I've been drooling over this foundation for years, literally. But being a girl with a budget, it's always been a product I've thought 'I'll treat myself to that' with a bit of birthday money, or when I've gotten a bigger than normal payslip. However, as well as a girl with a budget, I'm also a girl with a milk-bottle white complexion. And unfortunately whenever I've gone into Nars-stocking shops, they've never had the shade I need.
However, just yesterday I arrived at my boyfriend's mum's house and she handed me a package. And you guessed it, it was a bottle of Sheer Glow foundation in the perfect shade: Siberia.
First impressions were full of excitement; Nars' packaging is classic, and considering it was bought online, I was both surprised and relieved to see that it was the real deal.
I cleaned my makeup brushes especially to put this on for the first time. So sad, I know. But I was so excited to see what it reacted like on my skin. If you read my skincare routine post from a while back, you'll know I have super dry and dehydrated skin. This foundation promises to improve the skin's texture over time, making it softer, smoother and more luminous, and it's specifically designed for normal to dry skin types.
When I swatched a drop of this on the back of my hand, I did worry as it practically melted away and left no finish whatsoever. I find that can happen a lot with pale foundations; the lighter the colour, the less it makes an impression on the skin. But of course, Sheer Glow promises a buildable coverage so I went ahead and started with a single layer all over my face.
I used my Real Techniques Expert Face Brush
First of all, I apologise for my choice of jumper. It's a very pale, sheer pink which obviously shows up as a Leigh-coloured potato sack on camera.
But back onto the foundation... All I have on in these pictures is the Sheer Glow, no primers, concealers, powders, nothing (which explains why I look absolutely awful). I buffed it in all over my face and down onto my neck. When I first applied it, I was pleasantly surprised by the coverage; I could still see freckles, yet blemishes were perfectly covered. It feels silky and dewy but not wet. A very comfortable foundation to wear.
However as time went on and the foundation developed on my skin, it began to darken which you can particularly see on the right picture. When I first applied it, the colour matched my hands, now it was at least a shade or two darker (not too noticeable though). Foundations being too dark for my skin is something I'm used to now though, and for the lightest in the collection, the darkening wasn't all that visible unless I were to point it out.
On the left picture, right between my eyebrows, you can probably see a very large, scabby, disgusting spot. At first, it was as if the foundation had airbrushed it away. I had the clearest complexion and could only see the flaws if I looked super close. However again, as it developed, it gathered and went quite orange in colour around the spot which you can see on the picture. This, however was easily solved with a touch of concealer.
Now, after wearing the foundation for a good few hours, I am still happy with how it feels and it looks pretty good as well. I would recommend Sheer Glow to fair skinned people who like a natural, barely there look. I'd also recommend it to people with medium to dark skin as well as I can imagine it to build up lovely and it does come in an incredible range of shades.
Leigh. xo
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