NARS Sheer Glow Foundation

I’ve been using the NARS Sheer Glow Foundation on and off for about the past 3 months now, as I’ve been testing a few different foundations. But recently, this has become my go-to foundation.

If you’re looking for a foundation that gives you a nice, dewy, glowy look, give this foundation a try. I’ve tried other foundations that promise a dewy look, but I end up looking shiny and oily. NARS Sheer Glow just gives me a nice, healthy glow.

The NARS website describes their Sheer Glow as:

A glowing, satin-finish foundation with sheer and buildable coverage. Replete with skincare benefits and the NARS Complexion Brightening Formula, skin is hydrated, more luminous, softer and smoother. Used daily, Sheer Glow Foundation improves skin brightness, radiance and texture. For normal to dry skin types.

• Minimizes visible discoloration
• Brightens and clarifies overall skin tone
• Improves skin luminosity and radiance
• Hydrates for softer and smoother skin
• Dermatologist tested. Non-comedogenic. Fragrance free.

I wear this in the shade Barcelona/Medium 4 (for reference, I am a NC30 for MAC foundations). NARS has 21 different shades for you to choose from, which is a pretty big range, so you should be able to find a good match fairly easily. And because it is a medium coverage foundation, your natural skin shines through a bit, which helps with blending in the foundation to match your skin perfectly. I did have a bit of a hard time finding a good match for this foundation, and ended up returning it twice at my local Sephora, but I finally found a good match!

Once you find your shade, you’ll see how easy it is to work with this foundation. It blends in with my skin beautifully. I use either my MAC 187 or my Sephora Professional #55 Brush to apply this evenly on my face. I love that it doesn’t really just cover up, which I find a lot of the MAC foundations do. When I wear MAC foundations I feel like I can’t touch my face throughout the day because I’ll end up smearing my makeup. With my NARS Sheer Glow, I can touch my face throughout the day and nothing happens! It lasts all day, and I have no problem removing the foundation with makeup wipes.

I have dry skin, and I often find foundations emphasize my dry areas. When my skin is extra dry and I don’t moisturize as well, NARS Sheer Glow does emphasize my dry areas a little, but it’s barely noticeable. As long as I moisturize properly, I don’t have any problems with this foundation.

I also love that I don’t really need to set this foundation with a powder. Once I’ve applied it, I feel like it’s not going anywhere until I take it off. However, if I do set it, I use my MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium Dark, and it works beautifully over this foundation.

As for the complexion brightening effects NARS claims this foundation has, I’m not entirely convinced. I think the effects requires to use this foundation everyday, and I haven’t done so since I’ve been testing other foundations, and some days I just don’t feel like wearing makeup. But I do love the way this foundation looks when I wear it. It just looks like skin… like my skin, but better.

My one minor complaint is the packaging. This foundation does not come with a pump, so it can be a little tricky to control the amount of foundation that comes out. But since so many liquid foundations don’t come with a pump, I’ve gotten used to this, and it doesn’t bother me. Another note on the packaging — NARS has another foundation called Sheer Matte, which is another great foundation, and has very similar packaging to the Sheer Glow one. NARS Sheer Matte comes in the same bottle as the Sheer Glow, except it has a matte/frosted finish to it, whereas Sheer Glow is in a shiny bottle.

As all NARS products, their Sheer Glow Foundation is pricey. It costs $42 for 1 Fl. Oz. (30 mL). But you don’t need a lot of product for you entire face, so it should last you for some time. Because of the price I’m unsure that I’ll repurchase, as much as I want to. I have been told that the Neutrogena Healthy Skin Liquid Makeup is an exact drugstore dupe for this, and it costs around $13 for the same amount.