PRODUCT REVIEW: Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer

Photo credit: CafeMakeup.com

This new concealer from NARS was a hotly anticipated product, and I was really excited to get my hands on it. I generally disliked NARS concealer sticks, they were just a disgusting texture for me, and they didn't stay put at all or blend well on my face.  So seeing a liquid from him, that got me going.  I planned on going the day it was released to counters...and wish I had. Because by the time I got there the next day it was sold out already.  I ended up ordering it through Nordstrom at the counter after I played with the shades in person.

So after using it for a full week and a half now, my review...It doesn't suck, but it's not a holy grail like everyone on the internet is going on about. Wayne Goss loves it. Cafe Makeup loves it. I am kinda...meh on it. It's nice. But it's not the savior it was touted by all to be.

I'll start with the color range---it's 10 shades. And it's a great range. I think it's favoring lighter skintones. Photos shown here in Cafe Makeup's review.  They all correspond to his stick concealers really well. I was surprised that I went with Vanilla, because the colors I expected I'd go with, Honey and Custard, were WAY darker on me than anticipated and looked odd.  I wanted to be able to not rely on foundation to offset the color.

Coverage, to me, is at best mediocre. One coat is just not enough. Two coats, still not enough.  Three is still not enough. Four starts to make a dent but by then it's so creasy and grimey and gross on my skin that it doesn't matter anymore. I have to layer it with something more full coverage that dries down better. I gave it two solid days without anything under it before I started putting on the Lancome 24 hour foundation first, and a thin layer of their macquicomplet concealer or some Mary Kay concealer (the OLLLD stuff that works well!). Over those, it helps a lot, and looks great, then I set with a little powder so it doesn't move. But without those I might as well go without any concealer/makeup at all.

Here it is with two layers over the Lancome Tient Idole Ultra 24Hr before powdering.

Closeup before the creasing:

After powdering:

After the shimmery champagne eyeshadow I usually apply to try to reflect light that probably doesn't help...

The formula, which I knew going into this from reading ingredients written up in advance...it has way too much silicone for my skin. Alone it gives me a rash almost instantly. I've had to start layering it over a full coverage formula or foundation that's silicone free to prevent that and gives more coverage as I said above.  It also creases SO BADLY when layered with itself, or worn without one of the other products in the sandwich. The silicone is the death of this stuff for me, and silicone is everywhere now as cosmetics companies use it more than anything else because it's cheap. 

Lasting power on its own is about 6 hours. By lunch time, Im looking pretty haggard.  When I started doing the layering thing, that upped it to at least 6pm, so a solid 12 hours with the "sandwich".

I am kinda mixed on it. I don't think Ill buy another tube of it. But I will use this one up.

I got mine at Nordstrom, it's $28 per tube. Also available at Sephora and on the Nars website.

These photos, despite the fact that it was 530am....not helping me feel so great about my aging face...