Prepare yourself, this is going to be a long one!
Wanting a matte finish meant that Nars Sheer Matte was an obvious choice for me and never having tried anything from Nars (but having heard wonderful things) I was happy to give them a go. I also like that the foundation didn't have SPF in it, which means on a night out you don't get flashback in photos and end up looking like a sweaty mess! I went and got myself matched and £29.50 lighter in pocket I left with it!
The first thing I noticed about the foundation is that it doesn't come with a pump, which meant I had to buy a separate one for £3.00, slightly annoying after forking out so much for the foundation, you expect a pump. I then quickly realised that you can't put the lid over the top of the pump! I'm constantly travelling to and from university and home, which means whenever I do go home, I have to take the pump out (covered in foundation) to travel with it otherwise you end up with a pretty puddle of foundation at the bottom of your bag.
I'd heard a lot of people say that the foundation is very difficult to work with and most people opt for their fingers and I would agree with this comment, the foundation is quite thick and dries quickly meaning it doesn't spread very well. However I find that if I apply it almost straight on top of a primer and work it a lot that I get the same results.
Soon after I got the foundation I was lucky enough to suffer a HUGEEE breakout, and I'm not talking a spot or two, and although they've now gone I have a lot of marking from them. This instantly put me off the foundation as it was the only change i'd make in my skincare. I put it away for about a month and didn't use it as I was to scared about what state my skin would be left in. Whether this was the foundation or just an awful coincidence I have no idea, but since I plucked up the courage and started using the foundation again my skin has gone back to normal.
Nars claims the foundation 'controls shine throughout the day while evening the skin tone.' and I would agree with these statements. Ive noticed a significant reduction in shine, and yet my skin still looks luminous and bright. I do agree that the foundation evens out my skin tone, it does a great job of covering up any dark marks. The 20 shades Nars offers means that finding the perfect shade for you isn't a huge challenge and càdiz is perfect for my winter skin, however without a tan I'm not too sure how this foundation will look. The only downside is the foundation doesn't last all day. When I leave the house it looks amazing but after a day at uni theres nothing left, and I'm not a girl who loves to do touch ups in the toilets.
Overall have I found my perfect foundation? In truth, I don't think so. I'm just not in love with it. I'll happily use it until it runs out and it has done most of what I expected it to do. But there wasn't that amazingness that I was looking for, and the fact that it doesn't last on my skin all day is a real downer for me. However It keeps my skin matte, and works brilliantly on a night out when you only need it to last a few hours.
Have you tried Sheer Matte? What do you think?
