 won (approx 2,70€)

SHEET MASKS

  • Nature Republic (EXO) - Snail Solution Hydrogel Mask Sheet
  • Foodholic - Cucumber Natural Essence Mask 
  • It's Skin (Nichkhun) - Aloe Calming Mask Sheet
  • Etude House - Green Tea Mask Sheet
  • INNISFREE - It's Real Rice Mask sheet (x3)
  • Holika Holika (Park Shin Hye & Jung Il Woo) - Aqua Water Mask 

 

  Free Samples

I was quite disappointed with the free samples, in the reviews I read before ordering I saw people with a ton of samples and I was quite disappointed. The only interesting stuff were the MISSHA Night Repair sample and ETUDE HOUSE's Cherry Tint. (Spot the Too Cool For School BB Cream samples that are obviously too light for a NC42/Barcelona skintone)

The order got approximately 3 weeks to come to Paris and I was really happy with my order (although I'm not a huge fan of all the products, you'll see that in the reviews to come). 


Nature Republic x EXO - By Flower Lip Balm : Kai's and Luhan's - Review & Swatches



I'm back for good, and believe it or not I have a lot of articles coming up in the draft section (actually this article was written way before the LOW CLASSIC  or Memebox article).

 This time, around I'm reviewing the By Flower Lip Balm by the Korean brand Nature Republic. This product is the result of a collaboration with the Korean boygroup EXO as they are the main endorsers for Nature Republic. And I truly believe that this product is nothing but a fangirl product, let's see what I mean by that.


The packaging

The product comes in 3 different scents, Rose (pink packaging), Lemon (yellow packaging) and Peach (orange packaging). You get 12 different lip balms with the face of each of the 12 members and their photocards.
 




The product

 After my sister asked me to buy it for her, I thought I should get myself one as well. So, I have here, Kai's lip balm with the scent Rose and Luhan's lipbalm with the scent Lemon. Scent wise, I really like the scent of the rose one, I knew that this is the type of scent I like whereas Lemony kind of scent repulse me. To each his own, my sister loves her lipbalm's lemon scent. 

The actual product is a clear balm in a pot, in which you definitely have to put your fingers. Not the cleanest way indeed but the product isn't colorless either :


 All of the lipbalms have the same tint, a kind of berry tint that would leave a stain on your lips. It's definitely buildable and gets darker the more you apply it on your lips. The other thing is : Your finger gets likewise the same amount of color, this product definitely leaves you a stain on your fingers that's kind of hard to remove. Honestly, I love staining lip products as I like my lips to be colored in some way and staining products have the good point of staying put but that point can definitely be a negative one for the others.


Kai's photocard and the back of it. 

My thoughts

Now, as far as the product goes, I have to admit I really don't like this product and my sister shares my opinion. This wouldn't be what I'd call a lipbalm, it's sticky and feels sticky on the lips which is really uncomfortable. It reminds me of those cheap gloss I hate and that you only want to remove right away. I've tried using this product for days and even weeks, from time to time I wanted to give it a new shot thinking that maybe this time it'll work but no, I don't see any moisturizing effect of any kind. Apart from giving you a stain and leaving you with sticky lips, this product won't moisturize your lips nor will it get rid of chapped lips. 

I'd say that this product is obviously a product marketed towards EXO fangirls, the marketing for this is good but the product in itself is terrible. I don't really care about photocards or having the -handsome- face of Kai on the back of my product either so I definitely regret buying this product and feel like it's way too expensive for what it is. 

When you originally purchase this on beauty sites, you get a random member but because my sister and I wanted these specifics members we got it off Ebay and it was approximately 11$ each and with shipping and converted to euros it was 20€.


Pros 

  • Leaves a stain
  • You get a photocard of a member with it (only relevant to fangirls)
  • Scented

Cons 

  • Leaves a stain on both your fingers and lips
  • Sticky
  • Non moisturizing
  • Uncomfortable to wear
  • Hard to get a hold of but I believe they came out with new pictures 

Disclosure

Wished Chronicles is a PR friendly blog and contains affiliate links. All opinions expressed are genuine and purely my own.
Read the full disclosure and review policy here.