The NARS Products We Can’t Live Without
September 5 | 3 minute read
Words by MECCA Memo
Created by legendary makeup artist François Nars, the lineup is known for cutting-edge innovations and long-lasting, high-pigment colour. Read on to discover the NARS products we love – and always come back to – time and time again.
This bronzer has been a cult favourite since it launched all the way back in the early 2000s. If you somehow missed the train when it was all over old-school beauty blogs, it’s definitely worth jumping aboard now! It’s a finely-milled bronzer combining just the right amount of golden shimmer and warmth.
And, like the rest of the brand’s creations, it has a long-wearing, undetectable finish, ready to last all day (and night) long. If the classic shade – now known as ‘Laguna 02’ – isn’t the right match for you, there are now seven other shades to help you achieve that just-back-from-holiday glow.
While pigmented powders might be some of NARS’ most well-known offerings, this mascara is just as high performing. With a giant fluffy brush specifically designed to capture and coat each individual lash, this innovative product provides intensely black, explosive lashes from root to tip. And its unique lash moisture complex allows for a whipped, creamy formula that nourishes and lifts. All this while resisting clumps, flakes and smudges – everything you need from a volumising mascara!
With a high-performance liquid formula, the Powermatte Lipsticks are here to deliver the high-intensity, matte pigment of your dreams. With 15 transfer-resistant shades, this lipstick is infused with the NARS Power Pigment Complex: a dynamic blend of pure pigments suspended in rich, emollient oils and colour-locking ingredients, to saturate lips with dense colour that glides on effortlessly and wears comfortably. Just one swipe will give you a bold hue and a smooth, matte finish that lasts for 10 hours. Find the shade that speaks to you and get ready to make a statement – without needing to say a word!
This breakthrough oil-free foundation offers a matte, full-coverage formula, but not as you know it. It’s carefully crafted to grant you a skin-like finish that actively works towards supporting a healthy-looking (and feeling) complexion, enriched with NARS’ Anti-Oxidation Complex and Hydramatte Balancing Complex to protect and balance skin. Oil-absorbing and optimal diffusing powders help to reduce the appearance of excess oils and maximise light diffusion, for an instantly blurred, smoothing effect (ideal for oily and combination skin types!).
Blush in 'Orgasm'
You didn’t think we’d forget this one, did you?! It’s perhaps the most famous blush in the world, thanks to both its flawless formula and provocative name. The peachy pink shade, with flecks of gold throughout, is inspired by the natural flush that occurs with its namesake, er, physiological activity. Experience the afterglow with a simple flick of your brush in this ultra-soft powder, designed to create a seamless, buildable finish. While many proclaim it to be a universally flattering shade, if ‘Orgasm’ isn’t the one for you, NARS’ pressed powder blushes come in 20 different shades (including mattes and shimmers). Fun fact: NARS recently relaunched their bestselling blush range with a new lightweight, 16-hour all day wear formulation.
For makeup that looks like skin this is the foundation for you. Find your best light, always, with this lightweight foundation that blurs away imperfections like a magic eraser. With its innovative blend of makeup and skincare, NARS Light Reflecting Foundation amps your skin’s natural radiance while smoothing texture and helping conceal blemishes, dark spots and redness. This is an excellent option for an effortless “no-makeup makeup” complexion with its almost sheer consistency (which you can build to a natural medium coverage), just deploy, apply with your fingertips, and you’re good-to-go!
Professional makeup artist, photographer and NARS founder, François Nars, knows good light and has bottled his knowledge to improve your skin’s natural luminosity. While some under eye products can be fickle, the NARS Light Reflecting Eye Brightener is very agreeable and easy to apply over or under foundation or concealer. Its skincare-y formulation glides on sheer and helps minimise under eye crepiness with its satin finish. For days when you need to look awake and no amount of caffeine will help, reach for this.
Good makeup starts with a good base, which is why we’re politely directing you to this primer. This makeup-skincare hybrid contains 93% skincare ingredients to improve your skin’s texture before you apply makeup, or just to give you a luminous boost on makeup-free days. This primer will also give your skin a burst of hydration with hyaluronic acid (to hydrate) and squalane (to lock in said hydration).
You’ve gone to the effort to do your makeup, now let's lock it in place with a setting mist. For makeup that won’t budge, the NARS Light Reflecting Makeup Setting Mist holds makeup in place for up to 12 hours while being water, sweat and humidity resistant. It’s also loaded with Portulaca Vita (bonus trivia: a natural extract derived from a succulent), which will soothe and calm the skin. Use this as the very last step in your makeup routine for a longer lasting look.
