NARS Concealer

Yesterday I talked about how the recent heat wave is affecting my skincare regime and today we are going to look at what I have had to change in my makeup regime to work around it.  I have been using Urban Decay Beauty Balm and then a MAC Bronzer all summer and then using Benefit Erase Paste on any problem areas.  The first two products are holding up to the heat and humidity but the concealer is slightly too soft and is melting off my face in the heat.  I decided that I wanted a thicker formula of a concealer when I went into Sephora to pick up my Philosophy face cream.  I am hoping that a thick formula dotted directly on dark spots and blemishes will be more effective than bringing my pot of Erase Paste in my bag with me.

One of the thickest formulas that I could find at Sephora is the NARS formula, this one is available in a stick form.  I use the product by directly dotting it on spots and blemishes and then using a flat concealer brush on the areas under my eyes and any areas of red on my cheeks.  I might even be able to continue using Erase Paste under my eyes and keep the NARS formula for blemishes.  I will play around with the combinations of the products on my face and see how it works.

I first used a NARS concealer formula when I was in college and I remember that the product was very highly pigmented and hard to apply (I wasn't quite the beauty expert in college so this was more my application issues than the product itself).  I gave the product another shot because I needed something that wasn't going to budge for any reason and that was one of the best aspects about this product.

The NARS website states, "Brilliantly obscures imperfections and dark spots with a creamy, vitamin-rich formula that nourishes the skin for all-day wear. Crease-proof and easily blendable for a flawless finish."  This formula is enriched with Vitamin E to hydrate skin and to improve application on the skin.  NARS Concealer is available in 10 shades, I bought the second shade (Vanilla) because it has an extra touch of pink that will work better with my skin than the palest shade.  For some reason, I haven't need to change concealer shades when I self tan and I am almost at the end of that season anyway so I didn't feel the need to purchase a medium toned shade. 

This concealer works best with a stiff brush, I use one type for the under eye area and then a smaller brush to dot the product right on blemishes.  I start with primer and Urban Decay Beauty Balm every day then I dot this product on whatever blemishes were not concealed by this combination and then dust bronzer over my whole face.  This regime keeps my concealer in place for a good ten hours and then it usually begins to fade away when I go to the gym at night or do an outside workout.  The formula is a bit creamier than I remembered it to be and the tube is completely different so it is very possible that NARS changed the formula around a bit. 

I don't know that I will need this formula all year long, I might use it mostly on blemishes and then keep using Erase Paste on dark areas and work with the combination of the two products.  I go through concealer very slowly and likely won't need to replace either of these two products for at least another six to eight months.  I doubt that I would have purchased this product had this weather not gone crazy to end the summer but I know that I will keep using this concealer for the next few months.  I would recommend this formula mostly for someone who needs spot coverage for blemishes or very dark circles in the under eye area.  Small amounts of this product will get you a long way and I really like the results that I get from this product!

photo courtesy of Sephora