Today I bought a $55 foundation merely because I was cranky and needed the uplifting boost a ridiculous purchase can (briefly) buy you. Granted, the foundation is amazing (NARS Sheer Glow - more on that in a minute), but it’s one of those purchases that I a) didn’t truly need, and b) might have a bit of buyers remorse later, which totally negates the ‘good’ feeling I was striving for. In any case…
Work is pissing me off severely the past week and as I have to work to live, unfortunately there’s not a whole lot I can do about it right now. Except shop, apparently.
NARS Sheer Glow foundation is normally not something I would pick up, for a multitude of reasons. First being that it’s $55(CDN) before tax and that’s kind of ridiculous. Second, I generally don’t wear foundation unless for a special event, or if my face is having one of *those* days. Third, its for normal to dry skin, which mine is resoundingly NOT. HOWEVER. I received a sample of the product in a swap back in early summer. The shade was too light for me then but it’s absolutely perfect now. Additionally, my skin has still been acting up terribly the past few weeks and I desperately needed something to cover and hydrate the scaly dry patches of skin. The bottle of Revlon’s Colorstay for Combo Skin just didn’t seem to be a good solution. Insert Sheer Glow. Lovely and hydrating, and miraculously didn’t harm my upset skin in the least – in fact, I think it may have even improved it! The package states that it hydrates and improves skin brightness, radiance, and texture, making skin softer and smoother. Amazingly, it did! My skin looks better now than it has in MONTHS. I can’t entirely contribute this to the foundation, but the fact that it didn’t further irritate my skin and adequately covered the issues without looking cakey or heavy was enough for me to be vastly impressed.
Interestingly, general consensus on makeupalley.com doesn’t give this foundation a very high rating (3.9 out of almost 600 reviews*) so I normally would have given it a pass, but I’m so glad I didn’t. It might be too heavy in the summer, but for now it’s perfect. Sheer, even coverage but still more than enough to deal with any minor discolorations. While I’m still smarting a bit from the price tag, I still feel that it was an entirely justified purchase that I’ll be quite pleased with over time. Anyone else try this product? Are you a yay or nay?
*Curiously, those who consider themselves very oily gave it a 4.7 rating (out of 9 people) and 100% would buy it again.
#1 by Beauty Reductionista on January 13, 2011 - 10:09 pm
I’ve heard great things about Sheer Glow. In fact, the only person I heard complain about it first hand was a girl at the MUFE counter who was going on and on about how awful it was.
Personally I decided against a NARS foundation after I read that they charge extra for the pump which is pretty ridiculous at the price they charge. But I’m glad it worked out so well for you! In which case the $55 I deem well worth it!
#2 by toyarosie on January 18, 2011 - 10:36 pm
It truly is an amazing foundation. I am still so pleasantly surprized that it hasn’t reacted with my skin, and has made any irritation better. That is NOT standard for my skin. I didn’t pick up the pump with my bottle – the SA actually didn’t even mention it – but I agree it’s ridiculous to charge for it. Any way to squeeze more money out of you I guess :S